So first I want you to look up to the top of your head, way up toward your eyebrows,

and as you keep looking up, slowly close your eyes.

What you're listening to is a test of someone's hypnotizability.

To be more specific, it's a test of my hypnotize ability.

Just imagine you're floating somewhere safe and comfortable like a bath, a lake, a hot tub, or floating in space.

The voice you're hearing belongs to psychiatrist Dr. David Spiegel, who is Associate Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University,

and he's also one of the leading authorities on the study of and practical application of hypnosis.

And right now, he's trying to see if I'm someone who can be easily hypnotized,

if I can enter that mental state where hypnosis might help a person with all kinds of things, from smoking to stress. Let your left hand float up in the air like a balloon, all the way up higher and higher.

And just to like paint a picture for you, here's what it looks like.

Dr. Spiegel and I are on a Zoom call.

He's at his home, giving me a bunch of very specific and kind of weird instructions. And let it rest in a comfortable upright position.

And I'm sitting at my desk with my eyes closed.

That's right, I'm being hypnotized over Zoom,

which I'm sure is how many people feel when they're in work meetings.

When I ask you to pull your left hand down with your right hand and then let go,

your left hand will float right back up to the upright position.

You'll find something pleasant and amusing about this sensation.

My hypnotizability is going to be measured on a scale of 1 to 10,

with 10 being the most hypnotizable.

And if I pass this test, then we're going to do a longer session, where Dr. Spiegel will help me with the problem that I'm dealing with right now, namely procrastination.

We'll come out of this state of concentration together by counting backwards from three to one.

...