This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hey, hey, how we doing, everybody? Today we're going to talk about yet another thing that I

initially dismissed as nonsense only to be proven wrong. This is a recurring theme in my life.

The subject in question today is hypnosis. More specifically, self-hypnosis. I'm talking to Dr.

David Spiegel, who's from Stanford Medical School, where my parents went,

and he's one of the leading researchers and practitioners of hypnosis.

So we're going to talk about what hypnosis actually is and how it does and doesn't differ from the mainstream conceptions,

you know, the stage hypnotists that we often see. I remember

seeing one when I was in college who came and had people make fools of themselves on stage,

which is probably the point of origination from my skepticism about hypnosis. We're also going to

talk about the types of people who are and are not hypnotizable and why. We go over the steps for self-hypnosis,

so you can do it at home. We talk about the differences between hypnosis and flow states,

the difference between hypnosis and meditation, what happens in the brain during hypnosis,

and what hypnosis is helpful for, including stress, anxiety, and panic.

As a side note, I actually agreed to do this interview because I really wanted to see if

self-hypnosis could help me with my ongoing claustrophobia on airplanes and elevators,

and you'll get to hear Dr. Spiegel try it out on me.

Speaking of stress and anxiety, we've got a brand new meditation today from our teacher of the

month, the wonderful Kyra Jewel Lingo. It's all about stress and anxiety, which I suspect many of you

will relate to. She has this great little phrase she uses. It's a kind of a question you can ask your

anxiety. What are you trying to protect me from? Highly recommend it. Go check it out on Dan Harris.com.

On the topic of guided meditations, I can now finally share a few things with you.

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