Note: This article contains weird and wacky cartoonish descriptions that will make absolutely no sense to you if you don’t follow inanimate transformation, as well as mentions of kinks and subcultures.
So, recently I discovered that someone in my social network happens to be a hypnotherapist, with full credentials as well. This made me pretty excited because I’ve always had an interest in hypnosis.
While I may not be a psychologist, or in the psychology field, Hypnosis has always been interesting to me because trance seems to be one of the few altered states of consciousness that doesn’t involve any alcohol or drugs.
These things are all ready pretty well known as being inhibiting on your decision making abilities. But what if someone else delivered decisions straight to you while you weren’t really fully listening?
The Hypno Process
Disclaimer: this information is powered and compiled through my web searching capabilities. It should not substitute as a reference guide. Its placement here is solely for context to better describe my experiences. Accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Hypnosis begins with an induction. A process meant to get one into a trance so that actual suggestion can begin. Induction is essentially the whole “you are getting very sleepy” section of the process. Of course, this example is so cliche and assertive that it’s unlikely that anyone would take it seriously alone.
Typically, Induction involves some sort of repetitive process. Something not too repetitive to the point of being drowned out, like a simple word being repeated over and over again. But not too unpredictable to the point of consuming your full attention, like exercising. And to better demonstrate this. One common, yet also unfortunate place that induction can happen is on the road while driving.
While driving for extended periods of time, it’s possible for a motorist to find themselves forgetting that they were driving for that long as they begin to concentrate on driving so intensely that they forget everything else happening. Including being actually aware of what’s happening on the road. In more serious cases (especially in a fatigued state, they can actually fall into a trance or even asleep). Obviously not good.
But why does this happen? Well, ruling out mental states of inebriation or exhaustion. Long, predictable stretches of road and the constant blur of road markings make it easy to start relying less on visual signals and more on just predictions of what’s going to happen next (which unless you approach a sign, Point of Interest, or encounter something unusual, probably isn’t going to be anything interesting).
Once a subject is in a state that they are in a sufficient trance, the core element of hypnosis, suggestion, begins. This is where we actually get to believe into something. This can be the more entertaining suggestions like pretending to be an animal, temporarily forgetting something about yourself, acting in a certain way. Or it can be something more long term like trying to quit a habit.
As with learning anything, repetition is a key to making more substantial improvements. And even if you aren’t with an another hypnotist in person or remote, even listening to the same files can sometimes make a difference.
Unlike what’s shown in popular culture, suggestions aren’t involuntary, or a psychic bullet of sorts that penetrates the self. Suggestions are still processed by the mind in a way that one will snap out of it if they don’t agree with what’s being said. So, suggestions like “you will transfer all the money in your bank account to me” almost certainly isn’t going to result in what you would want it to (and will likely result in a severe breach of trust).
That said, this doesn’t mean that hypnosis can’t change one’s mind about something. Just as any misguided therapist could give advice that may not actually be a good idea, a hypnotist could also impose suggestions that are not a good idea either. And these suggestions could end up causing some serious damage later on if they end up being something that the client ends up taking too seriously.
This can also be problematic as well whenever discussing consent. Someone may think that they truly want something. But the reality is that they didn’t actually want it. They were simply so caught up in the moment that they didn’t realize what they actually wanted. You don’t need to necessarily be inebriated by substance to be unable to make informed decisions.
There also seems to be quite a bit of research as well that memories formed or recalled by hypnosis may not be the most stable. You’ll see this a little later as I try to discuss my experiences. But it kind of makes sense that trying to recall a memory you don’t know in an altered state likely isn’t going to lead to any successful result (It also reminds me of another set of software that’s been making the rounds over the past few years. But that’s not what we are taking about right now).
Brain Training / Basic Braining
I decided that before I actually start being hypnotized by another living being, I should first be familiar with what it exactly feels like to be hypnotized myself. It’s like the
The first time I ever managed to pull this off and actually be Hypnotized, it happened at 2 in the morning while I couldn’t sleep. I had just convinced mom to let me turn the air conditioning on. And while the room began to cool down. I decided to practice self-hypnosis once more by trying out an induction technique I had been practicing.
The process of self-hypnosis is very similar to that of being with a real hypnotist, but this time, you play the role of both yourself and the hypnotist. As the hypnotist, it kind of feels like my own inner voice begins to disassociate with myself. It’s still me talking, but it also doesn’t at the same time. It’s kind of hard to describe.
