First, let's start off by saying that hypnosis can feel different for every person, but there are some common similarities.
As hypnotherapists, we often talk about entering a trance state.
You may experience the feeling of trance many times a week without realising it. For example, when driving your car, meditating or getting lost in a good book or film. These are examples of situations where you probably enter what experts have called an ‘everyday trance’.
If you meditate regularly, you probably enter this trance state often – maybe you feel a sense of bliss, calmness and deep relaxation. It is often accompanied by a feeling of not wanting to leave this state as it feels so comforting.
As with the examples just mentioned, there’s not just one way to enter a trance state. This trance state can feel like when you’re about to fall asleep, that deep relaxing feeling, but not actually drifting off.
When you enter this trance state within hypnosis or some other way, you’ll often notice that you become deeply relaxed.
You’ll probably feel the tension draining out of your muscles.
Time may feel distorted – a half hour session may feel like 5 minutes.
You’ll often feel a sense of peace and your breathing will relax and feel more fluid.
Your awareness will turn inward, and you’ll focus less on external stimuli such as noises and your surroundings.
Many people also feel a nice sense of floating and weightlessness.
Other trance state sensations that are frequently reported include:
Feeling heavy or light
Tingling in your extremities
Reddening of the face
Feeling more emotional
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) – this is the same state we enter when we sleep and when we're most likely to have dreams.
Reduction of Heart rate
Change of brain waves
Fluttering of the Eyelids
With a deeper level of trance, you may begin to experience more sensations – such as visual illusions, touch, smell, sounds and sometimes even taste.
It's important to note that it is highly unlikely that you will experience all of the symptoms that I’ve mentioned here. You may only experience 1 or 2 of them. But that doesn't mean you’re 'doing' hypnosis wrong! The trance state is individual to all of us, so one person may experience it totally differently to someone else.
The only real way to tell what it’s like for you is to give it a go!