Happy New Year and Happy World Hypnotism Day!

A special guest EnTrance Me Note by Pnosis contributing editor John Weir, in honor of World Hypnotism Day....

It was a beautiful day in the summer of 2000. I found myself completely captivated by Marshall Sylver as I stared wide eyed at the most amazing spectacle I had ever seen: my older sister, Carolyn, deep in hypnosis. I never in a million years thought I would ever find myself in motivational seminar, especially not one where I would witness my sister hypnotized and ... have my destiny unveiled.

If you were to ask me back then if I ever would consider becoming a hypnotist I would have laughed. In fact, before Carolyn was picked out of the 300 person audience I wanted to leave. Once the speaker started talking about hypnosis, quite frankly, I got a little upset and told my sister I wanted to try to get our money back, but Carolyn gave me a "big sister" glare and told me to be patient for once in my life. I was as patient as any disgruntled 18 year-old could be and with my arms crossed I listened with skeptical ears.
After listening to the explanation of hypnosis, I honestly wasn't convinced. Even though I am from Pennsylvania my attitude reflected those of people who were raised in Missouri, "the show me state." Then it happened. Carolyn was picked to be hypnotized. As Carolyn walked up towards the stage, I got very excited. Not excited to watch my sister get hypnotized. Excited to see what Marshall Sylver would do when he failed in front of this huge crowd. Despite his efforts to remove my misconceptions all of his words fell upon deaf ears. Like many people I still believed silly things about hypnosis. Carolyn was valedictorian of her class at Notre Dame and I thought my sister was way too smart to be hypnotized and definitely too strong-willed to relinquish her control. My thoughts still were distorted with the old Hollywood portrayal of hypnosis.

Carolyn agreed to follow directions and said she was willing to be hypnotized. ; In a matter of moments, she responded perfectly to a rapid, rather theatrical, induction. She went limp as a rag doll into the Marshall's arms. This was powerfully enchanting to her little brother! Even more impressive was how easily and quickly she responded to all of his suggestions such as an inability to register pain and complete amnesia of our telephone number and even my name. She was even able to succeed with some incredible, and apparently almost superhuman, deeds. I was agog.

As I watched Carolyn doing things I had considered impossible, it was impossible for me to deny the power of the mind and, especially, hypnosis. This moment was my "ah-ha" moment as a vision of my Destiny as a hypnotist overwhelmed me. My mind raced with the possibilities of what the tremendous potential everyone has deep within our minds makes possible. I knew, without a shadow of doubt, that I wanted to learn how to learn to use this potential for myself and, even more important, how I could learn how to bring out the best in people. As Carolyn was counted out of hypnosis, she was asked how she felt and she responded, "I feel fantastic, better than before coming up front!"

Since that time, hypnosis has helped me tremendously in my life. I used hypnosis to become a non-smoker, which I have been now for over 8 years, to improve my academic performance, stay motivated to grow my business as well as to take 13 strokes off my handicap in golf. One of my greatest accomplishments using self-hypnosis, or at least the thing that validated the power of hypnosis to me, was getting 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed without any anesthetic. As for Carolyn, she too has continued to use hypnosis to improve the quality of her life. She used it to overcome test taking anxiety, to sleep better at night, and I am very proud to say that my special little nephew Jack is a "hypno-baby" due to the fact that Carolyn did hypno-birthing to delivery him.

Last year my private practice has grown and between my group programs, workshops, and private sessions I assisted close to 1000 people in 2008. Each day I strive to find new ways to "help everyday people overcome everyday challenges" and look forward to another year of assisting people to their goals.

Today, January 4th, marks the Fifth World Hypnotism Day. Like a kid waiting for Christmas morning I have been anxiously anticipating this day. It is exciting to know that all across the globe people are opening eyes to extraordinary benefits of hypnosis.

World Hypnotism Day, January 4th of each year, brings back wonderful memories of the day I witnessed hypnotism for the first time. I know that somewhere in the world, there will be men and women having their "ah-ha!" moment. With the challenges the world and each of us currently are facing -- challenges to use our untapped potential and, perhaps, challenges to meet our higher destiny,

There is no better time to passionately promote how to use our minds in a positive way and help the our friends, neighbors, and even strangers become more loving, successful, and healthy. Look out your window -- or click here -- and find out what WHD events are happening today all over he world. Also, you are invited to tune in tonight at 9:30 pm (EST) to a free webinar on ustream.tv. Just click here.

Click here to be taken to the World Hypnotism Day website. And a very special thanks to Master Hypnotist and WHD founder Tom Nicoli for having created my favorite new international holiday! A special thanks as well to all the World Hypnotism Day Committee members and fellow hypnotists who did their part to make this year the best World Hypnotism Day yet!

Still agog!

John Weir

John Weir is a Board Certified Hypnotist and Certified Instructor through the National Guild of Hypnotists. He has received the 2008 NGH Charles Tebbetts award for "Spreading the Light of Hypnosis", 2007 Pnosis Distinguished Hypnotist honor, the youngest columnist in the NGH Journal of Hypnotism and recently was featured on the cover. John is a big advocate of World Hypnotism Day and has received 2 Mayoral Proclamations from the cities of Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.