A simple definition of hypnosis is 'an altered state of consciousness where the attention of an individual is focused away from the present reality and towards particular images, thoughts, perceptions, feelings, motivations, sensations, behaviours or any combination of these'.  This description also describes the trance state, although there are many misconceptions as to what constitutes trance. There is more about that under 'The Experience' section within the Hypnotherapy page.

There is nothing new or modern about the use of hypnosis. There is evidence that the ancient Egyptians and Greeks used healing trances to bring about therapeutic belief. You can see further evidence of this, even in modern times, by the use of chanting (monks and other religious ceremonies), dancing (the whirling dervishes, who send themselves into a trance state by frenetically dancing), More commonly however, hypnosis is now used to access the subconscious part of the mind by using relaxation exercises to take the mind into a state similar to that of a daydream. This bypasses the analytical conscious mind to an extent and allows the therapist access to the normally closed subconscious mind.

Most people can enter into an hypnotic state without difficulty and a description of what this can feel like can be found in 'The Experience' section within the Hypnotherapy page.

But what is the subconscious mind and how does it work? First of all it helps to understand how the human mind works. The mind is the term most commonly used to describe the higher functions of the human brain, particularly those of which humans are subjectively conscious, such as personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion, and it works on 3 levels: the conscious mind, the subconscious mind; the super-conscious mind (or higher self). The function of each is described below.

The Conscious Mind

The part of you that thinks, reasons, takes input from your senses and filters them. It is logical - it likes to make sense of things - it is right here in the present - here and now. It can only process + - 7 pieces of information at a time. It thinks in terms of cause and effect. It has the responsibility of choice and reason. It can voluntarily move parts of your body. Your conscious is associated with the waking and thinking state. It only retains and uses with the conscious memory the information that it needs for the present.

The Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind is intuitive and can make associations of unlimited amounts of information easily. It controls your perceptions and feelings. It is associated with dreaming, day dreaming, the meditative state, It acts like a database, holding all your memories, including those not needed in the present. Every thought, emotion, or anything that we have experienced or done is held here. It does not judge, it feels and experiences. It cannot lie.             

The Super-conscious Mind

The super-conscious mind is the part of you that is connected to the universe and guides us and protects us. It the part of us that 'knows' things without 'consciously' being aware of the reasons why. It is the part of us that is closest to spirit.

Although other species of animals share some of these mental capacities, the term is usually used only in relation to humans.