Can I Be Hypnotized

There are two components necessary to be able to reach and maintain a hypnotic state.  #1 is that you can relax.  Hypnosis is a state of mental relaxation.  Everyone has the ability to relax because everyone falls asleep.  In other words, when you lay down to go to sleep, your mind lets go of excessive thinking, thoughts drop off and you relax.  As this occurs, your body relaxes and you fall asleep.   #2 is that you have the ability to focus.  Ability to focus does not mean for long periods of time but that you have the ability to focus  at least for a few minutes.  Most everyone has this ability.  The exceptions are people with severe brain damage, mental retardation, Down's Syndrome or  severe mental impairments.  Unfortunately these individuals cannot focus or have an attention span long enough to have a proper hypnotic induction.  If these conditions are not present you can be hypnotized and have success from it.  

How Deep Can I Go In Hypnosis?

It has been said that hypnosis is rated by light, medium and deep hypnosis.  It has also been said that when you go into hypnosis you are either in it or not.  Who is to say which is right?  With my personal experience, I've noticed that people will go into deep hypnosis but will differ in the way that they react to it.  Some people may feel very heavy in the hypnotic state, others may move around giving the impression that they are not hypnotized, yet when they emerge, they said that they felt very deep.  In my early experiences, I worked with people that I swore could not be in hypnosis but reported very significant changes in follow-up sessions.  Meaning that their hypnosis was more than deep and significant.   

I personally stay away from judging whether a person is "deep" or not because if a person is ever told that they were not "deep" they believe that they failed in hypnosis rendering the hypnosis useless even if it was a good session.  Successful hypnosis may have nothing to do with depth but belief in how powerful the healing experience was for that individual.    

Can I Go So Deep That I Never Return?

This is plain impossible.  I'll tell you how this fear began.  There is a very deep hypnotic state called "The Coma State" not to be confused with a medical coma.  Basically the coma state is a state so deep that the person feels so good being in this state that they don't feel like coming out because they are not yet ready.  Notice how it says don't feel like to as opposed to Can't come out.  What this means is that it feels too good to want to yet come out.  Well...hypnotists would bring these people on stage and hypnotize them.  A very small percentage would feel so good that they didn't want to come out.  The hypnotist would count them out and they wouldn't open their eyes.  At times, the person on stage was so adamant about coming out that the hypnotist would have to carry the person off stage.  This would scare the crowd and rumors began that said "sometimes a person can go so deep that they can never return."  Those people would eventually come out but it would cause the hypnotist a lot of grief.  

Can I Get Lost In Hypnosis With CD Programs?

If this were possible, I would stay away from making them.  This again is not possible.  The worse that can happen is that you either fall asleep (in which case you will wake up when you are ready) or continue in the hypnotic state even after the program has finished and again come out when you are ready.  You will always be in control of yourself and never stay in hypnosis forever. 

Can You Force Someone To Do Things They Don't Want To Do In Hypnosis?

This is an excellent question that is very important to answer.  The answer is no and the reason is because when you are in hypnosis you are not only aware of what is happening, but you are still capable of refusing suggestions.  The reason is because you are still conscious when you are in hypnosis.  The mind only relaxes to the point where thoughts are lessened and there is more peace.  There is also access to the subconscious part of the mind but the hypnotized person is still capable of blocking suggestions because they are listening to and still capable of judging dangerous suggestions.