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What is trance?
Every now and then I encounter people who have varying opinions of what trance is and how it works. Just today I have read here where people think sleep is trance, or think that hypnosis doesn't need to involve trance at all.
So just what is trance?
In my formal training, I was taught "trance begins with 3 words....close...your...eyes." I have since found out that I was given misinformation about what trance was, and so that started me questioning everything, doing my own research, and writing a book about it, but that's another story.
Needless to say, that my own personal findings indicated that trance is a natural state for us as a species. Since the analytical mind can only focus on one thing at a time, we have to use a trance state to be able to multi-task.
Trance is simply a state where the reactive mind (subconscious) automatically reacts to outside input. Hypnosis takes advantage of this by realizing the outside input can be in the form of a suggestion.
To me; hypnosis is simply the means to induce a purposeful trance state. So it doesn't matter what method you use, if you have induced a trance state in someone, you have hypnotized them.
In our everyday lives, we are well used to using trance states with the conscious mind very active and aware.
Trance has nothing to do with if the eyes are open or shut, if you are nervous or relaxed, or anything else like that. The reason we use commands like sleep, relax, etc. is because for the most part, the subject is very familiar with the terms and understands how to automatically react to them, and it turns the focus of their mind further inside.
When ever our conscious mind is focused on something, especially on the inside of the body, a trance state HAS TO exist in order for us to keep maintaining.
A trance state does not bypass the critical factor unless the magnitude of the trance state (depth?) is sufficient to shut down that filter. We refer to that magnitude of trance as somnambulism, and during somnambulism our ability to determine what is real and true is impaired (what we call "the critical factor") which is why we get the trance effects and results we get with it.
I realize that we all have our models of hypnosis and trance, this is mine, and I would love to hear how you define trance.
John
So just what is trance?
In my formal training, I was taught "trance begins with 3 words....close...your...eyes." I have since found out that I was given misinformation about what trance was, and so that started me questioning everything, doing my own research, and writing a book about it, but that's another story.
Needless to say, that my own personal findings indicated that trance is a natural state for us as a species. Since the analytical mind can only focus on one thing at a time, we have to use a trance state to be able to multi-task.
Trance is simply a state where the reactive mind (subconscious) automatically reacts to outside input. Hypnosis takes advantage of this by realizing the outside input can be in the form of a suggestion.
To me; hypnosis is simply the means to induce a purposeful trance state. So it doesn't matter what method you use, if you have induced a trance state in someone, you have hypnotized them.
In our everyday lives, we are well used to using trance states with the conscious mind very active and aware.
Trance has nothing to do with if the eyes are open or shut, if you are nervous or relaxed, or anything else like that. The reason we use commands like sleep, relax, etc. is because for the most part, the subject is very familiar with the terms and understands how to automatically react to them, and it turns the focus of their mind further inside.
When ever our conscious mind is focused on something, especially on the inside of the body, a trance state HAS TO exist in order for us to keep maintaining.
A trance state does not bypass the critical factor unless the magnitude of the trance state (depth?) is sufficient to shut down that filter. We refer to that magnitude of trance as somnambulism, and during somnambulism our ability to determine what is real and true is impaired (what we call "the critical factor") which is why we get the trance effects and results we get with it.
I realize that we all have our models of hypnosis and trance, this is mine, and I would love to hear how you define trance.
John
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Don on -
For the past six years, my wife and I have been taking classes in T'ai Chi, a Chinese system of integrated exercises based upon an ancient stylized method of self-defense. Ideally, T'ai Chi is performed at slow speed, and is primarily practiced today as a means of maintaining and improving one's physical health. Throughout China, people frequently gather in a local park (often in the morning before going to work) for a routine of T'ai Chi before going to work. In many places in the West, T'ai Chi has also come to be used as a method of maintaining physical health and counteracting the stress of life.
