The phenomenon of hypnosis is a great mystery to everyone. The thought of how one gets to hypnotize a person or how a person gets hypnotized is a wonder. Whenever the word hypnosis is mentioned, it is often associated with a goatee-d strange looking man that we usually see on movies. He always wears that strange looking face and brings with him a pocket watch that he waves affront a person face, after awhile the person falls into a semi-conscious state and does as he is told regardless of the command. The hypnotized famous line is- “Yes Master!”

However, in the real modern understanding of what hypnosis is, these things bears little resemblance and are not in any sense true. You need not have a strange-looking man wave a watch before you to be hypnotized, nor is a hypnotized person unconscious or sleeping and a slave to the hypnotist’s commands.

In the modern understanding of hypnosis, the hypnotized is actually conscious and hyper attentive and therefore does what he is told on his ‘free will’ and not a slave to the hypnotist’s commands. The reason why the hypnotized obeys the commands is due to heightened suggestibility of the mind and also because your subconscious dominates your conscious mind, making you compliant to any suggestions or commands.

Hypnosis is not a magic act as most people would say it is, the process actually is involving the use of certain psychological method where you train to redirect the person’s mind or thinking to ‘think differently’ and program the mind to believe on certain things or situation and heightened it’s suggestibility and so the hypnotized does as he is told because his mind will tell him to do so.

Believe it or not, we have all experienced hypnosis at some point in our lives and is being hypnotized day by day without noticing it. Say for instance, when you are watching food commercials and you suddenly feel hungry or wanted to eat, that is one. Another is when watching movies you suddenly fall on a trance and you forget about your surrounding or that the time has passed. Another is when you are shopping or buying groceries, bet you experienced where you look for certain brands you have seen on television, that is hypnosis. When you are driving or walking on the street and your mind is elsewhere, before you know it you have already walked or drive passed your destination or made a wrong turn. These things are all hypnosis and you do not notice it for sure.

Most people would also say that hypnosis is bad, well anything is bad I supposed when used for evil or negative purposes. But, these days most therapists use it in treating drugs, smoke and alcohol addiction. Counseling sessions have proved it to be effective. Hypnosis has been a great tool to use in programming and setting a person’s mind and thinking into believing say- drugs, smoking or alcohol is bad and therefore does as he is told because his mind tells him so that it is bad for him. Many have been cured with it and are therefore great to use because no synthetic products are used or taken by the patient.

We should change the way we view hypnosis, because there are many benefits to it. Many advertisers use it to sell products, treatment and cure for addiction and psychological disorders. It also helps in parenting and dealing with kids. Everyone may be able to do it; you need not have that strange pocket watch for what you need is training and learning the methods and then you may use it to anyone you would like to hypnotize.

All about HYPNOSIS, learn about the different forms, uses and how it is performed on http://www.squidoo.com/learn-hypnosis.