By Hakeem Alexander

(Exercising Your Mind) No one really knows exactly how hypnosis works. However, there are theories that are based on the fact that HYPNOSIS DOES WORK. Through experimentation and research, it has been determined that hypnosis works through what some call the “Laws of Self-Hypnosis” and the process of memory which are Repetition, Association and Impression.

Repetition is simply doing or experiencing something over and over again until it is 2nd nature or recognized as reality or as an option that may be presently or later carried out as a thought/memory, language/speech or behavior/action.

Association is simply referring to anchoring or linking an emotion or physical feeling or other significant trigger to a response such as a behavior; or, a behavior that triggers an emotion. This linking or association happens through concurrence, or when the emotion and behavior happen consistently at the same time. It can also be created through trauma or another intense experience that makes the behavior and emotion or feeling appear in the mind of the person to almost be the same thing, so that when one happens, the other is triggered.

Impression is when the behavior and emotion bundle or stimulus-response complex are a “permanent” part of the mental make-up of someone. This means that it is a consistent part of their character or core beliefs and values. In other words, the person consistently responds in the same or similar way to a particular stimulus or stimuli.

Hypnosis works in these ways by somehow accessing what psychologists call the subconscious mind. It is the subconscious mind that acts on suggestions and carries them out through behaviors and emotions. We know that hypnosis does work by the fact that we can get a certain response consistently when we trigger the so-called post-hypnotic suggestion; that is when one implants a subconscious trigger and then pull it, and it fires reliably over and over again with the expected response or outcome.

How hypnosis works is still quite mysterious to most of us.