Yesterday I had my first experience trancing with someone via Skype. A lot of people I've met do much or even most of their hypnosis remotely, whether by text chat, voice, or video. (one friend of mine is trancing with one hypnotist in France, and one in Australia!) At this point in my development I'm not interested in text or voice - too little feedback for this beginner, and not so rewarding - but video seemsed like a better prospect. My partner was Chel, and it was nice to connect with her in this way remotely, so soon after our last visit.
It took a long time to get the connection set up, the lighting good, and the laptops in position (I told her on her lap wasn't going to work!) By the time we had chatted a little bit to get used to it, it was at least 40 minutes in. I got started on the induction she had enjoyed before, progressive relaxation plus metronome, and soon she was on her way into trance.
Overall, she said the trances were not as deep, and the sound-based reinduction trigger I gave her during the first trance (the same phrase plus a finger snap) did not work the first time, as it did when I was with her on the bed and put my hand on shoulder. This demonstrated to me how a lot of hypnotic power is gained by the hypnotist's physical presence, and touch. The reinduction trigger did begin to work after that, but at least the first few times she said it felt like she had to "get behind it and push".
More hiccups. Chel was able to feel the sensation of a paddle on her backside the first time I suggested it, and it was gratifying to see her whole body flinch. But that amount of movement took her much of the way out of trance, since she associates immobility with being in a trance. So even though she flinched with the subsequent strikes (including both cheeks at once, try that in real life without a friend to help!) they felt fainter - an interesting demonstration of a direct relationship between focus and strength of sensation. She was also distracted by the conflict between feeling her bottom on the chair and the paddle sensations.
Then came something I most certainly should have prepared for: Skype crashing while Chel was in a trance. I frantically redialed. She picked up, and I found that all was well: she said she had felt nervous at first, when she realized we were cut off, with the thought that she would be "stuck in trance", but the idea was so absurd that she laughed herself out of trance. I got lucky this time - someone else could have experienced more distress. I must have special suggestions for this eventuality.
Another tip is that if you want someone to hallucinate hearing a song, make sure they actually have it memorized: Chel was quite frustrated trying to remember how "Blue Monday" (a very long, complex song) went. It definitely woke her up trying to piece it together.
The last trance we did was where things got sexy, but she felt barely in a trance at all (which would mean that she made it sexy herself!) For example she didn't at all feel the illusion that her hands were a stranger's hands moving on her body. Apparently something I had noticed, a churning sound caused by Skype feedback, was also on her end and had made it difficult to focus. Two takeaways from that: I did a poor job of picking up on her level of trance, and you should use headphones or at least external speakers to avoid feedback.
On the one hand it was a chance to do hypnosis with someone I'm very close to, and where we had some sexy times towards the end. On the other, apart from the technical bloopers, I really missed many things I wouldn't have even thought of: the tiny changes in facial expression that skype didn't capture, and the almost-subliminal breathing sounds, and other small things that both help me to monitor the trance, and serve as my reward even when suggestions don't work out. And of course touch - it was a real letdown to not be able to cuddle or even hug at the end (literally the first time I haven't hugged my trancee after a session). Afterwards I felt further from her than I expected to. (I also felt exhausted - I'm sure when I'm better than this I'll use much fewer words) I realize a lot of the things I'm bitching about are just part of cybersex, but I guess I've never gotten into that.
As my skills develop, I'll have more flexibility and resourcefulness to make online trancing go better, not to mention avoiding these beginner mistakes. I also might find more motivation for doing it, but for now it doesn't have much appeal to me.
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