Though a subject put under hypnosis does appear to assume the peculiarity of somebody sleeping, they are truly quite alert. Hypnosis is pretty hard to describe, as nobody actually knows what is happening inside the mind of a hypnotized subject. What we do know is that while in trance state the hypnotic subject becomes extremely suggestible. A subject’s attention, whilst they are going into hypnosis, is narrowed down bit by bit. Firstly, the sense of sight is lost as the subject is requested to close their eyes. A little later it is not unusual for the subject to lose complete consciousness of their body. Though one by one the senses are gently slipping away, one sense is really enhanced by the induction process. This is the sense of hearing. A subject under hypnosis or self hypnosis can regularly hear vague sounds that they wouldn’t be able to hear in the standard waking state. This, obviously, means that through the whole process the subject can hear all that the hypnotist might say. When you begin to induce hypnosis in people you will frequently find that after awakening the hypnotic subject, they will believe they could not have been put under hypnosis as they could still hear your voice. The mistaken belief that they won’t be able to hear your voice often comes from those persons who consider hypnosis to be similar to sleep.

The human mind is divided into two astonishingly distinctive parts. The conscious mind, which is accountable for all our conscious thoughts and decisions, and the subconscious mind, which regulates our autonomous activity. The mind can be best called a computer, the subconscious as the processor and the conscious as the monitor and keyboard. Our subconscious mind is a kind of protector; it protects our body and helps us to survive.

Even though our subconscious can do lots of tasks that consciously would be impracticable, it also has one exceedingly principal characteristic. Somewhere between our two minds is what we call the critical factor. This is undoubtedly best depicted as a door, at which is a keeper. Our subconscious mind will process anything that enters it no matter how peculiar. So, as long as you can push a suggestion through the door it will be complied. This is precisely why hypnosis works. The guardian’s door can be hastily opened while we are under hypnosis.