I got invited to give a workshop at an event in Place de Nous, Belgium, on October 1st, 2016. Fortunately, the organiser contacted me plenty in advance and I could keep this weekend empty enough to go and I’m very happy I chose to do so!
The Workshop Itself
During the day, there were two workshops of about 75 minutes. Both contained over 20 people and followed mostly the same structure. The second workshop was a bit busier and more successful, both because I was feeling more confident and I got a bit lucky with my audience participation.
I’ll put my basic agenda here of what I did and in (roughly) what order.
Introduction to hypnosis
- A pre-talk about what it is and what it's not.
- It's as safe as sleeping, as in: Don't do it while driving!
- Don't worry, you'll always wake up!
- It's a natural state of the body.
What is trance exactly?
- No clear answer, subspace and meditation are both examples of trance.
- A natural, focused state in which you are open to suggestions.
- Proven to work, just unclear why and how.
The various stages
- Induction - What types of inductions are there.
- Deepeners - Often visualisations of going deeper.
- Suggestions and post-hypnotic suggestions - Mistakes can, and will happen!
- Fractionation - Kind of like a 'trance practice' by going in and out rapidly.
- Waking
Induction Tests
Simple tests to see which members of the audience are sensitive to certain suggestions, it was fun to ask everyone to participate!
- Balloon + books test - Arm stretched out, one palm facing up, putting books on the open palm and a helium balloon under the other.
- Magnetic fingertips - Both hands in a fist, index fingers pointing up, attracted to each other.
- Glued together hands - Both hands in a fist, stuck together.
Inductions Used
During the workshop I used only the first two inductions, however afterwards several people approached me for more information or experience. With them I also showed some other variations.
- Progressive Relaxation - The most well-known, common induction.
- Memory Induction - Making people remember times when they've been in trance, like driving through snow, reading a good book.
- Rehearsal induction - Allowing an audience member to even trance themselves.
- My Friend John - A story about someone being hypnotized.
- Focus Interruption - A gentle interruption to someone's focus allowing them to forget more. (used for ADD).
Suggestions Used
Next to the ones I mentioned here, some naughtier suggestions were also used, but to protect the (fairly) innocent I won't go into too much detail here.
- Instant drop
- Hands stuck to knees.
- Arm unable to move (completely limp)
- Re-live a previous intense and pleasant memory
- Feeling sensation of the other person (while holding hands)
Final Thoughts
The venue and the event were great. The people welcoming and warm and even the skeptical people were respectful and asked very useful questions: (Can anyone learn this? Yes!)
I again would like to thank all the people who participated and in particular everyone who approached me after the workshop. I have had great conversations, fun and play!
Thank you MarcVanVlaanderen and Place de Nous