View Full Version : Hypnotism Vs. Sleep
Connie
05-24-2006, 07:39 AM
I have a question. :)
I saw my favorite hypnotist's stage show the other day, and I believe he said this. (I may be wrong). He said that 1 hour of being hypnotized is as restful as getting 8 hours of sleep. True or false? What's your sense of that? Have there been empirical studies that anyone's heard of?
I'm not sleeping as much as I used to since I started listening to my audio cds nightly. It's cutting into my sleep brainwave time! :) Am I getting other benefits which are as restful as sleep? I don't seem overly tired, but it is hard to get up in the mornings sometimes. :p
Terry (existing)
05-24-2006, 08:09 AM
The statement your favourite hypnotist quoted is one that is frequently promoted, but unfortunately it is overly symplistic as far as health is concerned. Sleep comes in many layers, each having value for health, and therefor to attempt to replace sleep with hypnosis would be unhealthy for you. You need all the layers unless you wish to use this knowledge for an emergency situation which you don't intend to repeat regularly. This demonstrates the difference between a skilled therapist, and someone who can hynotise, but has no therapy experience, and what such lack can do to the unsuspecting public. Did you know for instance that lack of sleep can, if prolonged, send you into lunacy?
Connie
05-24-2006, 08:32 AM
Lunacy? I'm halfway there, already. (I'm a moon child, by the way!)
Thank you for your answer! It sounded like a strange, kind of throwaway claim. That's why I wondered. Maybe I misheard him, or misunderstood his comment. That's far more likely than that he was wrong.
Now I have to defend him again. THIS hypno-guy does have clinical experience. He's a DCH, and Ph.d. (in psychology) as well as an entertainer. He's got a client base all across the country. 15 years.
Poodle
05-24-2006, 05:30 PM
I'm thing I was told that a person could go longer without food or water than without sleep. Our bodies have natural circadian rhythms. Hypnosis may feel as if you have had a very refreshing "nap" as you feel so great but it is not a replacement for sleep. In fact, if you even felt like you were asleep the suggestion should be made that at bedtime the natural circadian rhythm of your body will take over and you will sleep deeply and peacefully so you can awaken in the morning refreshed, renewed and ready for another day. I know one guy that says he does meditation for 4 hours every morning. Somehow I think during those 4 hours sleep enters the picture.
Hello Connie,
Both deep sleep and an hypnotic trance allow the conscious part of your brain to rest. We are all creatures who only function as the result of tiny electrical impulses in the brain and during this 'unconscious' time it is believed that your neuronal 'batteries' are given a polish and recharged.
So, if you don't get sleep you end up grumpy, unable to think, with poor reflex action and feeling physically drained. Since trance is very similar to sleep in effect you can get all the benefits of sleep within it, but as Terry has mentioned there are different levels of both sleep and trance, so you cannot be sure that you are getting low delta (deep sleep) brainwave patterns with the use of an audio CD since you have no idea of the level that particular CD will take you to.
Jack
Connie
05-25-2006, 11:45 AM
Jack, thank you for that! I think I need to make sure I get enough "regular, nighttime sleep" so that I don't get grumpy, unable to think, or slip into lunacy. :)
I LOVE my cds...and they do put me to "sleep" afterwards. I'll just retire to the bedroom earlier so I get my normal zz's on top of the hypnotic benefits. I knew you guys would know what's what!
hnedka
05-26-2006, 09:44 AM
Maybe you could be interested in this:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/
Connie
05-26-2006, 08:10 PM
hnedka, I like the title: "Personal Development for Smart People." My current schedule involves 8-9 hours in an office every day, so polyphasic sleep isn't an option. I don't think my boss would appreciate me crawling under my desk every few hours for a nap. But it does look very interesting!
Thanks for that Hnedka. It and the links to polyphasic sleep are very interesting. I was particularly interested in the 'conditioning' Steve did to enter REM sleep quickly. It is possible that what he was doing was anchoring an hypnotic trance state to enable his power naps since the natural sleep cycle depends upon the relatively slow interaction of brain chemicals to achieve REM.
Jack
esoteric
06-05-2006, 04:43 PM
I'm thing I was told that a person could go longer without food or water than without sleep. Our bodies have natural circadian rhythms.
There was a study with rats comparing sleep deprivation and food and water deprivation. I can't remember the exact results, but they were both right around 14 days. I think food and water depriviation killed the rats one day sooner. One could think that for our bodies sleep and food are equally important!
Connie
06-05-2006, 05:00 PM
I'm ready for a nap, now! :)
http://schadenfreude.cogitox.com/images/dog_sleep_0906.jpg
Simple Guy
06-05-2006, 07:33 PM
Connie,
You've registered. :)
You said your boss wouldn't appreciate your crawling under a desk
for a nap... There was an episode of Seinfeld, where George did
just that.
Merlin
06-06-2006, 11:27 AM
I've had friends who crawled under a desk for after-lunch naps.
I've had friends who crawled under a desk for after-lunch naps.
I know a man who lives in a desk. He is a professor of psychology at a leading British university. You know who you are. Or rather, you do not.
Jack
Simple Guy
06-06-2006, 12:46 PM
I know a man who lives in a desk. He is a professor of psychology at a leading British university. You know who you are. Or rather, you do not.
Jack
A large desk?... Maybe a little man. :)
Poodle
06-06-2006, 06:35 PM
Who crawls under their desk for a nap. I went to the conference room with my pillow and the secretary had orders to awaken me in one hour.
A large desk?... Maybe a little man. :)
A very large man and a tiny desk. This is psychology after all.;)
Jack
Everyone is an individual. A heavy person would probably last longer without food than a skinny person as their body provides some nutrition. Plus, it depends upon the health of the person, the temperature, and the amount of work done by the person. Two weeks, however, seems to be a good analysis.
However, if you could survive for a mere week without water you'd be lucky.