How do you experience trance?

[livelonger8]

I've been wondering about others experiences. Although many will state that each and every experience is discrete to others - and conscious experiences are distinct also - but should have some form of consistency. Personally, my trance's are often similar to those occuring when falling asleep; I would essentially begin to fall unconscious, with my thoughts and perceptions becoming intricate and are interpreted consciously via metaphors, whereas other trances may be a complete state of focus, although I would lack conscious awareness - I would still be somewhat unconscious, lacking literal communication.

I'm wondering if other's experiences are similar - do you fall unconscious, do your thoughts become odd and are your perceptions no longer literal, and ultimately, do you feel sleepy in a trance?

[Jeshi]

It feels like a very relaxed feeling.
Like I just relaxed my body as much as I could.
Like my body is surrounded in warmth that goes "Sure you COULD move your body, but you won't, and you aren't going to, and you don't want to" and if I do somehow move my arm or something then just that arm feels like it came out of trance, but it quickly falls back into the warmth.

And in my head, I'm always thinking "Am I going deeper? Did I relax enough? am I paying to much attention to the words?" not realizing that by doing so I'm not focusing on the words but just the sound of the voice, and then my mind will trail off "I wonder what other files I should listen to" and then I'll suddenly realize I trailed off and I'll start focusing on the voice again, then worry that I'm paying to much attention to it but find that I can't stop listening to it or force myself to trail off again, then after 5 minutes {Feels like 5 minutes, probably less} without realizing it the entire thing starts over again, until the wakener which always comes during the end of the loop when I realized I trailed off, and I'll feel my body cooling, and it goes "That warmth was getting a little hot anyways" and then when the hypnotist says "1" or "awake" or whatever he says, My eyes snap open and my mind is fully aware and my body is normal temperature and I know "I'm awake", unless there was a suggestion to forget I was in trance in which case it's more like a "Did I blank out for a bit?....Was I in trance? No I wasn't in trance I wasn't in trance I wasn't in trance, Windows media player isn't open {Even though it is, I have already closed it without thinking before I think this} so I couldn't have been playing a file, I should listen to a file then go to bed"

Usually however by the next day I remember having been in trance, and unless I specifically try and remember waking up from it like right now, I don't even remember forgetting I listened to it.

For me, Suggestions related to memory loss wear off really fast.

[livelonger8]

Thank you for that post - I highly appreciate it. Your trance is interesting - often, I experience this when falling into the hypnotists words although after, without succumbing to the worry of falling deeper or listening to the words of the hypnotist, I would fall unconscious - almost completely unaware or completely when without conscious thought or behavior. The reason for creating this thread was due to difficult in finding a consistency for the mind. Personally, my trances are similar although I'll fall into a sleep state in which my thoughts are intricate, often shrouded with peculiar images that can be decoded consciously in ways similar to dreams. When a suggestion works - and becomes a process subconsciously, I will experience whatever the hypnotist suggested without any form of control or awareness upon the mechanisms responsible for producing the experience - whatever is suggested becomes inevitable, although if another portion of my mind recognizes that it's correlated with a desirable experience pertaining to my conscious mind, it will as a consequence, awaken. But still, nonetheless, hypnosis still works, but there has to be a consistency in individual trance's - the ones that produce hallucinogenic experience (e.g. the actual feeling of something (e.g. an orgasm), seeing, smelling or hearing) or enhancement of either cognitive or bodily components - a trance that isn't just relaxation but also cascades a desirable effect.

I hope for others to post their experiences also - hopefully a pattern can be recognized from individual experiences.

[hellion0]

Very rarely do I get the "lost time" type of trance. Most times, it's a feeling of very deep relaxation, floating between consciousness and unconsciousness - I could move, but I just don't feel a need.

[livelonger8]

Very rarely do I get the "lost time" type of trance. Most times, it's a feeling of very deep relaxation, floating between consciousness and unconsciousness - I could move, but I just don't feel a need.

What about your thoughts? Are they clear in comparison to when you initiate them now, or are they the same? How is your awareness in trance? Are you aware of your surroundings, or do you become aware of subconscious processes the deeper you fall? (e.g. do you become aware of songs that looped hours before may would have slipped deeper)

[demigraff]

Very rarely do I get the "lost time" type of trance. Most times, it's a feeling of very deep relaxation, floating between consciousness and unconsciousness - I could move, but I just don't feel a need.

Most of my past experience has been of feeling a little floaty, finding my thoughts running away whenever I try to focus on them. Being aware of a tiny piece in the midle of a sentence, knowing I listened to the whole sentence, but being unable to grasp more than a few words.

