What is hypnosis?
Opinions vary on the exact definition of this natural state of mind. First of all, contrary to what many people believe, hypnosis is not always a sleep state even though a person in hypnosis may appear to be sleeping. Hypnosis is really a natural state of mind; whenever our mind wanders, daydreams or is focused on something, such as reading a book, driving a familiar route, watching a film we are in a state of hypnosis.
Brain scans on people who are in hypnosis state show that brain wave activity moves from a Beta state to an Alpha state, and sometimes a Theta state. This is not dissimilar to the pattern of brain activity during meditation.