20 Signs You Were Hypnotized

When you go for a hypnotherapy session for the first time you are likely to have expectations about what is going to happen that might be very different from the reality of a hypnotic state. Whilst many people think they may fall asleep, lose control or be in some coma-like state being hypnotized isn’t always what you might think. Signs you were hypnotized can range from the very subtle to the glaringly obvious which is why a trance is so interesting.

The truth is that the hypnosis process can differ from person to person. For some people, the signs are incredibly obvious and there can be no doubt you were in a trance but for others, they aren’t often aware of their hypnosis because it feels like relaxation.

The signs you were hypnotized will also depend on the depth of trance state that you enter. A deep trance for example will involve significantly less conscious awareness than a light trance. This means that there is no normal state that everyone will achieve rather a series of signs that a hypnotic state has been achieved.

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Have I Been Hypnotized?

When people ask the question “have I been hypnotized?” it is generally because their expectations of a hypnosis session vs the reality of a trance state differ. If a hypnotherapist has not taken time to properly explain how a trance works then it can be easy to see why someone would believe that they hadn’t been in hypnosis at all.

Subtle signs of were hypnotized appear too boring and mundane to the uninitiated, especially when compared to TV and films. Yet if a hypnotherapist tells a person that the feeling of hypnosis can be relatively boring in comparison to what they see in shows their expectations change then they are less likely to question whether they have been in hypnosis.

Any good hypnotherapist should tell their clients the real story before beginning a session so that their sessions are not questioned.

How Do I Know If I Was Hypnotized?

So what are the signs you were hypnotized? Well here are typical signs of a trance. Not all of these will be experienced by everyone. Each trance is unique but you should expect to experience at least a few of the following when you are hypnotized.

Signs of Hypnosis Include a Heavy Body

When you are placed into hypnosis you are likely to feel heavy and incredibly relaxed. This doesn’t tend to happen immediately if you are in your first session but gradually over the course of the hypnotherapy.

When our clients first sit down for the first time for their session they tend to move around a little or fidget whilst they get themselves comfortable. As the session progresses some of this movement starts to reduce as their bodies and minds become more relaxed.

During progressive muscle relaxation, we may ask our clients to imagine each part of their body becoming more tired and heavy so that eventually they notice that heaviness all over. By the end of the session, it may appear difficult to move your arms and legs. When the hypnotherapist brings you back into the room the heaviness starts to fade relatively quickly but there can be no doubt you have experienced a strong physical feeling.

Watering Eyes

When some clients are in hypnosis they experience increased lacrimation or watering eyes. Some clients may look as if they are crying but it is just a sign of trance.

The explanation for this watering is supposed to be because of relaxation of the tear ducts but as no studies have been done on why this happens there may be other reasons for this sign of trance.

What Does Being Hypnotized Feel Like? – Loss of Awareness

Have you ever been in a meeting where the subject matter was incredibly boring and you found your mind wandering off into a daydream? If you have then this gives you a good idea of what a loss of awareness is really like. We experience similar hypnotic phenomena in our day to day lives all the time.

When watching TV we may become less focused on those around us and not hear someone calling our name. If you have driven the same route over and over again eventually your start to drive on auto-pilot.

This loss of awareness is not sleeping but simply the fact that your attention to the outside world has lessened. At this point, your conscious mind has switched off allowing your subconscious to be more easily accessed with the suggestions the hypnotherapist is giving you.

Your Breathing Slows

Other signs you were hypnotized include your breathing rate. When you are in hypnosis and start to relax then your breathing also starts to slow down.

Most people will find that their breathing starts to slow down over the course of their therapy as they allow themselves to drift into the trance. Your breathing patterns tend to remain regular but you simply start to breathe in and out less. This slow breathing contributes further to the relaxation enhancing the hypnosis.

Fluttering Eyelids

A very visible sign of a hypnotic trance is fluttering eyelids. This is not a slow movement of the eyelids but a fast fluttering that is usually seen in REM sleep.

Rapid eye movement is a phenomenon that is normally seen when people are dreaming in bed. As their brain starts to dream their eyelids begin to move quickly. When the person enters a deeper sleep the eyelids stop the fluttering.

