Hypnosis is a natural, focused state of attention. It's similar to traveling on a train while staring out of the window and daydreaming. You might be so absorbed in your thoughts that you don't even notice when the passenger sitting next to you gets off. You're not asleep or unconscious, your attention is simply focused in a different way.

In this state, the critical, analytical part of the mind tends to become quieter, making it easier to work with thoughts, feelings and automatic patterns that usually operate outside of conscious awareness.