Have you ever been hypnotized or in the presence of someone who was hypnotized?

I went to one of those places where you are supposed to be hypnotized into losing weight. It was a farce. He said every time you go to eat something fattening, say something like " I do not eat french fries." Yeah, right! If I could do that, I would not be fat in the first place. Hey! As I type this, it just dawned on me. I used to love french fries, but for years now, every time I have eaten more than one or two, I have gotten severe diarrhea and vomiting. Maybe there is a connection after all.

No, but I wish I could be or watch someone be hypnotized.

No. I was at a party once where someone was trying to hypnotize people, but I don't think it ever worked.

Yes, I have heard someone get hypnotized on the radio before. The host had a hypnotized call in as a guest and hypnotize this beloved sidekick. It was so hilarious.

try chanting

"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"
"I do not eat freedom fries"

really fast

Yeah, one of my friends learned how to do it when he was studying psychology at university. He demonstrated on me. The way it works is that the hypnotist begins by asking you to do something like stare at an object for example. This is followed by a series of instructions which guide you into a relaxed state. Basically, as long as you are following their instructions, you are "hypnotised". At any time, if you decide to stop following their instructions, you aren't "hypnotised". Nothing very mysterious really...

I've been in the presence of someone who was either hypnotized or just going along with it for show.

No, not that I recall, but of course that may have been their plan.

No. But, I've always wanted to see someone be hypnotized. When I was younger, I saw a show on tv about where they hypnotized someone. I was convinced that I could do it. So, I tried to hypnotize one of my brothers. He played along and I actually thought I'd done it, until he busted out laughing.

Yes, I was in the presence of some people that got hypnotized.

When I was at college, an amazing hypnotist named James Mapes would perform in the auditorium each fall, just after the start of the school year. I saw people hypnotized by him, and was, to a small degree, hypnotized by him. Since then I have either used self-hypnosis, or invited someone close to me to assist me by hypnotizing me, to visualize better health for myself. It's worked wonders for my physical health, particularly my eczema.

Well, yeah, I've been to one of those shows where they hypnotize people and make the act like farm animals. Very entertaining. I suspect that I'm not an easily hypnotized person as I wasn't even close to being picked, but I've never gone to a one-on-one hypnotist, so who knows.

Yes, I went to Mapes shows (at college, same place as Jody). The time I went a friend of ours ended up on stage. We talked to him after and he said that he was sort of going along with it, but that he did do strange things as well. I guess a key aspect in that case was that he lost all inhibition... though, he was an actor, so it also wasn't that much of a stretch, I think, for him.

No, and I don't believe in hypnotism.

Yes - by a friend who was studying hypnotism. Once a professional tried to hypnotize a bunch of us in a bar act - it was working but I came out of it by being too nervous. It was a hilarious show.

Ya,I tried that and it didn't work either!

Eczema - harsh stuff. I have chronic, severe cases from time to time myself. I've stayed home from the office the past two days for it. I get it so bad my hands and feet actually swell. No medication works because my body "catches on" to its effects too soon to do any real good. Sometimes it really hurts, I have to say.

Yes. I was hypnotized briefly, and I watched a hypnotist show. Some of them faked it, but I think some of them really were hypnotised.

A long time ago my brother went to be hypnotized to quit smokeing, as soon as he got out of the building he smoked a cigarette.

A friend of mine did that as well. After about the fifth time, he finally quit smoking, but he said only because he was too embarrassed to admit it hadn't worked again.

I think you meant to reply to me re: the eczema. There is a GREAT BOOK out there that has transformed my skin (no kidding, this is serious for me). It's called Skin Deep and it's by Dr. Ted Grossbart. It explores the mind/body relationship that often triggers episodes of eczema or other skin problems, contains exercises and visualizations, and ACTUALLY WORKS. If you're not the type to do this touchy-feely weird new age stuff, please realize that this book is very factual, based on many years of his practice as a dermatologist, and I highly recommend it.

Thanks! And I happen to BE into those touchy-feely weird new age stuff, kind of. Only because of a few occurrences that have been so believable I couldn't deny it myself. (I believe I have astro-projected--involuntarily--a number of times. I even went to the address of the house I saw while I was "lost" in this one particularly strange "projection", which took place in the middle of the afternoon, even before I was asleep.)
Thanks for the reference! I've had chronic, severe cases ever since it cropped up the first time about ten years ago. I'll check it out.
I actually looked it up and ordered in on Amazon. The book review (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0929173112/104-4587825-7771147#product-details) sounds a little close to another book I read when I was a teenager, "Silva Mind Control Method", by Jose Silva (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671739891/qid=1059006339/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-4587825-7771147). He had a very scientific approach, in fact provides exercises that immediately dispel any doubt you as a reader may have while reading the material.
Thank again, Jody.

Silva Mind Control, as I read it a number of years ago, was WAY different. In that book, you project yourself out of your body to detect and heal other beings, as well as yourself. In Skin Deep, you imagine things happening (like you are entering a soothing bath, or that your skin feels cool because snow is falling on it). There is nothing really mystical about it, though people typically associate visualizations (a la Shakti Gawain) with fruitiness for some reason. I actually had the opportunity to attend a day-long seminar with Dr. Grossbart, and he was great. Some of the visualizations and exercises help you understand other emotional reasons why you might have a flare-up of your skin problem, or what that problem might be trying to say to the world for you (wow did that part ever hit home for me).

Right, I've been told eczema is stressed-induced, but I've been going to a doctor who has been researching the condition for years. It's known to be a five-thousand year old condition to which everyone is born with the bacteria that engenders the condition but no one knows why it finally flares up with some people, and why it "waits" until a certain age. The different ages range from anytime to anytime, but the mystery is what exactly are the conditions that spur it.

Funny, your description of the "Skin Deep" book really resembles what I remember the "Silva Mind Control Method" being. I may order that one as well, for a refresher.

Trivia for you: Did you know that many years ago a physician concocted a "medicine" of his own as a sunburn ointment, and one satisfied customer claimed the stuff completely "knocked his eczema"? He couldn't get the FDA to approve its claim, so he sold it as a skin cream instead.
It's still on the market today, and he named it after the claim itself: It's called "Noxzema". (For "Knocks eczema.")

No, I havn't.

Yes, numerous times, both ways.