You’ve seen it a dozen times before; the man with the scary, transfixing eyes moves forward, closer and closer to his prey. The pretty, young girl can’t turn her eyes away; she is mesmerized by his gaze. As he comes closer, he tells her what he wants her to do-what she is going to do.

No! No! She tries to look away but she can’t. She belongs to him now. He controls her completely. She is helpless as he closes in. She is his, body, mind and soul, to do with what he will…

They show it in the movies and on TV all the time. There are countless books showing you how to control a woman (or man) for sexual pleasure-“How to Make The Woman of Your Dreams Bend to Your Will!” This is mind control! This is hypnosis, right?

Sorry, not even close!

Named after Hypnos, the Greek God of sleep, hypnosis is often mistaken for being asleep and therefore being “out of control”. You are the helpless subject;trusting the hypnotist with your mind, even your very soul. There is nothing you can do to resist them. You will do exactly as they say because they control your mind.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

When “in” hypnosis (the proper term-not “under”-hypnosis is simply another state of mind that you are “in”) you are absolutely in control. You are totally aware of your surroundings but you are in such a state of relaxation and comfort, that you are usually not disturbed by them. You will hear any outside noises, like the traffic or a dog barking or the music being played but they will not affect the hypnotic state unless you sense danger or alarm.

How many of you believe that you have never been hypnotized?

Rest assured, even if you have never been to a hypnotherapist, you have experienced hypnosis. In fact, you experience it many times each day. Trance, or being in a state of Hypnosis, is a completely natural state of mind in which the conscious control of the mind is pushed aside and the sub-conscious mind is allowed to come forward and be in control for a time.

For example, if you have ever had something on your mind when you left work and arrived safely at home with no memory of the trip, you have been in a state of trance or hypnosis. Your conscious mind was occupied in thinking about the problem from work and your sub-conscious mind took over control of driving home along your regular route.

Because the sub-conscious mind is like a computer with a camera, your route home was recorded long ago and your sub-conscious mind just drove along the path already well known to it. Even though you did not remember the trip, if at any time the situation was dangerous or something occurred that was out of the norm, you would have immediately been consciously aware of the danger and been able to take corrective action.

Also, any time that you have been deeply involved in a good book or movie, you were in a state of hypnosis or trance.

In trance, the mind is very susceptible to suggestion. This does not mean that you are “out of control” when in the trance state. The suggestions you receive in trance will only take root if they are in alignment with your own personal moral or ethical code.

For example, if robbing a bank is not something you would ever think to do consciously, no amount of suggestion while in trance could make you rob a bank. If someone suggested that you rob a bank while in hypnosis, you would immediately “break state” which means you would come out of trance and be fully awake and aware.

Advertisers count on the natural hypnotic state to sell their products. They construct each commercial so that it is a mini-hypnosis session. They try to immediately get you into the trance state so they can sell you their product. Again, this does not mean that you are not in control. You may see the same commercial for the “Big Mac” all day long but if you are a vegetarian, no amount of trance-inducing advertising will cause you to buy one. But, on the other hand, if you love McDonald’s or fast-food hamburgers in general, that same commercial might cause you to get very hungry for a “Big Mac” and run right out and buy one, even though you just ate dinner!

OK, you say…then why are hypnotists able to make people cluck like a chicken or bark like a dog in stage shows? Doesn’t that show mind control over someone-an ability to make someone do something out of character or embarrassing?

A very important part of being hypnotized is the agreement to the hypnosis on the part of the subject. When you watch the commercials on TV, you have, in effect, given your agreement or permission to the advertiser to receive their product pitch. This puts you into the hypnotic state. Without your agreement,that state cannot be achieved. If you mute the sound, or turn the channel to avoid the commercials, you have withheld your permission to be hypnotized and the commercials have no effect.

This is similar to what happens in a hypnosis stage show.