Lately I started listening to hellion0's files. The first couple of times, I felt very "deep" in a literal sense, as if I was sinking into water or sand. I got the distinct impression of being underground, like when I'm in a cave and I can "feel" the weight of the earth above me. This quickly developed (3rd attempt or similar) into the sensation of being in a cold, dark box, with the distinct knowledge that I'm underground, not seeing but being aware of the earth in all directions. Quite odd that feeling like I'm being buried alive is so comforting. Then I'm aware of the words, not as actual words, but as a kind of torrent of pure meaning (I often ask subjects to feel my words flowing through them like a stream ... similar feeling, different element) filling up my box, a sense of great pressure as the words are forced into me.

Pretty trippy ... and the most awesome sensation I ever felt. I hoped it would last longer, but wasn't hopeful. My past experience has always been that a new induction (or new to me, anyway) works a while and then fades away and does nothing after a few times.

Then I got completely different - missing time. I hit play on a body by mistake (while organising a playlist), heard the words "deeper and deeper still", and the next thing I remember its just over an hour later. A few snatches of words, like from a dream, just about let me figure out what I'd listened to. That was intense.

Since then, its mostly the same. I don't remember a thing. Whether this makes them effective or not, the jury's still out. Listening to bodies from different authors distracted me enough to get back to the buried-alive feeling once or twice, but then those too are completely blacked out.

Ah well ...

[Alien4420]

I've been wondering about others experiences. Although many will state that each and every experience is discrete to others - and conscious experiences are distinct also - but should have some form of consistency. Personally, my trance's are often similar to those occuring when falling asleep; I would essentially begin to fall unconscious, with my thoughts and perceptions becoming intricate and are interpreted consciously via metaphors, whereas other trances may be a complete state of focus, although I would lack conscious awareness - I would still be somewhat unconscious, lacking literal communication.

I'm wondering if other's experiences are similar - do you fall unconscious, do your thoughts become odd and are your perceptions no longer literal, and ultimately, do you feel sleepy in a trance?

I'm not really sure, because when I go into deep trance (which for some reason usually happens only with live hypnosis) I have complete amnesia, just wake up with a missing segment of memory and can't remember what happened even if I try.

In a lighter trance, I very rarely experience anything like what you've described. Sometimes I experience hypsersensitivity -- I'm fairly perverse in that for example when the induction tells me to tune out for example all the sounds around me, I do the opposite and become exceedingly aware of them. And when I'm supposed to lose awareness of my body, I tend to do the opposite, which drives me nuts because I become aware of every itch. Then, sometimes I feel euphoric, can't move, etc. -- it all depends on how deep I am, and that changes throughout the trance. My mind wanders sometimes from the file, I start to have stray thoughts about it. But when the trance is a bit deeper it's as if part of my mind is going to sleep and I lose some awareness of my body and surroundings. The main exception to this is that when I'm listening to a visualization file sometimes I'll go so deep that I start to hallucinate and experience the suggested scenario as I would in a dream. Unfortunately, those experiences are brief, I'll have a flash of hallucination and then the trance will lighten.

I'm not sure why I have such trouble going into a deep trance with files, wish I could do it routinely. In the case of other suggestions, a lighter or medium trance seems more than sufficient, but I think that the files that require visualization would really benefit from it.

[livelonger8]

*bump*
These are a great read! Thank you to all who have posted their experiences so far! :D

However, can any experience hypnotist or other individual define a consistent basis for hypnosis? To clarify, I mean -- does falling unconscious but hearing the hypnotist's voice define a deep state of trance, the feeling of "floatness", interpolated belief systems or obedience - or perhaps a mixture of all, define an effective hypnotic trance?

[MN_FriendlyGuy]

One definition for effective trance state is not the presence of something. Instead, it's the lack of it.

The classic example is when someone lifts a forkful of food mid-way to their mouth and then pauses; holding it there while they finish speaking. And if you've ever done it, then you know it isn't necessary to consciously focus on holding that fork. You just momentarily put it 'on hold'; forgetting its there and yet not forgetting.

- It's effective: The conscious mind relegating a task to the unconscious.

- It's trance: The waxy stiffness of the joints (elbow, wrist and fingers) remains constant even in the absence of conscious effort.


Another definition for effective trance state is accessing memories - especially memories that have strong emotional 'cues'.

The classic example for this is phobias; fear as a response to a stimulus that most people find innocuous.

