JoBlo.com goes into a Trance for its Blu-Ray release! (or how JimmyO got hypnotized and wrote about it)

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Just over a week ago I found myself involved with a very unique opportunity. With Danny Boyle’s TRANCE finding its way to Blu-Ray and DVD this week, JoBlo.com was offered the chance to see a real live hypnotherapist in action. Strange certainly, but it was incredibly intriguing as well. And darn it if we were much too curious to pass this up. So right before the highly stressful preparation of Comic Con was put into work – my appointment was only a few days before my trip to San Diego – I was ready to experience the wonderful world of TRANCE… only for reals yo!

When I arrived at HMI ( Hypnosis Motivation Institute) I felt a little bit more stressed than I had expected. Never in my life had I done any kind of hypnosis, at least not in my mind’s eye. However hypnotherapist Michele Guzy explained to me, “You are in hypnosis all the time. Hypnosis is just a communication state. You are driving down a freeway, you miss your exit, and you’re in hypnosis. You go to the movies – you know TRANCE or AVATAR – and you get caught up in the movie, you laugh, you cry, you scream, you’re in hypnosis.” How many times have you drifted off while listening to the car radio? Well, damn, I’ve been in hypnosis much more than I thought.

When it comes to movies and the portrayal of hypnosis, she explained, “You cannot just sit somebody in a chair and then say, ‘okay, you’re there.’ What they can’t show in the movies or on TV are hypnotic inductions. There is no induction involved.” Now nobody said anything about an induction! What is a hypnotic induction then? She went on to say, “A hypnotic induction is a way for me to access your subconscious mind. Hypnosis is an overload of stimulus. It is not a relaxed state. That is the end result. Hypnosis is actually a state of exhaustion if I do it with you. So all the hypnosis is is a heightened state of suggestibility that allows me to work with the subconscious mind to help people make changes in their life, positive changes. Hypnotherapy and hypnosis is used to desensitize associations. So for me to put you in, I actually need to trigger a little stress and anxiety.”

According to the movie, and Guzy herself there is a small group of 5% of the population who are just naturally suggestible and can go into hypnosis. This type of person is called a somnambulist – which also refers to being a sleepwalker which I used to do as a kid. They are suggestible people but they would still need an induction. Whether or not I am a somnambulist I had no idea, but I was about to find out. Soon, she had me on a very comfortable chair holding my arms out and bringing them in slowly but steadily with my eyes closed and a sort of open mind.

I’m going to be honest here, I was pretty skeptical about the experience early on. Hell, even during the session I couldn’t help but feel that this is simply a bored rich housewife thing to do with no real merit. My hope was to be respectful of Michele Guzy and see what happens and be on my way. Sure it was relaxing, but so is getting a shave from my barber Gareth over at Floyd’s in Burbank. Greatest feeling in the world man… The dude is talented! And he is a whole lot cheaper than a hypnotherapy session.

I’m not sure what I expected but it seemed as though the experience should have been more obvious. You know, like a big revelation or me sobbing on the floor. That of course didn’t happen until Con. Yet one thing became shockingly clear as I was leaving my session and going towards my car. I began to feel utterly and completely relaxed. Much like Ron Livingston’s character in OFFICE SPACE after he himself received hypnotherapy. Nothing was bothering me. Not the stress of bills or the fact that Comic Con was only a few days away. NOTHING! One of my biggest pet peeves of having other driver’s ride my ass on the road seemed to nearly disappear. Over the next few days, my mind was peaceful and any sort of anxiety was gone. It was a perfect state of being and just in time for JoBlo’s annual Comic Con adventures.

While the feeling has softened a little bit and I’m not quite as relaxed as I was a week ago, I’m very much convinced that she was able to reach into my subconscious and put me in a peaceful state of well-being. We actually recorded my session and you can make a bet that I will try it again on my own to see if it brings that same desired effect. Either way, my skepticism went out the window and in came my understanding of what hypnotherapy can really accomplish. While the process is quite different from what we see in Hollywood, it certainly seems possible that James McAvoy would be able to “remember” exactly what he did in TRANCE. After all, my mood got even mellower than normal which is a shockingly impressive feat.

If you would like more information on the very talented Michele Guzy you can visit her website here. And if you are in the mood for a great old-school Danny Boyle flick, you could purchase Danny Boyle’s latest here. Now look deep into my eyes…

TRANCE was released on Blu-Ray/DVD yesterday (July 23rd) and can be purchased RIGHT HERE.