Imagine an Iceberg. With an Iceberg usually only a small part is ever seen above the water. This is also true of the human brain. It is divided into two areas, the Conscious and the Unconscious.
The Conscious part is the small part and is the part that is reading this, word by word, in your head. It can only hold a small amount of information at one time. It is logical and analytical. It sorts information, and then moves onto the next thing.
The Unconscious part deals with memories, intelligence, creativity and everyday things that we don’t need to directly think about, like breathing. This is hidden away, and it functions without us being aware, but it’s there, dormant under the “waves”.
Now imagine you want to change part of your life – giving up smoking, improving your confidence, eliminating fears…. It is your Unconscious mind the part that knows everything about you, that has the power to effect change. Unfortunately, it is something that most people can’t communicate with when wide awake.
What hypnosis does is allow your unconscious mind to listen, while your conscious mind takes a rest. When you are hypnotized, you are still in control, just allowing someone to guide you to where you want to be.
One way to explain it is…. Imagine you are the pilot of an Airplane, and the hypnotist is the Auto Pilot. The Auto Pilot gives the plane instructions on which way to go in a managed, safe way. The Auto pilot can start the engine, take off and easily manage the process of flying the airplane, but as the pilot you have at all times the ability to override these functions. If you do not like the journey you can gently return the Airplane to a safe landing place. But if you want to allow the Auto Pilot to guide you, that will happen safely and securely too.
When you are Hypnotized, you feel almost like you are daydreaming. Your brain is working, but what is immediately around you seems not as important as it usually does. You will hear all the words I say and you will be aware of any movement from within the room.
You would also naturally open your eyes should you feel threatened in any way. People who have been hypnotized tend to say afterwards how comfortable and relaxed they felt and how enjoyable the experience was. At the end of the session it is possible you will be unaware of the amount of time that has passed, but this is quite normal.