- It's effective: the unconscious mind influencing current conscious action... attracted to things that were fun & pleasant and repulsed by things that were unpleasant & uncomfortable.

- It's trance: when we're asked to recall something from memory our eyes roll up and to the right if we're right handed (up and to the left for southpaws). And you know there's no conscious reason for that movement, don't you?


Another definition for effective trance state is emotional parity (empathy).

The classic example for this is a movie that's so good you lose track of time.

- It's effective: so riveting you can't tear yourself away

- It's trance: You bought tickets for the movie, so you're aware it was created as way to make money. You know the actors names, so you're aware it's a performance. But every so often, you just want to cry - it's just that sad.


Isn't it interesting that all these examples are activities where a hypnotist is unnecessary?

And now that you're aware that there are different types of trance, you're free to understand why a single 'consistent basis for trance' is so difficult to define.

[livelonger8]

One definition for effective trance state is not the presence of something. Instead, it's the lack of it.

The classic example is when someone lifts a forkful of food mid-way to their mouth and then pauses; holding it there while they finish speaking. And if you've ever done it, then you know it isn't necessary to consciously focus on holding that fork. You just momentarily put it 'on hold'; forgetting its there and yet not forgetting.

- It's effective: The conscious mind relegating a task to the unconscious.

- It's trance: The waxy stiffness of the joints (elbow, wrist and fingers) remains constant even in the absence of conscious effort.


Another definition for effective trance state is accessing memories - especially memories that have strong emotional 'cues'.

The classic example for this is phobias; fear as a response to a stimulus that most people find innocuous.

- It's effective: the unconscious mind influencing current conscious action... attracted to things that were fun & pleasant and repulsed by things that were unpleasant & uncomfortable.

- It's trance: when we're asked to recall something from memory our eyes roll up and to the right if we're right handed (up and to the left for southpaws). And you know there's no conscious reason for that movement, don't you?


Another definition for effective trance state is emotional parity (empathy).

The classic example for this is a movie that's so good you lose track of time.

- It's effective: so riveting you can't tear yourself away

- It's trance: You bought tickets for the movie, so you're aware it was created as way to make money. You know the actors names, so you're aware it's a performance. But every so often, you just want to cry - it's just that sad.


Isn't it interesting that all these examples are activities where a hypnotist is unnecessary?

And now that you're aware that there are different types of trance, you're free to understand why a single 'consistent basis for trance' is so difficult to define.

Thanks for the reply! :D I greatly appreciate all replies thus far.

I guess this is a form of consistency in a tranced state of mind - a state in which one is focused upon one area (conscious actions are relegated to an autonomous structure (perhaps the reason as to why when focused on something, our autonomous mind that is lacking in self-awareness is unable to evade anything that is unrecognizable to its data bank (i.e. the subconscious cannot acquire new data, so it implements a conscious mind (self-awareness upon the external environment) to gather new data)).

To clarify, in my perspective, only one form of self-awareness can occur in a biological mind - there can't be two users running the same account on a computer system. Only one user can operate the biological system whereas the remainder functions occur in automation.

Furthermore, the subconscious would act as the remainder cognition unused by the conscious mind, behaving autonomous; it acts out instinctive actions (e.g. heart rate, arousal, respiratory, etc) and higher cognitive actions (e.g. typing, focusing, reading, writing, driving, etc), some of which may be present by default (core system files) whilst others would have once been self-aware (i.e. the conscious mind was utilized to gather and guide the subconscious into using the data correctly (and when the data doesn't match that of the external environment, we may ride a bicycle into a lamp post).

Likewise, an unconscious mind would appear to be self-awareness interjected into the subconscious as a maintenance activity; to solve problems that escape the capacity of a conscious mind, utilizing internal cognitive resources, and perhaps even stimulating body repairs (if body mechanisms following a linear path (automated) encounter an error, self-awareness (manual) may guide the procedures beyond occlusive paths).

A deepened state of trance should theoretically enable for self-awareness to guide subconscious mechanisms into solving problems that are too complex for the conscious mind, may alter its intuition (e.g. how we perceive external sensory data in perspective) and should even open greater access upon internal sensory mechanisms (i.e. the subjective operations that enable for dreams to occur), and may even further access to physiological systems (chemical distribution, organ maintenance, reproductive operations and temperature regulations).