Eyelids fluttering is a hypnosis sign that is incredibly hard to fake. Try it yourself to see if you can replicate what might be seen in dream-like state and you will see it is very difficult. For a hypnotherapist seeing their subject’s eyes moving at this speed is a good indicator that a hypnotic state has been reached.

The client is usually also aware that this is happening but is unable to stop it. This means that eyelid movement acts as a great convincer to show a trance has taken place.

If you want to know more about hypnosis then there are some great books on the subject. We recommend Trancework by Michael Yapko who explains how it all works.

Lower Pulse Rate

Signs you were hypnotized also include having a lower pulse rate which is is easily understandable to most people. When you are consciously awake and moving around your pulse rate is higher. Decided to do some brisk walking or some exercise and your pulse rate will increase again.

Now think about doing the exact opposite during a hypnotherapy session. You are likely to be sat very still for at least twenty minutes if not longer. Your hypnotherapist starts to place you in a trance state and you start breathing slowly. It is only natural that your pulse rate will also start to slow as well.

It should be pointed out that your pulse rate also lowers as you enter sleep. Although sleep and hypnosis are not the same some of the same physical bodily signs are common to both.

The State of Hypnosis Involves Relaxation

We have already touched on the fact that hypnosis can be deeply relaxing but most people aren’t aware of just how significant that can be. We aren’t talking about the kind of relaxation that you might feel if you were sitting in front of the TV in the evening but a relaxed level way beyond this.

Most of our clients are pleasantly surprised by how relaxed they can get during a hypnotherapy session. This relaxation doesn’t just impact them in the session itself but can also stay with them when they have left the session. If they regularly practice self-hypnosis their ability to find this relaxed feeling for themselves increases and often they find themselves feeling much calmer in their everyday lives.

This is why hypnosis is such a brilliant tool to use on people who suffer from panic attacks, stress or anxiety as it reduces the fight or flight response. You can try it for yourself by using our self-hypnosis for relaxation and stress reduction audio.

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Feeling of Movement

So far I have spoken about lots of common signs you were hypnotized in the hypnotic experience but what about some of the lesser-known parts of trance that people are less likely to talk about?

The next sign that our clients are in a trance is much more unusual but it does occur when our clients are in hypnosis in our therapy chair and that is a feeling of movement. Many of our clients report that whilst they are in hypnosis they feel as if the chair is moving whilst they are in it. Yet our chair is firmly attached to the floor and is as steady as a rock.

We don’t know why this phenomenon happens but it is a regular occurrence in our sessions with a client which disappears when they are back in their conscious mind.

Seeing Colours or Patterns

Another more unusual sign you were hypnotized is seeing colours and patterns whilst you are in a trance. Again this isn’t something that happens with everyone but many of our clients report seeing these colours when they are in a focused state of relaxation.

Remember that hypnosis can have similarities to dreaming so people imagine all kinds of things whilst they are in hypnosis that wouldn’t occur in a fully awake state.

Emotional Release

As humans, we repress certain memories and feelings that make us feel uncomfortable. These feelings tend to reside in the unconscious mind and are often the source of our current problems. When certain clients are in hypnosis these suppressed feelings can sometimes burst out even though no therapy has even been conducted in what a hypnotherapist would call an abreaction.

An abreaction tends to be a reliving of the moment where the problem first occurred including all the horrible feelings and emotions that occurred at the time. Whilst it can seem frightening at that moment it allows the client to understand what their real problem is and enables emotional healing.

There is no mistaking these signs you were hypnotized because of the strong emotions involved but generally these pass relatively quickly.

Facial Muscles

When you are in hypnosis the muscles in your body relax leaving that nice calm feeling. The facial muscles in particular start to relax and smooth out meaning that your worry lines start to lessen and your face looks smoother.

It is no wonder that some hypnotherapists have started to market this as a non-surgical facelift. The idea being that who needs botox when you can naturally use hypnosis to relax those muscles which in turn can help you to look younger.

Brain Waves Change

Not all signs you were hypnotized can be seen directly by the client or the hypnotherapist but they can be seen if you are hooked up to a machine that measures your brain waves.