At first I was skeptical, and had difficulty getting into the routine. Sometime during my first year of instruction, as I observed the silent gracefulness of those around me, I decided to pretend that I was hypnotized in order to better catch the mood. Within a moment or two, one of the instructors noticed the change and walked over to me. "Now you've got it!" he exclaimed, as he watched me moving in time with the others.
Neither I nor my classmates were experiencing a trance in the traditional sense of the term. Our eyes were open, and our bodies were constantly moving. But for me, pretending that I was hypnotized did facilitate a transition to modes of awareness which are common to both T'ai Chi and hypnosis, including an emphasis on the here and now, and knowing the world through imagery and sensory experience rather than by means of analytical thought. The movements of the T'ai Chi form (e.g., "Repel the Tiger," "Over the Top with a Chop"), may thus be conceptualized as a set of powerful, multi-modal suggestions for the development of confidence and assertiveness, and for counteracting the stress response. Given these similarities, T'ai Chi itself can be thought of as "hypnosis in motion."
Perhaps the concept of trance is not as essential to a definition of hypnosis as an increase in responsiveness to suggestion, regardless of the procedure which is used to bring it about. Alternatively, perhaps hypnosis is but one means of facilitating responsiveness to suggestion, and a variety of other procedures -- T'ai Chi, Reiki, etc. -- may also be useful for this purpose.
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Permalink Reply by Walt Potter on
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Don,
Am I right to understand that Hyperempiria also fits this definition also?
"Perhaps the concept of trance is not as essential to a definition of hypnosis as an increase in responsiveness to suggestion, regardless of the procedure which is used to bring it about. Alternatively, perhaps hypnosis is but one means of facilitating responsiveness to suggestion, and a variety of other procedures -- T'ai Chi, Reiki, etc. -- may also be useful for this purpose."
Walt
Don Gibbons, Ph.D. said:For the past six years, my wife and I have been taking classes in T'ai Chi, a Chinese system of integrated exercises based upon an ancient stylized method of self-defense. Ideally, T'ai Chi is performed at slow speed, and is primarily practiced today as a means of maintaining and improving one's physical health. Throughout China, people frequently gather in a local park (often in the morning before going to work) for a routine of T'ai Chi before going to work. In many places in the West, T'ai Chi has also come to be used as a method of maintaining physical health and counteracting the stress of life.
At first I was skeptical, and had difficulty getting into the routine. Sometime during my first year of instruction, as I observed the silent gracefulness of those around me, I decided to pretend that I was hypnotized in order to better catch the mood. Within a moment or two, one of the instructors noticed the change and walked over to me. "Now you've got it!" he exclaimed, as he watched me moving in time with the others.
Neither I nor my classmates were experiencing a trance in the traditional sense of the term. Our eyes were open, and our bodies were constantly moving. But for me, pretending that I was hypnotized did facilitate a transition to modes of awareness which are common to both T'ai Chi and hypnosis, including an emphasis on the here and now, and knowing the world through imagery and sensory experience rather than by means of analytical thought. The movements of the T'ai Chi form (e.g., "Repel the Tiger," "Over the Top with a Chop"), may thus be conceptualized as a set of powerful, multi-modal suggestions for the development of confidence and assertiveness, and for counteracting the stress response. Given these similarities, T'ai Chi itself can be thought of as "hypnosis in motion."
Perhaps the concept of trance is not as essential to a definition of hypnosis as an increase in responsiveness to suggestion, regardless of the procedure which is used to bring it about. Alternatively, perhaps hypnosis is but one means of facilitating responsiveness to suggestion, and a variety of other procedures -- T'ai Chi, Reiki, etc. -- may also be useful for this purpose.
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Permalink Reply by Don on
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Hi Walt,
I think hyperempiric inductions would work here too.
Looks like it's impossible to top Ben Franklin, when he concluded that Mesmerism could be explained by imitation and the workings of the subject's imagination. Same goes for hypnosis, hyperempiria, T'ai Chi, Reiki, visualization, and you name it.
