Alright, I think I've figured it out.

[JHoffman]

'Lo everyone. I think after months and months and months of trying out all the inductions, all the files, deepeners.. that I might have figured out why I and many others have so much trouble with getting hypnosis to work.

Sure, you can trance, you can go pretty deep, all of that stuff. But while the subconscious mind is responsible for whether files work or not, is it not also your perspective on life? For example, I've noticed that I have an extremely analytical mind. I'm not a defeatist or pessimistic much, but I have realized that my mindset is somewhat straightforward and realistic.

I've read a couple of rumors that some overanalyzing people don't even dream at all.

This isn't necessarily true. From what I hear, our subconscious is always thinking, and probably always dreaming. While we're asleep, we could very well be dreaming, but we don't remember. Why? Well, from some sources, I hear that dreaming is, of course, related to OOBE (out of body experiences) and astral projection.. At first, I didn't really believe the stuff, but now I do a little. But to the point: I hear that there are two concurrent memories whilst you sleep: What your subconscious is doing, and what your body feels like as it's asleep. Apparently, you can't have both memories. Usually the more dominant memory takes place (ergo, whatever your body believes is more significant) and therefore we only just remember that we went to sleep and no dreams came about.

I'm just throwing ideas back and forth here, but with that in mind, wouldn't the whole analytical mindset come into play? If it's responsible for making it so you don't remember dreams, it might be relevant as to why the subconscious isn't capable of performing hallucinations and all that stuff. Don't get me wrong, I've heard of a lot of analytical people having hypnosis success, but probably not as much as the more optimistic and outside-the-box people.

So say this isn't all BS. Wouldn't that mean that the current goal of most hypnotists wouldn't be to try and make the subconscious more susceptible, but to actually go to the direct source of the problem, the mindset? Sounds like therapy in a weird way. Maybe some suggestive optimistic-like files could be made to resolve the problem.

Anyway, just some food for thought, I just thought I'd share.

[whatthe75]

Jees your not over analytical are you ( note the sarcastic voice ).

What you say basically boils down to this. Your success in hypnosis is mainly governed by your beliefs. I couldn't agree more.

So you believed that if you weren't so analytical you could have hallucinated during hypnosis. And you believe that if you hallucinated during hypnosis you wouldn't be analytical. Choose wisely.

[thisguy]

..being analytical does not stop you from analyzing yourself silly. done and redone. People call it "mistakes". Happens even to the most overanalytical of us.

..denieing yourself access to some experiences does not mean you are not capable of experiencing them. Trancing and hypnosis works because of a principle how healthy brain works. By keeping it busy you can introduce interruptions and other distraction and spoil the state switch, totally doable. If you go on with your analysis, you may find, that the same distractions can also be used to help with the switch.

..if not experiencing some experiences helps to uphold your belief system, just look at your belief system: if you really really like it more than reality around you and inside of you, then no worries.

[MN_FriendlyGuy]

So say this isn't all BS. Wouldn't that mean that the current goal of most hypnotists wouldn't be to try and make the subconscious more susceptible, but to actually go to the direct source of the problem, the mindset? Sounds like therapy in a weird way. Maybe some suggestive optimistic-like files could be made to resolve the problem.

Congratulations, JHoffman. You've discovered something. You've discovered that a specific style of hypnosis works better for you. That's the type of discovery that might lead you to become a hypnotist. You start by recording a hypnosis mp3 for yourself - and then sharing it when you realize how well it works!

You've learned that force-of-will hypnosis sessions are relatively ineffective for you. When an authority tells you "You will put on frocks" the gestalt of all your life experiences remains unchanged. And, it leaves you feeling unsatisfied.

By contrast, your theory about 'optimistic-like files' aligns with the current science about hypnosis. If a hypnotist can change the mindset of their subject, then this change will cause cascading 'top-down' changes in perceptions.

Link from Texas A&M University
http://philosophy.tamucc.edu/article.pl?sid=05/11/23/1512210

- When you feel proud of yourself for looking especially pretty, you know the sensation is real. Hypnosis can 'heighten' that feeling of pride, making it more intense. Positive reinforcement of this type can lead you to try new things that might be even prettier.

- You know how good it's felt when you've been well-dressed and well-groomed. You've had the experience of people noticing and maybe even complimenting you. You also know that going out in public dressed femininely might cause some people to stare. Hypnosis can 'adjust' your perception of those stares, allowing your mind to understand the stares the same way your mind understands those compliments given in the past.

I hope this trivia will encourage you JHoffman. You've made the type of discovery that leads to real change.

Hypnosis for feminization is a specialization I leave to other hypnotists. Are you that hypnotist?

[JHoffman]

Well, thisguy, it has some to do with the belief system, but I can walk into a hypnosis session with absolute belief that there will be some change or results.. but be proved wrong.

When I used the term, 'realistic/analytical', do not get this confused with one being defeatist or being pessimistic. By realistic, I mean, a person who looks at things realistically. For example, you listen to a hypnosis file and you do in fact believe it could yield results. But you're somewhat realistic in nature. If the results of the file go beyond your ability to comprehend, what's to say it'll work?

You could go in thinking like that with every file, but with varying degrees of success because some files require more thought. "Imagine a three-headed dog" is much different than "Imagine a dog" for an example. No matter which way you look at it, there's still the possibility that an analytical person would claim that, "yes, I can see the three-headed dog in my mind", but have no real belief that the three-headed dog can materialize in the real world. Therefore even whether an analytical person wanted to believe in it or not, even believing in it might not be enough. So there could be plenty reasons as to why it's impossible to believe in, such as the subject's But this can apply to many things, NOT just hallucinations.

But anyway, this is more of a debating thread more than a 'I HAVE AN IDEA FOR A FILE' topic, so feel free to post thoughts and discussion here. Don't bash me down or anything.