What is hypnosis? Hypnosis is a naturally occuring altered state of consciousness or twilight zone that mimicks daydreaming or fantasizing. Hypnosis is a label for a naturally occurring human mental phenomenon....
Hypnosis is a label for a naturally occurring human mental phenomenon. It has also been given some specific definitions from the psychological perspective, such as an altered state of consciousness, which involves internally directed and focused awareness. Really, hypnosis is nothing more or less than a perfectly natural human experience that people go to at least twice a day on the way into sleep. It is known as the hypnagogic state. It's that sort of twilight zone where you are not quite asleep but you are not quite awake either. Then again, there is another hypnotic-like state on the way back out of sleep. Hypnotic-like states also occur when people are daydreaming, fantasizing, or when they are vividly remembering events from their past to the point where they can often almost re-experience the events.
Hypnotic states have been used since the earliest times of human evolution. Human beings needed to maintain vigilance in the savanna with little or no protection from wild animals. They needed to go into a restful state without losing consciousness. That has evolved into the state that we experience naturally from time to time, but it can also be induced by a well-trained hypnotherapist and used for many positive medical and psychological outcomes.