I looked around the room and mentally described four different things that I could see, four different things that I could hear (nothing was also an acceptable answer), and four different things that I could feel. From the weight of the blanket to the dark sight of my shelf, my eyes quickly began to close. And once they did, I began to tell myself.
Until 2 PM today, you will remain flat, you will remain paper thin, and your muscles will be heavy.
And indeed, that worked. I opened my eyes and I could feel that my body felt a lot thinner.
Obviously, I still felt 3D, but anytime I thought about my limbs, it seemed like I perceived them as being flat. This effect was pretty cool. Though it did tend to minimize whenever I was preoccupied with something else (or something jarring, like someone slamming the door happens). Like when I was cutting the grass.
That said, I likely set up too long of a trigger. What started out pretty fascinating gradually started to turn to “man, when am I gonna be out of this?”. Yet for some reason my mind continued to play along with everything. It was odd, yet perhaps it’s also a sign that I may need to set better scopes.
Once 2 PM rolled around, I could feel the entire suggestion shatter, and I finally felt back to normal.
The session
Just before me and the hypnotist met. I immediately had the last-second idea of what I wanted, the image that had been lingering in my mind the longest. I had decided that I would be a ball, akin to this picture (Fur Affinity login required). And thus, that’s what we went on.
This was the general process:
I closed my eyes and listened
As they guided me through the general process into trance, I could feel myself beginning to tingle heavily, as it grew heavier throughout the session. Initially beginning with a ball of light that was spreading its warmth from head to toe. My body almost felt like it was disappearing, though it was still there, like I was almost invisible.
Referring back to pop culture for a sec, you know how hypnotized characters tend to have their eyes shown as being a myriad of colors instead of where their pupils would be? That’s exactly what I began to see throughout the process. I’m no stranger to closing my eyes and seeing colors, but they were going all over the place.
They brought me down a staircase, and counting from 12 to 1. They proceeded to describe as I became more malleable and rubbery with each step. I could almost feel myself becoming more and more of a toon, almost like I was becoming increasingly more animated.
They began to do all kinds of things to me
The lion grabbed my wolfself and began compacting it down. Dribbling me on some kind of surface, and also flattening me out and using me as a cushion and took a nap on me. Then, they grabbed me and stretched me out really long. All the way up to 20 ft I think. I kind of lost track of the exact length they described because I could feel the sensations pretty deeply. It was also around this point that most of my anxiety about the session began to expel.
They gave me a trigger
They said, whenever they mentioned “deep sleep” in any context related to transformation hypnosis and when it was safe to do so, that any mention of that word would send me even further into a trance when we met.
We wrapped up and exited
After counting back up to 5. I woke up at their request and quickly complimented them and described just how much more intense this was compared to my singular experience with hypnosis was. Thanking them for their time, and all the other things that mom has taught me to be doing with others, we disconnected from the call and went our ways.
Immediately, my first instinct was to go straight to notes and start progressing the draft of this post that I had written yesterday before the session.
What could have gone better
I’ll admit, I’m probably not the best at descriptions. And the best way I knew how to describe the whole sensation of flattening to the hypnotist was “squash and stretch”. Which was one of the primary phrases used during the session. There wasn’t anything wrong with it. It just began to feel a little bit odd to hear over and over again. Especially considering it’s also the name to one of the twelve principles of animation.
Of course, the buzziness of my head didn’t go away either. Thoughts still came and go, and I still had to bring myself back to what was going on, though it became easier to focus as time went on.
What was different from my expectations
I referred to this before. But just like, I didn’t leave my seat or anything. Things left the background, and I was really immersed. But it didn’t feel like I left the environment entirely.
Also, being in such a deep trance, it didn’t exactly feel like a deep sleep. But perhaps it’s just a lack of experience.
Where I’ve been continuing
In the days that passed from when I first began working on this draft. I’ve continued working on sharpening my skills of entering and exiting trance, and the process of self-hypnosis as well. It’s been awesome in how something that once took quite a bit of time is now something that I can do almost instantly. It’s still a little difficult to focus on trance, especially when you aren’t with anyone else. But I guess that’s pretty normal to expect.
Going off of the “deep sleep” trigger I put in before. I’ve been able to use that in my own way to get myself into trance. And with myself, I also decided to define “wake up” as a phrase that would immediately pull me out of trance. So now, I don’t even really feel like I need to use inductions with myself too much.