By now, most everyone knows what happens at a hypnosis stage show and by volunteering to go up on stage and be a subject, you give your permission to the hypnotist to be hypnotized. The people that volunteer have something in their character or personal code that says it is “OK”, even “desirable” to be on public display clucking like a chicken! Remember, everyone wants that “15 minutes” of fame; just look at the reality shows on TV!

The stage hypnotist is an expert at discovering very quickly, which subjects are most likely to do what he has designed for the show. He will do a series of small “susceptibility” tests to weed out the people who aren’t quite as willing as others. He keeps only the ones who will put on the best “show” for the audience. The ones who are left are the ones who want to be up on stage doing whatever the hypnotist wants. But also know that if he suggested something that no longer met with their personal approval, they would immediately come out of the trance.

I once saw a hypnotism stage show where the hypnotist had all of the subjects dancing in a dance hall in the Old West. They were all supposed to be dance hall girls (even the men!). They were all dancing and yelling and flipping their “can-can” dresses to the music and having a jolly, old time!

At one point the hypnotist suggested to them that they begin to strip off their clothes. He was suggesting that they strip off their old west, can-can dresses and dance in their underwear or even nude. Several of the subjects stopped dancing and came out of the trance while the rest of them kept going, stripping off their”imaginary” dresses and dancing in the nude for their customers.

It was a hilarious show but also a very good example of how a subject’s personal moral or ethical code overrides a suggestion. The ones who stopped were OK with dancing as a dance hall girl in the Old West but when it came to dancing nude, even in their imagination, that was a “no go.” The rest did not seem to have a problem with being exhibitionists.

As I stated above, when in the hypnotic or trance state, the sub-conscious mind is open and aware and very susceptible to suggestion. The fact that the mind is so susceptible to suggestion is one of the reasons that hypnosis is so useful for so many problems.

This is where the mind control comes in. You can literally “suggest” the problems away and take control of your mind. Of course, there is a little more to it than that but hypnosis is a highly efficient tool for problem-solving.

When you can control your mind, you can control your life. For indeed, your sub-conscious mind does control your life!

In your sub-conscious mind lies all of the beliefs that you have formed about yourself and others during your lifetime so far. There are also beliefs that you have formed about what should happen to you in your life-beliefs about career, education, money, relationships and more. Many of these beliefs were formed during your childhood and adolescence from your experiences with family, friends, teachers, religion, etc.

For example, what are your beliefs about money? Is there ever enough? Do people like you ever get rich? Is money the root of all evil? If you check back into your childhood, you will find that these beliefs were probably held by your parents and imparted to you as you grew up.

What is your money situation now? Do you have enough money now? Are you rich? If not, the beliefs have taken root and the cycle continues.

But that cycle can be broken. You can change your beliefs about things that hold you back. You can get rid of your fears and the blocks to having the life that you were born to live. You can change your belief about money or education or that you can’t spell or that you will ever get ahead.

Hypnosis allows you to control your own mind! Control your mind; control your life!

Next: HOW DOES HYPNOSIS WORK?

DONNA WATKINS, CHt., NLP, Spiritual Advisor

Donna Watkins is a talented Hypnotherapist, Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner, Channel, Psychic and Ordained Minister. She received her formal hypnosis training at the Hypnotherapy Academy of America in Santa Fe, NM and studied Humanistic NLP in Santa Fe with internationally renowned instructor Gary de Rodriguez. She also attended advanced hypnosis training with Gil Boyne, Master Hypnotist and Timothy Trujillo, CHt. which led to a certification in hypnosis for Immune Disorders including HIV/Aids.

Donna has been reading and studying Tarot for over 30 years and has studied formally with her mentor, teacher and Tarot scholar, Darlene Costello. Having been interested in the spiritual and psychic world since childhood, Donna began studying with professional Channel and Psychic Betsy Morgan in 2007.

Along with her husband, Dr. Rudy Watkins, she owns Rudon Spirit and Wellness. Their primary mission is to help others maximize their true potential in Spirit, Body and Mind.

Check out their website at http://www.rudonspiritandwellness.com/ezine