Toastmaster Speech #3

Demystifying Hypnosis

Look Deep Into My Eyes or at This Glittery Thingy and I will make you bark like a chicken!

Have you been to a stage hypnosis show?

Have you been on stage IN a stage hypnosis show?

Have you sat in the audience watching in shocked awe as that guy did the Big Bad Booty dance to “Baby’s Got Back?”

Have you thought, OMG!  No way that hypnotist is getting ME up on stage to turn ME into a BIG BAD BOOTY DANCER!

Well, tonight, I’d like to assuage your fears a little bit, and assure you, that nobody can control your mind.  After this explanation, you will understand that hypnosis is not the same as mind control.  Under hypnosis, you are in complete control.  Nobody can turn you into a big bad booty dancer if you don’t have the big bad booty dance in you!

Let me start with Exhibit A.

Here is your brain in its normal alpha state.  If you can recall from the movie Star Wars, the Death Star was practically impervious to rebel attack.

Now your brain wasn’t always like this.  When you are a young child, all outside forces easily influenced your brain.  You would accept anything and everything as truth.  Around ages 5 to 7, though, a defense mechanism, known as your developing ego, was erected to protect you.  Outside forces after that age have a harder time getting in.  You become wiser and less gullible.  We will call this the “Death Star Effect”.

The Death Star Effect is the normal state of mind for most people.  Think of it as a “benevolent” Darth Vader.  Though you might think it is good to have Darth Vader in your mind, especially if he keeps the controlling hypnotists of the Big Bad Booty Dance at bay, Darth also prevents you from changing certain habits or old tapes that play in your head.

The Statue of Darth-berty

Some routines in your brain are really good.  But some are not as pleasant.  Have you ever tried to break a bad habit unsuccessfully?  Blame that on Darth Vader’s Death Star.  He locks in both good habits and bad…

So how can hypnosis defeat Darth?

In a state of deep relaxation, your ego skips off the scene, thus dropping the energy force field of the Death Star.  This allows a person, such as Luke Skywalker, to get past the protective barrier and talk directly to the brain, thus changing brain patterns.   In this state, you can forge new pathways in your mind.  You will allow yourself to do things in new and different ways.

Please allow me to present Exhibit B:  your brain in beta state.

Have you ever noticed how flexible and pliable a child is to new ideas?   That is because they have a Pre Darth brain.  Now you most likely have a Post Darth Brain.

This doesn’t mean that you won’t try new things.  It just means it’s a little bit harder to form new habits.  If you are quite diligent, you will be able to form new habits by repetition.

It is known that if you want to change habits, you can do so by making sure to repeat the same new good habit every day for 40 days, and this new habit will become ingrained in your routine.

Now not everybody has the patience to wait 40 days.  If you would like to take a quicker approach, you might want to give hypnosis a try.

Through the deeply relaxed, yet aware state, you will be able to quickly break the walls down.  You can once again experience a child-like brain, open and flexible.  The relaxed state of hypnosis allows suggestions in.  It allows you to change habits.  It allows you to release fears and negative emotions.  It allows you to do the Big Bad Booty Dance without inhibitions.

And fortunately, when you come back to room awareness, and the Death Star Effect falls back into place, those new Good Habits and intentions are locked behind the electric fence, trapped in the Death Star.

Your star is looking a whole lot less death-like, no?

Before I go any further, please let me assure you.  Though you are changing things, your common sense is still intact.   You still know what is right and wrong.  And though you are in a relaxed state, you will still protect yourself from bad advice.  Nobody can make you do anything you DON’T want to do.

So.  What does all this have to do with that guy up on stage doing the Big Bad Booty Dance?

Well, he has dropped his inhibitions, and is acting like a playful little kid.  He has let his inner child out and is having fun.  Remember, if he didn’t want to do the Big Bad Booty Dance… if he didn’t want to get up on stage and be star for the night… if he didn’t know how to dance…  He just wouldn’t.

I know.  Because I’ve been to stage shows where some people act nuts, and others just sit in their chairs like lumps.

To be on the safe side, though, when those Big Bad Booty Dancers come back to the here and now, and the Death Star energy field falls back into place, do him a favor.  Don’t tell him, “Luke.  I am your fathah!”  He may whip out his lightsaber and say, “May the force be with you!”

Fun Your Way Out of the Box!

darth vader · death star effect on brain · fun · hypnosis · relaxation · stage hypnosis