One practice that has especially been enjoyable is “Fractionation”, It’s where you continuously enter and leave trance in constant succession. Each time you wake yourself up, you go back into trance, each time deeper than the last. And it feels like you can go pretty deep this way as well.
More practically, I’ve been able to try and induce my own suggestions to myself in areas that I feel that I need improvement. Uttering the triggers everytime that I feel like I need to start correcting myself. This approach has been a lot more difficult because it has felt like a lot of my suggestions have bounced off my psyche, not to mention the difficulty in forming appropriate phrases (One of my own ones ended up being “Xylophone” because I couldn’t think of anything better). But I am still able to feel them resonate within me, regardless of whether or not.
Now, before I wrap up everything. I’d like to address at least one more thing that might be on a few folks minds. And if it wasn’t on your mind, it certainly was on mine, so I’d like to get it in here.
Hypnokink
Erotic Hypnosis, often referred to as Hypnokink, is primarily what it says on the tin hypnosis. For some, hypnosis as a kink will come as a surprise. For others, it’s likely completely anticipated.
There’s a lot of subcultures here, and there’s an extremely heavy connection with the BDSM scene as well. Which is something that I’ve also been interested in, but it also isn’t really something that I’m going to actively seek out either unless someone were to ask me about it.
Do not get me wrong, I love the idea of BDSM. At least within my own unique way. I even have quite a few personal ideas that I’d love to take on as well. But I just don’t know how I feel about the idea of meeting up with a complete stranger to do something so intimate. The idea of having full-on sexual intercourse is something I feel extremely reserved about compared to a lot of other activities. And while one of the pillars that I know is taken seriously in the community is defining crystal clear boundaries, I also feel afraid of disappointing someone, or worse, creeping them out with what I’m into.
I also just don’t know if I’m in a position that I feel like I can safely engage with the community at large without fear of repercussion if I’m found out or exposed given my current living situation.
One subculture of hypnokink enthusiasts that have stood out to me in particular is the rubber drone scene (drones as in worker bee drones, not quadcopters). It’s a group of rubber laden automaton of all species that perform different tasks, having been hypnotized to have all their former identity wiped, and replaced with stuff like a serial number, and other things that you would typically find on a robot. This is a pretty cool community, especially given it goes into two different things that interest me. Rubber and Hypnosis.
The real thing that scares me about a lot of it is not feeling sure if I’m in the right headspace to know not to take things way too far. For many, I’m assuming, hypnokink experiences are something that they know. But I’m just not sure if I have the knowledge to do something like it. But regardless of how I feel, there’s no rush for me to engage with the group. It’s just something that I would like to do because it seems to be where a large amount of hypnosis fans seem to gather as well. Not just those that are exclusively looking for stage performances or therapy. So if I do decide to engage in the community more someday, you’ll know where to find me.
Closing thoughts
As I’ve written/journaled out this experience, more and more details began to form as I reflected on what happened and thought about it. Much of what I have described, such as me feeling more and more like a toon, weren’t thoughts that were going through my mind when the session happened. But they began to form once I started thinking and reflecting more on what happened.
It begins to feel less like I was having my mind controlled, and more like I just came out of some really, really immersive story. Which isn’t too surprising because it’s pretty easy to be hypnotized by one of those as well. Either way, based on this and what I’ve done with myself, it’s certainly an experience that goes well beyond the initial moment. And can create lingering impressions well into the future.
I often have a lot of daydreams, so it makes me almost wonder if I could better immerse myself into those thoughts from time to time. I should probably be careful though. Lest I end up immersing myself at the wrong time. Overall though, it might be a good idea to first just kick back, relax, and think about how all this actually could integrate into my life.
I’ll admit, I still don’t know a ton about this stuff. But I already know I’m excited. I have been obsessing over these experiences for days leading up to the actual session. And there’s still a ton I’ve yet to learn. This weird sensation of being able to warp my mind into just about anything is exciting, perhaps a little dangerous from time to time depending on the mood. But overall, still something to look at. I still feel like I need to work on my own voice while hypnotizing myself. Perhaps someday, if I truly enjoy what I’m doing, I may even start to record my own hypnosis recordings. If not for myself, then possibly for another niche.
Either way, I’m really excited about everything that happened. And I’m looking forward, if not doing something else with the hypnotist some other time. At the very least, trying to better hone the feelings that I felt and incorporating them into my own life somehow on my own. I’ll probably never get anywhere as close to it on my own, but it’s still worth a try because it was an absolutely pleasant experience.