Consecutively however, the greater the use should follow the greater complexity; a deepened state of trance should introduce more complex perspectives than those experienced whilst awake. The sky shouldn't be the sky in a literal perspective but should appear more symbolic, displaying other semantics that represent the sky (e.g. for the conscious mind, the sky may appear simply as the sky categorical but may also experience an underlying aurora or intuitive perception of the sky (e.g. a slight elegant blueish feeling)) -- but for the unconscious mind (a deepened state of awareness), the sky should appear as a diamond, a blue ocean and as space - it would appear as multiple entities (perhaps the reason for why dreams appear so much more complex than actual reality) -- the user interface should become segmented structures, sub-structures and then furthermore, its underlying programming language (e.g. a C++ perspective of the user interface).

The problem with self-awareness is free choice and an afterlife, and then furthermore a tacit knowledge of one's own presence in existence. My argument is why would we exist once and cease to never exist. Even in the logical universe (considering the presence of other realities, universes and ultimately, infinite (infinite existence, possibilities for each existence, time and that which the brain cannot conceive)), the product of logic persists throughout most, if not, all forms of logic. A reason for self-existence (the presence self-awareness) would be to merely experience but a reason for its departure would be absent - what would be the reason to experience once and for it never to occur again?

Furthermore, an additional problem is free choice, although ultimately it would be free will (i.e. the presence of two or more options (free choice couldn't occur without one option and thus requires additional options) and the choice upon either via true freedom and not causality would thus be free will (i.e. he/she willed her choice)), which would be an additional reason for existence. There would be no reason to just merely observe life - to have no control over it - so there may as well be the presence of choice.

Ultimately, if free choice exists and if it gives rise to self-awareness, our sole existence is permanent - there is no such thing as becoming nothing (or nothing itself since energy cannot be created nor destroyed, so therefore, all space must be filled with some form of energy, even if it's negative (e.g. dark matter)). Furthermore, this would also expose biological complexity as nothing more than computer systems, and the act of freedom exerted from any would reveal a user logged into any such system. Taxonomically, a computer system would also be defined as self-aware and given free choice since the user has control over its interface, with its underlying mechanisms operating as automated.

Furthermore, if free choice is present and with self-awareness, which we may as well unite and just call self-awareness (note: consciousness is the expansion of self-awareness; the implication of cognition (simple biology may have once been self-aware long before the integration of higher cognition)), the underlying mechanisms may as well operate as an automated system and when requiring maintenance, should call upon self--awareness for manual guidance.

Additionally, a primary protocol for the system should perpetuate the presence of self-awareness - it should ensure that it doesn't remove the its presence but rather committing all means to enhance the user's experience. However, this doesn't prevent the user from reducing a defensive capacity of the system; a low will to live may influence biological immunity.

From here, we have our essence - self-awareness, a reason for its presence - to both observe and interact, thus requiring free will, and with free will (to clarify on this, free will would ultimately give rise to our sole existence as being outside of the physical universe (if the universe acts in causality, and given that A or B without any detirministic interference, and with a response - the choice of either, this would give rise to the presence of an observe outside (although the observer - the self - or what has thus become self-awareness - would have only become aware of the most simple reality, enabling them to see A or B))) we can have an afterlife - permanent self-existence and free choice. Furthermore, we also have a biological mind with a subconscious, unconscious and conscious mind. By injecting self-awareness we can only have two present at any given time. So it can either be 01 or 10 - self-awareness can either be the conscious mind or unconscious mind, with the subconscious replacing the former.

Ultimately this would require hypnosis to introduce some form of activity else we (self-awareness) may go into a deep state of thought, similar to dream complexity. However, a deepened state comparable to a dream level should give control over our perspectives - the subconscious mind with self-awareness distracted should be capable of better recognizing the suggestions.

Paradoxically however, to understand any give language, one must comprehend the concept of language. For the computer system to read the user interface, binary must understand the underlying programming languages. Thus, a translation mechanisms is required - a processor, which is limited in that it can only decode so much for each given period of time (e.g. if an operating system was directly coded into binary, the system would probably never hangup, whereas higher languages require a specialized sub-system to decode the data into something that the roots can comprehend). However, the brain should be capable of transcoding data perhaps instantly - for every cell, there is a connection to every other (i.e. there are 100 billion neurons on average with 100+ trillion connections, thus interconnecting all cells). The problem is that when given a placebo - an altered belief, impacts upon the emotional, perceptive and other cognitive systems can appear almost instantly - this displays no delay, and lower cognitive systems should operate under a language more complex to that of the conscious mind (i.e. literal data shouldn't fit into a metaphorical perspective; it would require something to translate the data). An unconscious mind shouldn't understand literal data either, and thus a trance conveying metaphorical data should appear most effective - given that the depth of comparable to a dream state.

