Just a little bit of background leading up to our appointment: I have been interested in hypnosis for the better part of my life and have read a few books on the subject over the last few years. However, my only previous direct experiences with hypnosis turned out to be pretty disappointing. Specifically, neither of the two previous hypnotists was successful in allowing me to feel a subjective sense of trance; nor did I experience the slightest impulse to respond to their suggestions. Before this experience, I still had a lot of confidence in hypnotherapy to help other people, just not me. However, when my skeptical girlfriend reported that she was impressed by her own recent session with Ram, I had to give it a try again.
Fortunately, the session conducted by Ram made up for those disappointments and restored much of my confidence in the ability of hypnosis to help me achieve goals. The first thing that I need to mention is that our session occurred over Skype video. This is actually a pretty important fact because I didn't have access to the appropriate reclining furniture that would have been provided in an office visit. Ram tried to remedy this as much as possible by recommending that I prop myself up with pillows in a certain way on my bed prior to beginning. Unfortunately, what felt comfortable enough during the first few minutes of the process quickly grew into, quite literally, a pain in the neck. Rather than interrupt the induction process and probably necessitate starting over again, I committed to just riding it out and trying to get the most I could out of the session. Fortunately, a segment of the session two-thirds of the way through allowed me to readjust without a major interruption, but the pain still ended up being a feature of the session. Even though this discomfort detracted from the quality of the session, it will be easy to see how it actually ended up highlighting the strength of Ram's skill.
Hypnosis basically functions by disengaging, through progressive relaxation, the higher-order faculties that normally critique incoming information. I would have expected that feeling physical discomfort should probably block that outcome altogether. In spite of that, I actually felt myself experiencing a profound relaxation that was more powerful than the pain. I also noticed that I had tuned out the background noises and extraneous thoughts which had intruded during my previous hypnosis experiences. What I was most impressed with though is that I observed myself automatically respond (physically and mentally) to Ram's hypnotic suggestions without the deliberate effort I had to invest during my previous two experiences. When Ram asked me to visualize something, I saw it. When he suggested that I would feel unstoppable or feel confidence in my goals, I actually experienced these states vividly. Several days after my session, I still feel more motivated and optimistic about my future than before.
One other aspect of my session that I find noteworthy is the combined sense of trust and competence that Ram projected. Ram took the time to get a picture of who I am as a person, understand my goals, and inform me fully about hypnosis. Despite my doubts prior to the appointment, I was really impressed with the outcome and consider my experience so successful that I plan on pursuing follow-up sessions in person the first chance I get. read more
