There are many, many reasons why you may be struggling to enjoy trance. Fear, lack of confidence, over-confidence…there are a lot of possibilities and I am going to delve into a few of these below. This article is not intended to be exhaustive so, if after reading you find that you still have some questions please get in touch.
One thing I have learned over years is that to a lot of people, hypnosis is akin to magic. Many people are sceptical – they don’t believe it works, or aren’t sure how it could/does work. They don’t understand it, even if they can see it happening to someone else right in front of their eyes. That lack of understanding can often breed fear or insecurity, which is a common reason for not being able to enjoy trance, but there are other reasons, too.
I’ve also come across people who have informed themselves about hypnosis – they’ve read up on it, understand the theories behind it and, armed with this knowledge dive in expecting trance to be easy, only to find themselves frustrated when they struggle. Sound familiar?
The problem is that whilst ignorance breeds fear, knowledge can breed expectation, and expectation can hinder your ability to enjoy trance. Why? Because hypnotic trance is subjective. It is a profound and deeply personal experience. Yes there are some external physiological signs which hypnotists can use to pick up on the fact that someone is either going in to trance or already in trance, but the subjective experience of enjoying trance varies from person to person. You may get some consistent generalisations – that it feels “nice”, or “pleasurable”, but the subjective nature of trance is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to quantify.
With this in mind, if you sit down to enjoy trance and have expectations based around knowledge you’ve acquired from research then you may be unintentionally subjecting yourself to beliefs and expectations which could theoretically hinder your experience. To give one example it is a commonly held belief that you need to have your eyes closed to go into trance, but in reality this is simply not true. Yes, it may help some people to enjoy entering trance more easily, but it is certainly not a necessity.
So – what’s the solution? Well, if the main element that is holding you back is fear, then by all means do all the research you can to reassure yourself that hypnosis is perfectly safe (it is, I promise!) and the basic mechanics of how it works (e.g. you won’t be asleep, you’ll be aware of what’s going on around you and you’ll be more relaxed and focused than usual). If your difficulty is expectations borne out of research then my advice is simple – let go. Unburden yourself from expectations about what you think you should be experiencing and instead allow yourself to be curious about what you are experiencing.
Enjoying trance can be the easiest thing in the world if you allow it to be. Yes, it can take practice, but the practice is not about the trance itself. It is about training yourself to become aware of all the little signals that are signposting your descent into trance. These may include your breathing naturally slowing, your mind becoming quiet….these are all possibilities, but the reality is you have to be open to discovering what your unique signposts are and embracing them. Once you accomplish this, then you will find it much easier to enjoy a deep and fulfilling trance.
Remember – if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Either email me at info@queenofdreamshypnosis.com or drop me a message on Twitter @British_Hypno.
