Hypnosis Inductions

     Inductions are used to induce the state of hypnosis.  This is the bypass of the critical factor in the conscious mind.  Historically hypnotists have used something called the "Progressive Relaxation" induction.  This is a long-winded way to induce hypnosis.  Typically you go through all the body parts, all the muscles of the body and suggest relaxation in each muscle group.  This relaxation coupled with counting and deep breathing induces hypnosis, if the subject doesn’t fall asleep that is.  I have used this occasionally, more as a deepener really, but I do so very seldom.  This induction is usually between fifteen to thirty minutes long and that equates to a lot of time wasted in a busy hypnosis office.

      One other famous way of inducing hypnosis is eye fixation, which is done by using a pendulum or spiral disk.  You have the subject stare at something and use suggestions of relaxation.  You could have a person point at a spot on the ceiling and tell them that their arm will start to come down at it’s own pace.  When it gets half way down you tell your subject that their arm will then become very heavy, fall down, and when it hits something their eyes will close and they will be in a deep state of hypnosis.  I have used this on a few occasions but one time it didn’t work.  The person just kept the arm at the same level so I slapped the arm, fired in the word "Sleep" and she dropped into hypnosis.  That’s an instant induction.

      Another very popular induction is called the "Elman" induction.  This is about four minutes and works very well.  I used to use this in almost every session.  This relaxes the mind and body and has tests built right in so you’ll know if the person is at the proper level of hypnosis.  The hypnotist who created this was, Dave Elman, hence the name.  In this induction you have the person close their eyes and imagine that they cannot open them, deepen the state physically then mentally and then test.  By just having someone imagine or pretend that they can’t open their eyes induces hypnosis.

      The induction of choice for me is the instant induction.  This takes a person from the normal waking state into the state of hypnosis, instantly.  It’s simple and very affective and can be modified a million different ways.  Anytime you have ever been startled in your life you were deeply hypnotized for a fraction of a second.  When your brother or sister jumped out at you and yelled "Boo!" you went into somnambulism, deep hypnosis, but came out of it just as fast.  This instant induction is basically spiking the nervous system.  The startled person’s nervous system instantly spikes way up and then drops way down into hypnosis, and then recovers to a normal conscious level all very quickly.  If you spike that nervous system, command the word "SLEEP" and keep talking for about one minute the subject does not recover and stays in very deep state of hypnosis.  The first twenty times I did this I was more than nervous, it’s just hard to wrap your mind around it because it is so simple.  You don’t think it will work on everyone, but it does.

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