Hypnotist attracts a crowd during O-Week at La Trobe University Bendigo

What does it feel like to be hypnotised?

Hypnotist Steven Spellmaster likened it to a deep form of meditation.

“Total relaxation in the body, but highly alert in mind. People think you’re asleep, but you’re not,” he said. 

“In a normal state, you think and then you do. Under hypnosis, there’s no thinking – you just do. It’s immediate.”

He said hypnosis heightened a person’s mannerisms and personality. 

“A lot of introverts seem to think funny things and never do it. Under hypnosis, they become characters,” he said.

“Sometimes you get the biggest introvert who becomes the best person on stage.”

Not everybody is receptive to being hypnotised, though.

One of the first things Spellmaster does during his shows is get people on stage for a susceptibility test.

“Say I get 16 people on stage, I probably end up getting about eight people under hypnosis,” he said. 

“The susceptibility test tells me who is willing to go under, who is fighting against it… who I keep on stage to do the hypnotic session.”

Once he establishes who will stay on stage, the session begins. Spellmaster said it lasts for about five minutes. 

“Your mind is so clear, you know exactly what you’re doing. It’s subconscious,” he said.

More than 200 people bought tickets to see Spellmaster in action as O-Week festivities at La Trobe University Bendigo continued on Wednesday. 

He has done more than 3000 shows in 20 years and has diplomas in clinical hypnotherapy, counselling and neuro-linguistic programming. 

“It’s the third time I’ve been here, and we always have an absolute ball,” Spellmaster said. 

Thursday’s O-Week activities include a mystery bus tour and an evening at The Zone.

More than 800 people attended a glow paint party on Tuesday night.