What Hypnosis Feels Like: How To Explain The Somewhat Unexplainable & 3 Powerful Hypnosis Stories

Last updated: 9 August 2021

Authored by: Deanna Romano

“What does hypnosis feel like?”

That’s a question hypnotists and hypnotherapists get asked a lot. And naturally, as a hypnotist, you want to give a good answer.

You want to be able to explain the feeling so that it helps them understand it better. You want to provide a reasonable answer that doesn’t just fob them off. Especially because some of the people who ask the question could someday become your subjects.

So what can you tell them?

The truth is that it’s not an easy question to answer for 3 very good reasons:

1. The experience of hypnosis is different for everyone
2. For some people, hypnosis might feel different every time
3. It isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” type of experience

Hmmm. Those 3 points could leave you scratching your head. If it’s different for everyone, how can you possibly tell someone what hypnosis feels like?

The answer is clear: You tell them what it MIGHT feel like. What they might experience. What happens to most people.

Then, if during hypnosis they don’t experience something, or if their experience is slightly different, at least you’ve prepared them for that eventuality in advance.

Here’s What Someone Might Expect To Feel During Hypnosis

Perhaps the easiest way to get the ball rolling is to provide a general framework of the kinds of feelings someone might expect to come across.

These could include:

• Feeling lost in thought
• Feeling hyper-focused on a thought or idea
• Feeling relaxed and at peace

Remind them that hypnosis is nothing new, that they probably experience hypnosis-like feelings on a regular basis.

Going into a trance is, after all, a little bit like daydreaming. You won’t go to sleep, lose control or do anything you don’t want to do.

The whole process is really just a nifty way of enjoying profound relaxation. It’s just another state of consciousness, with the key point being that you will be conscious the whole time. Which means:

• You’ll be aware of everything that’s happening –  this is not sleeping
• You might have your eyes closed but will still be able to hear and sense what’s going on around you
• You’ll be sitting comfortably in a relaxed position
• Your breathing might slow down and your muscles might relax
• Your sense of time might get distorted so that the session will seem to fly by

It doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Just a nice relaxing bit of time out. A pleasant break from the stresses and strains of everyday life.

And that’s exactly what it should feel like. Relaxing, enjoyable, calming. A chance to catch your breath and put your worries to one side for a short time.

That said, we feel it’s important to add a disclaimer here.

If you’re dealing with particularly traumatic or repressed emotions during hypnosis – you may re-experience these emotions, but only very briefly. An experienced hypnotist will know how to guide you through your session so it doesn’t get too overwhelming, allowing you the opportunity to safely release and heal from the associated trauma.

But, as mentioned above, it’s different for everyone. Some people experience a feeling of heaviness or numbness, almost as if they were unable to move. Others feel weightless, as light as a balloon, almost as if they were floating. So how can these differences be so varied?

Trance Signals Tell The Whole Story

If you downloaded our free 14 trance signals guide, you’ll be familiar with the signs that indicate that someone is in a trance.

But in case you missed it, let’s take a quick look at 3 of these signs now to see how people can potentially be affected under hypnosis.

Take a look at trance sign number 3. When in a trance, a person’s breathing can speed up or it can slow down.

It really depends on the person and how they react. It might also depend on whether or not they’ve been hypnotized before.

For first-timers, it could be a little unsettling, whereas more experienced people will likely be more relaxed about the whole thing.

Next, look at trance signals 9 and 10. These two signals would seem to contradict each other. On the one hand they stop moving, while on the other they get a bit twitchy.

Huh?

That’s actually easy to explain. Remember that hypnosis – going into a trance state – is a way of consciously “relaxing on purpose,” so to speak.

The twitches come from the autonomic nervous system taking over the body and are involuntary, unconscious.

This signals that you’re in the realm of their unconscious mind. Which is exactly where you want to be.

If someone’s never experienced hypnosis before, their body might not know exactly how to respond.

So things will happen that they might not be able to explain or understand. But it’s only because they’ve not been in the situation before. It’s nothing to worry about.

To Discover More About All 14 Trance Signals Download The FREE Report Here:

3 Powerful Hypnosis Stories That Explain What Hypnosis Feels Like

In this article so far, we’ve done our best to explain what hypnosis feels like based on research and experience.

But we couldn’t really do this topic justice without actually including a few personal accounts from community members who were kind enough to share how hypnosis can, or has, felt for them.

1. The Power Of The Mind-Body Connection

2. It Was Just A Dream… Or Was It

– The above story is an excerpt from the blog of Lee McKing, Hypnotherapist

3. An Alchemy Of Healing

As these 3 testimonials prove, hypnosis feels different for everybody. In most cases, however, it provides a pleasant sense of relaxation.

It’s not unlike the feelings you get at other times in your life, such as when you get absorbed in a good book, or when your thoughts drift off when you’re driving home and you can’t remember part of the journey.

And that’s one way to think of hypnosis. It’s like a journey inside the mind where you can momentarily escape from the trials and tribulations of everyday life. So the next question is: where might it take you?