I saw a couple discussions on street hypnosis and walkabouts and the like and the got me thinking . . .
When is a Walkabout Trance just a trance? It isn’t.
There are just different experiences of context.
As most of you know, we had an absolutely wonderful time at the WALKABOUT TRANCE BEACH RESORT GETAWAY in beautiful Hermosa Beach at the beginning of the month . . . I mean WONDERFUL.
However, since that event was pitched as a context frame for my SPEED HYPNOSIS course where I taught my variation of instant and rapid hypnosis with a big ol’ dollop of creative inductions and improvisizational adaptation to context and setting, there is a misimpression by some that Walkabout Trance or Street Hypnosis must inherently rely upon speed hypnosis.
This could not be further from the truth.
Nor is Walkabout merely about doing cold walkups or the like.
Speed Hypnosis is simple, straightforward, and fun but it is not the only model out there. While I am all for folks experimenting with their comfort zones, I would not suggest that if your comfort zone is not the same as mine that you are somehow doing anything "wrong" . . . far from it. As you experiment with new ideas and concepts, play with them and make them your own. Let your comfort zone expand to encompass new truths you begin to experience related to your experiments and exposure to new concepts but keep that comfort zone your own.
In one of the reviews of the Walkabout posted to one of serveral blogs out there, there is a comment about how wonderful it was for the reviewer to discover how supporting the event environment was in that folks were encouraged to stretch their minds and comfort levels comfortably . . . but that when they discovered that where they might feel uncomfortable in one context others were downright at home and rather audacious and that folks were welcome to be inspired by others but never to feel less for their own experience.
Some folks are nervous about "speed hypnosis" techniques because they seem so shocking and intrusive to them . . . however, as I hoped I was able to demonstrate in some way . . . they don’t need to be. They can be gentle and very maternal if that’s how you prefer to frame them. Take whatever the trance partner’s context is and frame the experience appropriately for that person and for yourself and all will be well.
Some folks are actually more comfortable in a bit of a slow take in . . . attendees at the Walkabout will recall the young woman who was brought in from outside as a demo subject who I ended up switching to a dial deepener for a whole slew of reasons. 🙂 Others will remember the wonderful opportunity presented during the Ideomotor Finger Signals demonstration (that was a great example of a beautiful opportunity for context-sensitive shift). If the trance partner isn’t quite ready for a slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am trance experience then slow down and let ’em smell those hypnotic roses and have a different sort of experience, one appropriate to their context and to your own.
It’s not all stuck hands and unbendable arms . . . me, I tend to create as many Fairy Dragon experiences as happy fingers and name amnesias but I’ll throw in a nice little chakra color visualization here and there and if there’s time, play a bit with one person rather than steamrolling through ten . . . but, you . . . maybe your experience will lead you to something else . . . something congruent with your comfort zone and whatever you think a Walkabout Trance might imply. I use the term Walkabout Trance so that it’s a bit more inclusive than the impression many folks have from the term Street Hypnosis so feel free to define the experience within your own expectations, context, and the like then go out and play . . . really play . . . and let the context you find yourself in redefine it and yourself as you adapt and play and play at adapting.
BTW, the folks in this neck of the woods can sign up for the Speed Hypnosis course for April 12-13 here in Taipei . . . and . . . wait for it . . . we are working out the details . . . and topics have not yet been set . . . but . . . it looks like we’re going to be going Stateside to Los Angeles in July and we will have at least two events within that timeframe. Further details to come as soon as we’ve got ’em pinned down.
All the best,
Brian
(Instant and Rapid Hypnosis Techniques)
See http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com for details!
Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]Certified Hypnotherapist
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.BrianDavidPhillips.com