Don
Walt Potter said:Don,
Am I right to understand that Hyperempiria also fits this definition also?
"Perhaps the concept of trance is not as essential to a definition of hypnosis as an increase in responsiveness to suggestion, regardless of the procedure which is used to bring it about. Alternatively, perhaps hypnosis is but one means of facilitating responsiveness to suggestion, and a variety of other procedures -- T'ai Chi, Reiki, etc. -- may also be useful for this purpose."
Walt
Don Gibbons, Ph.D. said:For the past six years, my wife and I have been taking classes in T'ai Chi, a Chinese system of integrated exercises based upon an ancient stylized method of self-defense. Ideally, T'ai Chi is performed at slow speed, and is primarily practiced today as a means of maintaining and improving one's physical health. Throughout China, people frequently gather in a local park (often in the morning before going to work) for a routine of T'ai Chi before going to work. In many places in the West, T'ai Chi has also come to be used as a method of maintaining physical health and counteracting the stress of life.
At first I was skeptical, and had difficulty getting into the routine. Sometime during my first year of instruction, as I observed the silent gracefulness of those around me, I decided to pretend that I was hypnotized in order to better catch the mood. Within a moment or two, one of the instructors noticed the change and walked over to me. "Now you've got it!" he exclaimed, as he watched me moving in time with the others.
Neither I nor my classmates were experiencing a trance in the traditional sense of the term. Our eyes were open, and our bodies were constantly moving. But for me, pretending that I was hypnotized did facilitate a transition to modes of awareness which are common to both T'ai Chi and hypnosis, including an emphasis on the here and now, and knowing the world through imagery and sensory experience rather than by means of analytical thought. The movements of the T'ai Chi form (e.g., "Repel the Tiger," "Over the Top with a Chop"), may thus be conceptualized as a set of powerful, multi-modal suggestions for the development of confidence and assertiveness, and for counteracting the stress response. Given these similarities, T'ai Chi itself can be thought of as "hypnosis in motion."
Perhaps the concept of trance is not as essential to a definition of hypnosis as an increase in responsiveness to suggestion, regardless of the procedure which is used to bring it about. Alternatively, perhaps hypnosis is but one means of facilitating responsiveness to suggestion, and a variety of other procedures -- T'ai Chi, Reiki, etc. -- may also be useful for this purpose.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh Cole on -
One of my favorite inductions begins with the Phase "Imagine what it would feel like to hypnotized now", I would think that by now Don you are a great imaginer. One of the interesting challanges of being a Stage Hypnotist is what you do with a subject that you know is "just pretending" to be in trance ... I will usually let them stay because to respond like you are in trance you have to do that "what would it be like" thing, and If your imagining what it would be like to be hypnotized.. You are already there.
What would it be like if the unconcious mind was always in trance and ready to learn what ever new skill it needed to serve you and keep you safe and you just decided to let the concious mind step aside so the unconcious could feel and observe the Tai Chi movements all around you? What would it be like if your concept of "depth of Trance" was built on a core belief that The Deeper you go the More responsive to suggested behaviors you become.
Hugh Cole
The Pretty Goodest Hypnotist on the Planet.
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Permalink Reply by Don on
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HI Hugh,
I think you're on to something. What would it be like if, with our knowledge of hypnosis and the insights that it gives us into the psychology of T'ai Chi, we were to modify the traditional T'ai Chi procedures to make them even more effective facilitators of health and well-being?
Don
Hugh Cole said:One of my favorite inductions begins with the Phase "Imagine what it would feel like to hypnotized now", I would think that by now Don you are a great imaginer. One of the interesting challanges of being a Stage Hypnotist is what you do with a subject that you know is "just pretending" to be in trance ... I will usually let them stay because to respond like you are in trance you have to do that "what would it be like" thing, and If your imagining what it would be like to be hypnotized.. You are already there.
