How To Spot When Someone Is In Hypnosis: The Little Known Hypnotic Trance Signals

Recognizing the signals that happen around us everyday is important in itself. Accurate signal recognition is used to help us to see what is really happening around us and to realize the signals that tell us we are being successful in the things we do.
It is important to hone these signals in the field of hypnosis as well. If you are not attuned to the signals of trance then there is the possibility that you will be doing more work than you need to in order to alter the state of mind of the people around you. It is equally important to see things as they really are which will aid in your success of seeing the minor signals that light the way to trance.
In hypnosis there are very obvious signs that a person is entering an altered state of mind and there are subtle less obvious signs too. The most obvious signs include changes in breathing, a smoothness of facial features, attention absorption, involuntary muscle movements, lack of mobility and increased passive responses.
In this article we will go over the less obvious signs that you are putting a person into trance. These are the signals that will be more difficult to spot and will require a more focused sense of accurate signal recognition.
Always remember when you are looking for signals of trance that you are not looking for one specific item, you are looking for changes from the normal state of the person you are currently dealing with.
The first trance signal we will discuss is the change in pupil dilation. Change in pupil dilation is the change in size of the black center of the eye. This signal is harder to see for several reasons. There are outside influences that can tamper with the accuracy of your judgment in this signal.

The first being that the subject’s eyes may not be in your view, some people close their eyes when they are relaxed and others may be avoiding eye contact as they are feeling that they are in a vulnerable state. Another reason this is a more difficult signal to detect is the amount of observation it requires to see a change in something so small.
Changes in a person’s pupils can also result from changes in light, for instance sunny days and darker rooms will cause the pupils to change their dilation. This is an unavoidable interference as it is just the nature of the way the eyes react to the lighting around them.
When a subject’s pupils are reacting to hypnosis or an altered state of mind they will usually become larger.
Another little known trance signal that is difficult to spot is the pace of your subjects pulse. The heart rate of the person you are trying to put into trance will usually slow down as they are entering the altered state of mind. However this may also depend on the story you are telling or the mental pictures you are creating.
If you are using a relaxing set of suggestions the person’s heart rate will usually slow down. If you are using an exciting, dangerous, or suspenseful story the heart rate of the subject may increase due to the feelings you are producing with in them.
No matter which way the heart rate goes, if it is changing you can begin to believe you have successfully helped your client into the beginnings of hypnosis. The question in your mind now is going to be, “How can I tell the heart rate of my subject without touching them to feel it?”
This is the reason that this trance signal is harder to spot than some others. You typically don’t want to touch a person when they are totally relaxed and trusting you to guide them with conversation alone.
The only way to monitor their heart rate without physically touching them is to know where to look. There are specific areas on the body where the blood vessels are close to the surface under the skin. If you watch these areas closely you can usually see the heart beat of your subject. The best places to see this is at the side of the neck and across the ankle bone. Both of these areas generally have a visible heart rate.
Trance signal number three in the list of least obvious signs is to see a change in the blink reflex of your subject. This signal is easy to spot once you know it exists. The reason it is considered less obvious is simply because many people do not know about it.
The only reason you would have trouble monitoring this signal would be if you can not see your subject’s eyes or they have closed them, which could be a signal in itself. If you can see your subject’s eyes, however, you will be able to monitor how their blink reflex has changed from the way they normally blink.
Here you are looking for a rate of faster or slower blinking of the eyes. Some people stop blinking altogether, this is due to the eyelids becoming cataleptic. The eyelids simply become frozen for extended periods of time.
Similar to the blink reflex you will also want to watch for a change in the swallowing reflex of your subject. If there is a change here you can count it as a trance signal that the person is experiencing an altered state of mind. In this signal you are again looking for a slowing of the swallowing. Some subject’s even stop swallowing altogether.
The swallowing reflex is again is easy to recognize once you are aware that it signifies the beginnings of a trance, you simply watch their throat to see signs of swallowing. In this trance signal you may also notice that the eyelids grow heavy or the eyes close completely.


Often your subject will grow sleepy as they enter trance but many people will not close their eyes as they find it embarrassing to feel as though they have fallen asleep in front of another person, especially if that person is speaking to them.
Little known trance signal number five is a change in the skin color or tone of your subject. As many people start to relax the blood vessels in their bodies change as well. This allows the blood within to flow more freely through the body and causes slight changes in skin color and tone.
Some people get darker and some people will grow paler, this simply depends on the person. Either effect is completely normal and is the result of a physiological change that is also very natural.
Finally the last little known trance signal number six it the change in voice. This signal can be hard to detect if your subject is not speaking. Many people will have slower speech or a slower rate of talking when they are in an altered state of mind.
Another aspect of the voice that can change when in trance is the tonality of voice. There is not set standard of whether this goes up or down, you just need to listen for a difference from normal tones. Some people who have entered trance will just stop talking altogether; again look for signals that are different from the normal state of the subject.
These signals are less obvious than other signals and signs of trance that we have talked about previously. Some are harder to see and some are just lesser known than the others. At any rate they are good identifiers that you have succeeded in altering the state of mind of the people or person you are with.
Watch for them closely and keep your sense tuned for these minute changes in your subjects. Remember that the sooner you can conclude that your subject is in trance the sooner you can move on to the next steps in your hypnosis.

