Question:

Can a person get hypnotized by listening to the ocean?

Answer:

Yes, however, what most people think hypnosis is, isn’t actually hypnosis.

Not only can the ocean be hypnotic, so can many other things like driving a car down a long road, have you ever heard of ‘highway hypnosis’? That’s just what this is. The same rhythmic sounds (and motions) put your brain into a hypnotic state. It’s not the formal, structured experience of therapeutic hypnosis, but that doesn’t mean it’s not hypnosis. The rhythmic sounds/motions lead to hypnosis because they lull the brain into slower brainwave patterns (alpha or theta). Remember though, that state isn’t like what you see on TV shows and movies. hypnosis in fiction is quite different to actual real-world hypnosis. Real hypnosis just puts you in a highly focused state, it’s often physically relaxed, but that’s not essential. You don’t become a mindless drone that will unthinkingly do whatever you are told.

So, basically, yes. You can. But the hypnosis may not be what you think it is.

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