What would it be like if the unconcious mind was always in trance and ready to learn what ever new skill it needed to serve you and keep you safe and you just decided to let the concious mind step aside so the unconcious could feel and observe the Tai Chi movements all around you? What would it be like if your concept of "depth of Trance" was built on a core belief that The Deeper you go the More responsive to suggested behaviors you become.
Hugh Cole
The Pretty Goodest Hypnotist on the Planet.
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Don and Hugh,
Can't put my hands on the sources right now but B.D. Phillips and R. Bandler have exercises using trance states to learn how to emulate others. Bandler suggests watching live or video of a task/performance while in a trance state 5-6 times and then practicing while you're in a trance state also.
I've found that Tai Chi makes me feel clumsy. Should try the trance.
So many trances, so little time,
Walt
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Permalink Reply by Don on
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These procedures all resemble each other in much the same way that a landscape, a seascape, and a portrait resemble each other. They all "look" different to the observer, but they all make use of similar underling principles of color, design, and perspective which causes us to experience them as being different, and causes us to use them for different effects in different settings.
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And when we can recognize the underlying principles, and know how to utilize the differences then we truly understand.
Don Gibbons, Ph.D. said:These procedures all resemble each other in much the same way that a landscape, a seascape, and a portrait resemble each other. They all "look" different to the observer, but they all make use of similar underling principles of color, design, and perspective which causes us to experience them as being different, and causes us to use them for different effects in different settings.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh Cole on
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Walt and Don....
I think you've hit the nail directly on the head here, Too many "hypnotists" I have met put value on a certain induction style, a certain script as the "be all or end all" in hypnosis. There are(perhaps self agrandizing is good adjective here) hypnotists who name and re name induction styles in a manner designed to link themselves to legendary figures in hypnosis history. That obsures the fact that there is an underlying fundemental "hypnotic process" going on that is TRUE over any induction style. There are fundemental metaphors that are TRUE through almost every reporting problem we see. on a daily basis.
Of course... If the induction wasn't named the "Geoge Washington-Albert Einstien-Abraham Lincoln-Alfred E Neuman-Dallia Lama - 6.7 word butterfly arm tug" you couldn't sell it as unique and DVD sales would drop. I am waiting for someone to differentiate between whether one flares the left nostril or the right nostril when gazing intently into the subjects eyes so we can add the nostril flare eye gaze to the list of "must learn" inductions.
Seriously...There are fundemental trance processes that form the base of everything we do. Learn those and the mechanics come a whole lot easier. We are biped motivated trance machines moving through the world one trance at a time. It;s how we learn. It's how we survive.
Hugh Cole
making them Dizzy one post at a time.
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As a student I look forward to understanding your last paragraph really well. I recognize this process from my teaching mathematics. Much of mathematical problem solving uses the same basic ideas; sometimes with brilliant deviations.
Please don't tell me what the patterns are! Now back to my morning reading of Elman and Gibbons; a nice tandem read.
Hugh Cole said:Walt and Don....
I think you've hit the nail directly on the head here, Too many "hypnotists" I have met put value on a certain induction style, a certain script as the "be all or end all" in hypnosis. There are(perhaps self agrandizing is good adjective here) hypnotists who name and re name induction styles in a manner designed to link themselves to legendary figures in hypnosis history. That obsures the fact that there is an underlying fundemental "hypnotic process" going on that is TRUE over any induction style. There are fundemental metaphors that are TRUE through almost every reporting problem we see. on a daily basis. Of course... If the induction wasn't named the "Geoge Washington-Albert Einstien-Abraham Lincoln-Alfred E Neuman-Dallia Lama - 6.7 word butterfly arm tug" you couldn't sell it as unique and DVD sales would drop. I am waiting for someone to differentiate between whether one flares the left nostril or the right nostril when gazing intently into the subjects eyes so we can add the nostril flare eye gaze to the list of "must learn" inductions. Seriously...There are fundemental trance processes that form the base of everything we do. Learn those and the mechanics come a whole lot easier. We are biped motivated trance machines moving through the world one trance at a time. It;s how we learn. It's how we survive.
