Ten students put their reputations on the line last Wednesday to be hypnotized by Sailesh, MTV Europe’s “Best Hypnotist in the World.” The Campus Activities Board brought Sailesh back to the University Center for a third time to entertain through his one man hypnosis show. An individual takes a journey to their subconscious mind during hypnosis, which Sailesh says can heighten focus and improve quality of life.
As a young man entering his twenties, Sailesh took his passion for the human mind and turned it into a career by apprenticing for a hypnotist who regularly visited his workplace. Soon Sailesh was touring Canada multiple times a year.
“I got hypnotized and fell in love with it,” said Sailesh of his profession. “I spent about three years reading about it, then I started working at a night club. This one guy kept on coming in, once every three months, and I ended up working for him and being on the road. I got my foot in the door. I traveled across Canada 19 times in a year and a half. Afterwards, I went back to working in the bars. That’s how I started doing shows in bars.”
He hypnotizes college campuses across America, Canada and Europe, among many other locations and various audiences. During his visit, Sailesh was ready for his volunteers to be “remembered” by their student body for their funny antics. The 90-minute show had the volunteers laughing, crying, dancing, spilling secrets, singing, playing air guitars and mind reading.
Madison Frederick, freshman general studies major, was enthusiastic about Sailesh’s show. Her front row seat enabled her to nab a prime spot center stage. Frederick is a believer in hypnosis and its powers. It helps her in her academics, sleep and organization.
“Hypnosis is my life,” said Frederick. “It’s been with me, an active part of my life, for just about as long as I could remember.”
According to Sailesh, everyone enters a hypnosis state of mind. While driving, talking in conversation, sitting in class or doing tasks at work, we all slip into our subconscious mind on a daily basis. This is not bad but good. An individual can harness this power to excel at many aspects of their personal, professional and social life.
Sailesh used his deep voice to put the volunteers in a trance, then placed his hand in front of their face; they focus solely on his voice and hand as their eyes shut and heads droop. While in slumber, some volunteers cuddled with the person next to them, but the most popular episode with the audience was when Sailesh told them all they were on a sinking boat and when they woke up, each one of them would take credit for saving everyone.
“[Its funny] because usually they have different stories on how they saved everybody,” said Sailesh.
While under hypnosis, individuals are not sleeping, but more like day dreaming. They are aware of their surroundings, yet their trance state keeps them from separating illusion and reality. Frederick says when she was under hypnosis the background noise helped her focus on his voice, which caused her to fall further into her own mind.
“Every time he would put his hand up, I’d already feel myself slipping,” Frederick said. “My awareness was narrowed, but it wasn’t entirely eliminated. I was still aware that I kept falling on the person that was to the right of me, but it didn’t bother me.”
For additional information on Sailesh, visit his website at www.blog.saliesh.ca. To find out more about upcoming CAB events, check the Southeastern website for updates.