The great thing about modern science is that brain activity that previously would have been hidden can now be monitored enabling scientists to see if the hypnosis is doing anything physically. Studies have shown that our theta brain waves and gamma waves can change when your body is relaxed under hypnosis.

Eyes Redness

If a client is in hypnosis then there is likely to be a reddening of the eyes. This eye redness doesn’t tend to be profound but it is noticeable in some clients.

Less Bothered By Outside Noise

We have already mentioned that when you are in hypnosis your focus on the outside world lessens as you move more into your unconscious mind. As this focus changes our clients get less bothered about what is going on around them.

So as an example if they were to hear a loud noise they would be less likely to react to it or come out of the trance state. We have conducted many sessions in busy areas such as a hospital where nurses and patients were all around our clients making noise but our clients weren’t bothered by it in the slightest and stayed in trance.

You can spot this same phenomenon in hypnosis stage shows where the participants aren’t phased by the audience and continue to stay in their trance.

Tingling Hands and Feet

As our clients relax their bodies during hypnosis they make experience numbness in their hands or feet. When the session ends and they try and move their limbs they may experience a tingling sensation.

These feelings are only temporary and soon pass when the session is over.

Slumped in Chair

One of the most obvious signs you were hypnotized by a hypnotherapist is that they witness clients slumped in the therapy chair.

All our clients start off sitting in a relatively upright manner but for some hypnotized people their ability to stay that way alters as they become more relaxed. We usually start to see their heads relaxing to one side at first and then a gradual sliding of the body down the chair until our clients are in the slumped position.

Obviously, as therapists, we are aware that we need to keep our clients comfortable so they don’t experience muscle pain after the session so if we need to we can help them to get into a better position.

Entering The State of Hypnosis and Experiencing a Distortion of Time

Our next phenomenon is a great convincer of a hypnotic state especially for sessions that take longer and that is a distortion of time.

It is not unusual for some hypnosis to last for 45 minutes to an hour especially in sessions to stop smoking. As hypnotherapists, we are well aware of the time it is taking for the session but our clients aren’t. When we ask them how long they were in hypnosis for at the end of the session it isn’t unusual for them to tell us ten or fifteen minutes.

Imagine how shocked a client is when they find out that they have been in hypnosis for 3 to five times longer than they thought. Signs you were hypnotized can sometimes be quite marked and distortion of time really stands out.

Hallucinations

Another sign of deeper states of hypnosis is another amazing that a client is in a trance and that is they are hallucinating.

We have had clients imagining they were shaking hands with someone who wasn’t even in the room. They are pressing buttons on lifts that are a figment of their imagination and generally so caught up in the unconscious mind that their view of the world has altered.

Generally, this isn’t frightening to the client and they feel comfortable with this reality. It is only on coming out of hypnosis that they realise what they were seeing wasn’t real.

Can’t Remember What the Hypnosist Says

When you are in hypnosis typically a hypnotist is delivering suggestions to you to help you create positive changes. These suggestions are positive words, metaphors and stories that take a time to tell. If you were consciously awake then you would obviously remember all the story, unless the person telling it was incredibly boring. Under hypnosis more often than not your attention completely wanders off and you forget parts of it.

It is not uncommon for our clients to only remember snapshots of what we have said. If we give them a self-hypnosis download that repeats the same suggestions again and again they will start to pay less and less attention consciously. As the information is entering into the unconscious mind despite this it makes no difference to the effectiveness of the session.

Suggestibility

Signs you were hypnotized have to finally include suggestibility and how you react after your sessions. When you are in hypnosis you are more suggestible meaning you are more likely to do what the hypnotherapist suggests providing it isn’t something that goes against your ethical code.

So if a hypnotherapist suggests to you that chocolate tastes disgusting and a few weeks later you find yourself turning down a piece of chocolate cake when normally you would devour it you know something is working. Hypnosis is designed to help you make changes whether that be lower stress or anxiety, losing weight or stopping smoking there is normally a positive end result. If you find that you are getting those benefits where you weren’t before then you know you were hypnotised into thinking differently.