Hugh Cole
making them Dizzy one post at a time.
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Permalink Reply by GIL BOYNE on
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Hello Hugh, Well Done !---- That's telling it like it really is! ---GB
Hugh Cole said:Walt and Don....
I think you've hit the nail directly on the head here, Too many "hypnotists" I have met put value on a certain induction style, a certain script as the "be all or end all" in hypnosis. There are(perhaps self agrandizing is good adjective here) hypnotists who name and re name induction styles in a manner designed to link themselves to legendary figures in hypnosis history. That obsures the fact that there is an underlying fundemental "hypnotic process" going on that is TRUE over any induction style. There are fundemental metaphors that are TRUE through almost every reporting problem we see. on a daily basis. Of course... If the induction wasn't named the "Geoge Washington-Albert Einstien-Abraham Lincoln-Alfred E Neuman-Dallia Lama - 6.7 word butterfly arm tug" you couldn't sell it as unique and DVD sales would drop. I am waiting for someone to differentiate between whether one flares the left nostril or the right nostril when gazing intently into the subjects eyes so we can add the nostril flare eye gaze to the list of "must learn" inductions. Seriously...There are fundemental trance processes that form the base of everything we do. Learn those and the mechanics come a whole lot easier. We are biped motivated trance machines moving through the world one trance at a time. It;s how we learn. It's how we survive.
Hugh Cole
making them Dizzy one post at a time.
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All,
Many good things going on here and I'm learning a lot. So my comments below are about me trying to learn as opposed to speaking with any kind of knowledge.
I'd like to make a couple of definitions. For me a definition has no content. It simply limits the meaning of the words I want to use. If the definitions happen to be useful in understanding "reality", all the better.
(T) Trance is a state of mind. So we're always in some trance(state). On this page let's allow the words trance and state of mind to mean the same thing.
Trances have qualities, some are useful for some good things. Maybe the word trance gets in our way if we make it different from other states of mind.
I want to take the point of view that hypnosis has some utility. Doing hypnosis is a goal directed activity.
(HT) Hypnotic Trance is a state of mind where one accepts suggestions. Deep hypnotic trances are in effect when the usual critical thought patterns are more suspended. One is more prone to accept suggestions.
One is always, to some degree, in a hypnotic trance. The word suggestion is a nominalization of suggest. There are two involved; one who suggests, one who accepts the suggestion; and the suggestion. Thus rapport is important. Of course the two may be one and we have self hypnosis. The key concept here is suggestibility. Given the mind-body connection we may expect to see physical manifestations of a deep hypnotic trance.
(HTI) Hypnotic Trance Induction is a process that deepens the hypnotic trance, making the subject more likely to accept the target suggestion. (I've been told that Albert Einstein's sister once said that a hypnotic trance should be as deep as necessary, not deeper.) Often one starts with suggestions that are easy to accept, chaining them together until the desired state is reached. At each step one hopes to reduce the influence of the critical thought processes. The more one accepts, the deeper one goes and.... Why this chaining is effective is interesting. Pointing out to the subject that they are going into a deeper hypnotic trance is useful. Confusion is useful in deepening the hypnotic trance. (Often confused, I'm often in a hypnotic trance.)
It may be that there are different hypnotic trances, and different inductions lead to those different states, allowing different utilization. In one case a rapid induction may be called for, in another a metaphoric induction might be useful.
How does one measure the quality of an induction? Probably depends on the goal. There's probably not a best one. However, having a best one would be a nice surprise.
Well I think I understand more now. However a friend of mine believes that our intelligence is inversely proportional to the size of the group we're in. When where alone we're smart, when there are others around to point out our errors...
I'm by myself right now, about to join 5000. Let me know,
Walt
(A little short in the tooth in this business.)
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