How To Spot When Someone Is In Hypnosis: The Most Obvious Hypnotic Trance Signals

Hypnosis is an art where it is vital that you know how to spot when someone is entering a trance. This can be done with accurate signal recognition systems as well as knowing how to asses trance signals.
Accurate signal recognition systems are important because they are your first clue that a person is responding to you hypnotically. The signals you can pick up on can be quite obvious or very minute; anything from the glazed look of entering a trance, whether produced by you or an outside source, to the smallest detail physical change.
Milton Erickson had a perfected eye for picking up on the smallest signals that people sent out. This is a perfection you as a hypnotist should strive for.
There are other obvious signals that a person is going into trance. We will get to discuss these here and you will learn how to tune into the different signals your subjects will be showing when they are entering a hypnotic trance.
During hypnosis when a person is very focused and beginning to enter a trance there are certain aspects of their physiology that will inevitably change. These are unconscious changes that occur without the conscious control of the person being hypnotized.
As we look at the different signs of trance it is important to note that not all signals will be the same for every person. Signal recognition systems are not a specific set of rules to follow.
It is your jobs as the hypnotist to attune yourself to the different subjects you have and realize what is different for each one. This is not about seeing one or two distinct signs from your subject, but distinguishing what is different for that person from the norm.
The most obvious signal that a person is entering into a highly focused state of trance is the change in their breathing. Usually the rate of breathing will slow as they are becoming more relaxed under trance. However there are subjects whose breathing will speed up as well.
The rate of breathing the person is experiencing is often dependant on the focus of your conversation. If you are asking them to relax into a trance their breathing will more than likely slow. If you are taking them through an exciting chain of events or they feel imposing danger their rate of breathing may quicken.
In order to tell if a persons breathing has changed you will undoubtedly have to be studying their body.
There are ways of doing this without getting slapped or punched. Of course you can monitor their chest to see the rate of breath, however this may seem offensive to some people. If you are monitoring their chest it is a good idea to do this with your peripheral vision. Staring straight on at someone’s chest, especially a female subject is never a good idea.
Other means of monitoring rate of breath is to watch the rise and fall of a person’s shoulders or rib cage. Both of these move with every breath you take and will be fairly obvious and easy to spot.
The second most obvious sign that a person is entering a hypnotic state is the smoothing out of facial features. If you have ever looked a person straight on in the face you will often notice that most people’s faces are not completely symmetrical.
As a person goes into a trance they muscles in the face begin to relax and their face will start to appear more symmetrical. The left side of the face will more closely match the right side.
This is a fairly easy signal to spot, especially if you are prone to looking at a persons face while talking to them. As they go into trance and you are looking at their face you will be able to see the muscles relaxing and the face visibly starts to even out.
As you are watching your subjects face for signs of evening out you may very well be able to pick up on the third most obvious signal at the same time. This is when a person’s attention is absorbed.
When a subject is going into hypnosis and their attention is being fully absorbed there are slight changes in their eyes that you will be able to see. The first is the eyes will become fixed on one spot in space. It may look as though they are ‘zoning out’ or staring at nothing in particular.
Another affect on the eyes of trance is they can become slightly glazed over or sleepy looking. Sometimes a person will show no eye movement at all. All these signs are showing you that a person’s attention is completely affixed and they are falling into a trance.
The fourth obvious sign of trance is involuntary muscle twitches. These are of course easy to spot and can almost be eye catching. They can be seen straight on or be easily spotted through your peripheral vision. Involuntary muscle twitches can affect any part of the body that has a muscle.
The bigger the muscle twitching the easier it is to spot. Many subjects will experience facial ticks or shoulder twitches, these are both within your line of vision and pretty noticeable. The twitching of muscles is caused by the cathartic process that the muscles experience when completely relaxed.
Number five on the list of obvious signs is almost the opposite of muscle twitches; it is the effect of immobility of the body. Sometimes when a person is going into a hypnotic trance they will stop moving all together.
This is easy to see especially if you are dealing with a person who normally makes a lot of hand gestures or has animated body language. If you are dealing with someone who rarely sits still you will almost immediately notice the lack of mobility of the body. If their movements begin to slow down or actually stop all together you will know they are entering an altered state of mind.
The final obvious signal in the six most obvious is the increase in passive responses given by a person. As many people enter an altered state of mind the will become less argumentative, more passive. This more agreeable demeanor will be much more willing to follow your lead. This is noticeable both as a changing personality trait and that it can ultimately make your job as the hypnotist easier.
The six obvious signals we have gone over here are easy to spot. Keep in mind as you experience new subjects and learn to put new people into trance you will probably discover other obvious signs that are unique to different individuals.
As you learn to spot as many signals coming from those around you going into altered states of mind you will become seasoned and be able to conduct your hypnosis quicker and easier than ever.
The skill of being able to spot when someone is entering a trance is really at the core of signal recognition systems and is easy to practice as people are constantly moving in and out of trances around you all the time.
Learning to spot these signals will also aid you in the future when you are learning to borrow trances already in progress.