Physiological effects however (effects upon the core instinctual systems and the body's physiology) should reverse the DNA transcoding process (i.e. rather than for the genetic code to be translated into instruction sets for a cell or cells within the brain, the brain passes decoded data into mechanisms that neural signals into smaller chemical structures with cell receptor compatibility that are also compatible with cellular functions that pass data through to the cell genome).

Thus, a placebo may only induce physiological effects after a set period of time - the physical effects of hypnosis should also abide by this principle.

But all of the above mostly discussed the basis of language and the structures of a mind. A conscious mind - the literal layer, may implement a security barrier to prevent any malicious suggestions from altering the lower layers. Bypassing this barrier (the analytical mind) may give the opportunity to implant data into its positive check list. Hypnosis could effectively reach towards a layer that operates behind and could implant suggestions that it can accept; thus, trigger phrases could create hallucinogenic effects.

I guess I've kinda contradicted myself, my bad (I stated that all neurons are interconnected and should translate data instanteously, so translating literal information into a metaphorical perspective should occur instantly).

[MN_FriendlyGuy]

Thats a logical way to think of it - even if it seems contradictory.

- Higher brain functions
- Lower brain functions

And even though they're called "lower brain functions", they're much more YOU than the higher brain functions, even though you think you know who you are. And that's contradictory too.

The lower brain function is always 'on' - even when you sleep.

The higher brain functions rest. And for the 16-or-so hours when it's awake and aware, it relies on the subconscious - a partnership.

Habits guide us. Memories affect our feelings and choices.

And it's unimportant whether we realize the subconscious is a partner in day-to-day activity.

We, each of us, is a collective of memories and habits. They're resources that guide us and show us what we hope for... what we fear... what we desire. That's YOU.

- What you want
- What you need
- What you like

And hypnosis is simply a quiet communication.

An honest communication.

What you focus on... What you honestly love focusing on... that's what you become.

[zapnosis]

Hmm... for me trance involves a feeling of relaxation and numbness all over my body... after some years of experience and probably more than 1000 proper trances, I find it easy to completely empty my mind... when it comes to actually remembering the session, it is rather like remembering a dream in that I can't always remember details, but I can usually remember the impression they made on me... I rarely remember enough detail to piece together the whole session, unless it's one of my own sessions of course cos then I don't even need to think about it...

In the best and very deepest trances, I feel little shocks of pleasure that shoot up my arms and legs... sometimes the whole length of my body... this has been known to build to a completely blissfull high... and my thinking becomes "mechanical" - I don't know of any better way to describe it.

On occasion, in very deep trances, I have felt like I am falling over backwards. One of my more spiritual friends has told me that this is the first sign of an "out of body experience" - the "soul" floats up, but the head is the last bit to disconnect, but I don't know... When I have gone very deep every day for a week or more, I've sometimes felt a pressure at the front of my head when not in trance, just at the top of my nose, that is almost uncomfortable... pushing my head back, like the same thing is trying to happening again. Still, I don't read too much into it - the mind is a very complex thing!

[Zorque]

I've never gone as deep into trance as I'd like to have, but for me it's always a sort of paralysis. It's not that it's impossible for me to move, but it's really hard to work up the will to do so. I get a little dizzy and disoriented too, but I don't really notice until after I've come out of it.

[livelonger8]

Thats a logical way to think of it - even if it seems contradictory.

- Higher brain functions
- Lower brain functions

And even though they're called "lower brain functions", they're much more YOU than the higher brain functions, even though you think you know who you are. And that's contradictory too.

The lower brain function is always 'on' - even when you sleep.

The higher brain functions rest. And for the 16-or-so hours when it's awake and aware, it relies on the subconscious - a partnership.

Habits guide us. Memories affect our feelings and choices.

And it's unimportant whether we realize the subconscious is a partner in day-to-day activity.

We, each of us, is a collective of memories and habits. They're resources that guide us and show us what we hope for... what we fear... what we desire. That's YOU.

- What you want
- What you need
- What you like

And hypnosis is simply a quiet communication.

An honest communication.

What you focus on... What you honestly love focusing on... that's what you become.

I agree! By logic, the mind paradigm abides by an underlying structure, and furthermore, a set of protocols; a set of rules and autonomous instructs, or an act-on-instinct that perpetuate survival. We automatically know when we're hungry, when we need oxygen, the nutrients required (i.e. what foods to eat), and furthermore, higher-level environmentally dependent actions (i.e. what to do to achieve our aspirations).

