Actually, any kind of hypnotic suggestion *can* work, but the kicker is, all hypnosis has to be *self* hypnosis. Really, if you aren't consenting to it and you *don't* want trance to happen, you won't relax and your mind won't let it happen. It really is that simple.

And as for NLP….well, in my humble experience, it *is* bull, but only to a point. The thing you have to understand with NLP is, it isn't just about the creative narrative or about creating a better state of mind. As you likely saw with Penn and Teller, it is also about using *clever* word tricks (mainly in the way of double meanings and leading phrasings) to get your subconscious mind to think *one* meaning while your thinking, conscious mind is still on the other one.

And like a lot of hypnotic methods that rely on wordplay, if you see the word tricks coming, they don't work so well, because you know then that you are being "tricked" which means you are more likely to not relax, give in, and give consent…..which is also why, no small coincidence here, NLP and its variants are so popular among folks who do hypnosis professionally for money, because there is a certain built-in level of "planned obsolescence" there, an expiration date for the techniques so that there is *always* pressure to come up with "something new" that folks will buy. Not that I like it or condone it, but it is what it is. Most non-wordplay based versions of hypnosis have been out there, in the public domain for decades now. So yeah, some folks feel a need to exploit the crap out of the clever wordplay so that *patents* can be gained, and with it some profits….it ***** but what can you do?

Still….point is, hypnosis, whether it is NLP or wordplay-based, or whether it is more traditional, rather requires your *permission* for it to work. You have to agree, at least to the principle that this stuff *could* put you under, in order for it to do so.

If you are a total hardass, chanting BS all the way, *nothing* will work, ever. Not even NLP. The good side to this is: it proves that at the end of the day, it is *still* your mind here we are talking about and that there is no need for the tin foil hat, so to speak.

The bad side is: you're going to have to loosen up and risk *letting* yourself be "fooled again" in order to do anything real with NLP or hypnosis more generally.

I hope this helps. Thanks for your time.