[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak|remove link|no_popup[/img]Recently on vacation with my wife, I was thinking about how much I love what I do. Vacation or not, it is hard to take time away from being a hypnotist.

I constantly motivate. I always want to introduce the power of hypnosis to anyone interested. On this occasion, my wife and I were walking through an open-air mall in Cancun. Those who have been to resort towns in Mexico know you are bombarded by vendors trying to sell merchandise, tours or adventure trips.

And so two men started up a friendly conversation about selling us a zip line trip and boat ride. We declined but continued to talk. Eventually I mentioned hypnosis. They were so interested that one wanted to try.

Curiosity Aroused

Two years ago they saw a famous Mexican actress hypnotized on television. She ate an onion, thinking it tasted like an apple. Everyone laughed. The audience thought hypnosis was extraordinary. Our two new friends found the scene funny, too. Skeptical, they were convinced the actress had been paid to pretend the onion was an apple. Hypnosis is not real, they concluded.

When I offered to demonstrate, one man accepted.

Under these kinds of circumstance, I am careful about what I do and how I do it. Hypnosis is powerful. Since I am not going to perform therapy, I only want to demonstrate the feeling of hypnosis, the feeling of relaxation, and for the person to awaken refreshed.

I have a subject stiffen his arm as if it were a steel bar. I suggest the arm remains stiff, whether in hypnosis or not. When the person awakens, the arm is stiff until I touch the wrist, say “relax,” and the arm releases. This is a post-hypnotic suggestion. Sometimes I do this during therapy because a client may not believe he was hypnotized. This is a sure way to show he was.

In this scenario, the person usually says he was aware of everything, which is one of the biggest misconceptions about hypnosis. The hypnotized person appears to be asleep,but he is alert to all around him.

Dipping into History

About 1876, an experiment was performed on a sleeping person and a hypnotized person. One paragraph from a book was read to each. When awakened, they were asked what they remembered. The sleeping person was not aware anyone had been in the room. The hypnotized person recalled the paragraph. Not word for word, but enough to convince anyone that hypnosis was different from sleep.

Be wary of anyone who suggests that if you listen to a tape to create the change you want while asleep, it will work subliminally for you. Not true. Sleep and hypnosis are separate states.

Back to our vacation: Once I had completed the process and released his arm, both the watcher and the participant agreed hypnosis was not fake, but a powerful tool.

A couple days later at the same mall, the more skeptical of our two new friends stopped to shake my hand. Although he originally had declined to be hypnotized, he belatedly had realized the power of the subconscious. Since our meeting, he had found himself doing things that he had not done in years. Already he was making profound changes in his life.

Change was necessary because he had had been living by rote. He knew he was capable of accomplishing much more. Now he was determined to live more ambitiously.

We talked about what he wanted to do. I gave pointers on how to maintain his new, positive attitude.

I am thankful for my profession, to be able to help anyone willing to create a better life, wherever the person may be.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net