Therefore, by altering the underlying structure, you inevitably affect the higher level - the lower level system operates the higher layers in a greater complexity, and therefore, provide a greater use upon the system. Thus, if hypnosis is accessing these portions of the mind and altering how the underlying structure operates, we can alter how our memory functions, how the brain processes signals through to the body, even essential signals (e.g. how fast the heart beats by default).

A depth of trance I suppose, should be correlated to a depth of mind; the deeper in a trance, then thus, the deeper in a mind and ultimately, the more access and control over the mind.

Future perception should also abide the same principle; older memories should synthesize newer experiences, and furthermore, memories. Two memories form one (then two for each of the others, and so forth).

I agree that the lower structure creates the extensive "you", or what is conceived as consciousness, but I personally believe that the "you" is distinct from the brain - it operates externally and is merely a user connected to an operating system (as discussed and theorized in the previous post).

[blu4eva]

I have been listening to EMG's files and have felt so incredibly relaxed, almost like I am actually sinking or being sucked into the bed (Think Nightmare on Elm Street but in a good way!!) I am conscious of his voice totally but am also unable to move although I feel a REM like state with my eyes because I get totally absorbed in the background noises of the tape as well. I feel his suggestions and get stirrings in my body similar to working up to an orgasm almost 8O I feel so in tune with what he is saying and find it hard to move, primarily because I think that I don't actually want to! My only issue so far has been not wanting to come back when I am counted back as I am so happy and relaxed. This has only happened once though and I think that I was kind of fighting against the suggestion as it meant giving total control over :?
When I did come back though I felt overwhelmed by emotion and felt shaky and out of control. I don't consider this a negative experience though merely a step along the right path. Thank you EMG xx

[kitsukat]

Normally when I trance, I can still move around a little. Mainly things like turning or touching in order to get more comfortable, though I try to resist. I may try some freeze files to help with that.

Triggers are really effective with me, especially if I'm addicted to the file. Lately, I've also been listen to memory play which has been really good in training me to trance better. I still don't get the lost time feeling, but sometimes, I'll completely forget having even listened to the file if I try to recall it.

I tend to get this buzzy feeling in my head when I go deeper. Sort of like that feeling you get if you yawn, and every once in a while, I'll see swirly pictures behind my eyelids, but that's only if I'm really deep, but still conscious.

[BobbyS]

I seem to have a million different responses...

When listening to recordings, I find I can usually only enter a light trance. This is just a feeling of being very relaxed and, with any luck, my mind locked onto the hypnotists' words.
At this level of trance, only behavioural suggestions have consistently reliable effects.
Much as I'd like otherwise, I have NEVER had any results with files that cause you to feel sexual arousal or orgasmic feelings. (Still get a momentary woody on the way down though. ;-) )

The only time I've been hypnotised in person felt completely different. Still relaxed, but with a kind of purposeful stillness and calm.
This may be because I lie back in loose and/or casual clothes to trance. This time I was sitting upright on a chair in my work attire.
Unlike when listening to recordings, my head didn't slouch and it was like my body just left itself locked in the position it was when it went into trance, rather than droop into a relaxed heap.
Still definitely an altered state, but very different.
Don't know how deep I went as it was just a taster. Arm levitation worked, and after locking it in place, my arm was pale, still and waxy. My eyes were rolling about beneath the eyelids, which is meant to also be a good sign.

I think I actually had my deepest trance last night though.
I can't think of how to describe it other than it was like being asleep but conscious that you're asleep at the same time.
Also, it felt like the front of my brain was 'buzzing', which was weird.
I had a weird kind of dream at one point, and it took me a while to realise that I was actually visualising a suggestion from the hypnotist.
At the end of the session, you're given the option of waking up when the background music stops, or remaining in trance (in case you have another file queued or something).
Despite there being nothing else on the playlist, it felt so nice I opted to just stay in trance. I didn't care how long for as it felt wonderful.
After what felt like ages, I woke up. I'd remained in trance for an extra 15 minutes.

(If anyone's interested, the file was Drop Like A Rock by Ember Larimar. It's a trance trainer file with a re-induction trigger that's used repeatedly over the course of the file. Femdom overtones also.
I think she worked so well with me as she puts all her files up for free so there's no question of being tranced to buy stuff and thus a sense of trust, and her style is just what I'm looking for - soothing, calm, silky smooth but with an air of authority.)