How Hypnosis Accesses Your Subconscious Mind

How Hypnosis Accesses Your Subconscious Mind by Sally Race, Clinical Hypnotherapist.

If you’ve ever found yourself driving somewhere and suddenly realising you don’t remember half the journey, you’ve already experienced a taste of what hypnosis feels like. You were safe, alert enough to react if you needed to, but your mind slipped into a different state of awareness. That’s altered consciousness, and it’s the key to how hypnosis works.

We spend much of our waking life running on autopilot. Our subconscious mind is constantly ticking away in the background, storing memories, shaping habits, and quietly influencing how we feel and behave. That’s why you can suddenly smell fresh bread and be transported back to your nan’s kitchen. Your subconscious links up experiences in a way your conscious mind doesn’t always notice.

The power of hypnosis lies in gently guiding you into a relaxed, altered state of awareness. In this state, the logical, analytical part of your brain takes a little breather, and the subconscious becomes more accessible. Think of it like temporarily lifting the velvet rope to the VIP area of your mind, all the deep-rooted beliefs, automatic habits, and stored emotions are there, and you finally get backstage access.

This doesn’t mean you lose control. Quite the opposite. In hypnosis, you’re more focused, more receptive, and more open to positive change. Your conscious mind is still present (you can hear every word, and you won’t do anything against your will), but it steps aside just enough to let the subconscious come forward.

And why is that important? Because real change often happens at the subconscious level. That’s where habits form, fears live, and confidence (or the lack of it) takes root. By working directly with the subconscious, hypnotherapy helps you reframe old patterns, release unhelpful beliefs, and build healthier ways of thinking and behaving.

Altered consciousness isn’t magic, it’s a natural state of mind that we slip in and out of every day, whether we notice it or not. Hypnosis simply harnesses that state in a focused, therapeutic way. It’s the difference between daydreaming aimlessly and choosing to use that dreamlike state to plant new, empowering ideas that actually change your life.

So, the next time you hear someone say hypnosis is “just relaxation,” you’ll know the truth. It’s relaxation with purpose — a doorway to the deeper part of your mind where lasting change really begins. Also, you don’t actually need to be relaxed for hypnosis, but that’s a whole other blog post 😉

Sally is with us at the Bridge Centre on a Wednesday, FREE consultations are available!

To find out more about Sally head over to her bio: https://bridgenaturalhealth.co.uk/sally-race-clincial-hypnotherapist/