Am I asleep or completely unconscious during hypnosis?

Hypnotists are often asked whether one is asleep or even unconscious during hypnosis. Many people still think that hypnosis is a kind of anesthesia and when you wake up again, all problems and worries are spirited away. This is not so. On the one hand it is a pity, because it sounds good that all problems dissolve in your sleep. But actually it is good news that in hypnosis you are not will-less or unconscious. On the contrary, you remain in full control at all times. Somewhat confusing is the fact that the word hypnosis comes from the Greek term "hypnos" and that means sleep. So it is not surprising that many think hypnosis and sleep are the same thing. But in fact this is not so: you are conscious at all times during hypnosis and could end hypnosis on your own.

As a rule, you can remember everything after hypnosis and there is no memory loss (amnesia). Sometimes the opposite is true and you remember things that you had previously repressed. This is because hypnosis gives you access to your subconscious mind, where there are memories that you are not aware of. During hypnosis, you are in a very relaxed state, but you are still aware of everything around you. Your consciousness is not turned off so that you are unconscious, but merely somewhat moved to the background or calmed down. This makes it almost impossible for you to suffer from memory lapses after hypnosis. Even after a very deep trance, you can still remember everything.

It has happened in exceptional cases that clients who have returned from a very deep trance suffered from a fragmentary memory. But here there is no need to worry, the memory comes back within a few minutes in the waking state. A slight disorientation or strenuous thinking about everything that happened the day before may also be familiar to you shortly after waking up in the morning. Long-lasting amnesia cannot be triggered by hypnosis alone.

A phenomenon that occurs more often after hypnosis is time distortion. A hypnosis session can last an hour or two, but to the client it seems like a few minutes. It then seems as if everything is happening in fast motion. For others, it feels like time is passing much more slowly. In addition, the brain does not store everything that happens in a trance. It simply sorts out things that seem unimportant to it. But it does this all day anyway, otherwise we would suffer from a permanent overload of stimuli. Many clients report after hypnosis that they can remember very strong and vivid impressions that stay with them for a long time. Likewise, many report that you perceived many more details than usual. This is because under hypnosis your senses sharpen, your concentration and attention increase. This ability is important because it is the basis for you to sustainably internalize new solution strategies and establish new habits and assumptions.

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