As part of my departure of the JW org, I attended a town festival, in which they had a hypnotist there entertaining. It was hysterical and surreal to watch. But there is a lingering stigma about hypnotists from JW's. I am sure you all know what I mean. It is the stigma that you are opening your mind to demons. Your thoughts please?
Hypnotists..your thoughts please?
by vikesgirl101 4 Replies latest watchtower bible
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HintOfLime
There are a few different kinds of hypnotism. Some are just simple stage tricks which are easily explained - the performer selects people that look like the sort that want to put on 'a good show', and out of their own eagerness for attention, will do everything he says.
MythBusters (not really scientific, but suggestive) did an experiement and found that even while clinically hyptotised, participants would not act or even accept a suggestion that they didn't agree upon before hand.
Like many drugs and alcohol, hypnotism places you in an altered state of mind, where you may do or reveal things you wouldn't normally do or say. But if you're looking for some sort of 'spiritual' connection, those things are always impossible to tie down. (Ouija boards and water dowsers fail time and time again to reveal anything unknown when the camera is rolling.)
- Lime
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carla
Hypnotism used for medicinal purposes has been used very successfully for those who cannot tolerate anesthesia in many settings from dental, childbirth, amputations, internal organ removal, etc... There is a youtube somewhere of a hypnotist who (British I believe) who allowed filming of his surgery (if memory serves it was his gall bladder) while he used self hypnosis, sorry I do not have the link. It appears that people who used hypnosis rather than traditional anesthesia have a quicker recovery time with fewer complications. One may have difficulty finding a surgeon who has confidence in hypnosis though. (oops, just found surgery youtube -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sClE-xm-P8A sorry I still have not read Baba's how to link properly thread)
A recent study said that hypnosis and learning self hypnosis was more or as effective for children with asthma than medications.
When one is hypnotized you are completely aware of your surroundings should you choose to be, it is an altered state but no one could 'make' you do anything you would not normally do otherwise such as murder. If such was the case our and all governments would be utilizing hypnosis on a regular basis. Hypnosis is a highly individual thing for each person. My personal opinion is that many ex jw's would not be good subjects for hypnosis due to such deep ingrained belief of demons getting in or whatever the jw's say about that. If an ex jw truly wanted to be hypnotized they may need extra sessions to get over the fear of letting go and general education by the hypnotist so they could relax. As with all things, buyer beware and check out your hypnotist carefully before spending your hard earned money, just as you would if you went to an acupuncturist or surgeon.
As for weight loss and smoking cessation you still have to have the desire to lose the weight or to quit smoking. Hypnosis can help you get through many things but you still have work to do. Hypnosis has been helpful in healing past emotional/psychological traumas as well.
Stage hypnosis, Hint of lime is correct. The stage hypnotist can do a quick tests on the entire audience and see who is the most susceptible to suggestions and choose those people. During a stage performance people are generally in a jovial mood to begin with and may more willing to do goofy things anyway. The stage hypnotist is probably also using NLP on the audience and the 'victim' for the show.
If you want to learn some quick party type of fun with hypnosis you can try this lady but start with #1 and not at this #3 link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy12nRWR2M (not an endorsement for this particular hypnotist just happened to remember where she was)
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mindmelda
The WTS knows nothing about psychology or how the brain works, it seems.
Our brains are amazing..we have yet to discover all they're capable of, but it's been mystics of all faiths who stumbled on these perfectly normal altered states of mind first, simply because they practice disciplines that encourage altered mental states.
I've been reading a lot about that...and altered states of mind similar to both hypnosis and self-hypnosis are often experienced by those in prayer or meditation. The brainwaves are measurably similar.