Every time you pick up your phone "just to check something," a hypnotist climbs into your hand.

No swinging pendulums. No smoky, low-lit rooms or velvet-curtained stages. No silver-tongued Svengali whispering, "You’re getting sleepy."

Just a sleek little app with pastel icons, curated feeds, and that deliciously endless scroll.

And guess what?

You’re not the user. You’re the used.

 

Welcome to the trance

As harsh as it sounds, let’s not dance around it: if you’re clocking more than an hour a day on social media, chances are you’re not just casually browsing, you’re under. Tranced. Zonked. Dropped. Mentally pickpocketed while grinning at a video of a dog wearing sunglasses.

The symptoms aren’t always dramatic though. They’re sneaky. Time loss. Mood dips. Sudden, inexplicable anxiety. A whiff of rage. An unshakeable need to buy a gadget you didn’t know existed five minutes ago. Any of this sound familiar?

This isn’t addiction, it’s something much deeper. This is neural conditioning.

Because hypnosis (real hypnosis) isn’t all stage tricks, submission and clucking like a chicken. It’s focused attention with suggestion. And that, my friend, is the entire business model of social media.

Focused attention? Check. Endless suggestions? Double check.

 

Algorithms: The New Age Hypnotists

Once upon a time, hypnosis required a trained professional with a calming voice, a pocket watch, and possibly a beard. (I'm just following the generalization here, okay)

Now all it takes is a half-decent algorithm.

That algorithm watches your every move. It tracks how long you linger, what you click, what you comment, what makes you laugh, cringe, rage, or squirm. It builds a profile. Then it starts playing you like a fiddle.

Oh, you thought you picked that video? That post? That viral clip?

Wrong!

It picked you.

And it didn’t choose to inspire or enlighten you. It chose to hook you.

Because if you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product.

 

The Trance Loop: Scroll. Click. Repeat.

There are a lot of people who are losing their minds over the power of AI and how dangerous it is. Well, I hate to break it to you, but there’s a force even more insidious than AI. It’s called repetition. And if you've ever done one of my courses on hypnosis, suggestion and NLP, you'll know that repetition is hypnosis 101.

Repetition builds habits. Habits form identity. Identity becomes reality.

You scroll. You react. You loop.

Soon, your brain isn’t asking, “Is this useful?” It’s saying, “This is what we do now.”

And before you know it, you're not just someone who "checks" social media. You're someone who needs it - to wake up, wind down, numb out, or just to feel something... anything.

This is neural rewiring, folks. And you're doing it willingly, with the device in your hand and connected to Wi-Fi.

 

You’re NOT addicted. You’re hypnotized

I get so pissed when I hear the self-deprecating nonsense people love to spew: "I know, I know, I’m so addicted to my phone."

No, you’re not addicted. You’re hypnotized.

Addiction implies awareness. It suggests you know what you're doing is harming you and you choose to keep doing it anyway.

Hypnosis is unconscious. It's when you don’t even realise it’s happening. You think you’re making conscious choices. You’re not.

That wild opinion shift? That unshakeable need to defend a random stranger on the internet? That compulsion to post every meal or mirror pic?

That’s suggestion. Layered with repetition. Baked in with emotional anchors.

 

3 Signs you’re in a digital trance

If you still don't believe me, try the following on for size and tell me which of them are a little too familiar:

1. Mindless Opens - You’re working... then suddenly you're on TikTok or Instagram. No idea how. It’s like your thumb has a secret life of its own.
2. Mood Yo-Yo - Angry. Envious. Euphoric. Indignant. All before you’ve finished your morning coffee. Your emotions are on a leash. And guess who’s holding it? Not You.
3. Algorithm Worship - "But my feed is different. I only follow inspiring people!" Cute story. But your algorithm doesn’t care. It shows what keeps you hooked. Not what makes you wise.

 

Anchors, Triggers, and the Mind Games you didn’t see coming

Good hypnotists use anchors - visual cues, words, touches, sounds that shift your state instantly.

Social media is a master hypnotist.

• That notification ping? - Pavlov’s bell.
• That refresh swipe? - Your slot machine handle.
• That heart icon? - Your dopamine drip.

You’ve been trained. Anchored. Conditioned to seek validation, comparison, outrage, and distraction. And it’s not just by accident. It’s by design.

Every platform is a psychological chessboard, and most users are pawns - smiling while they’re being sacrificed.

 

The grand illusion of choice

“But I curate my content! I’m conscious about what I follow!”

Oh, you poor naive, blessed soul.

The platform decides what gets seen. Not you.

You’re not on an intellectual safari. You’re in a reinforced echo chamber with custom lighting.

It shows you what makes you twitch, tap, comment, like, swipe, or scroll. Doesn’t matter if it’s spiritual quotes or bikini reels - it’s all just engagement bait.

You’re not choosing. You’re being nudged.

 

Hypnosis isn’t evil - It's being weaponised

Let me get clear on one thing before we continue:

Hypnosis (real, clinical, consciously chosen hypnosis) can be life-changing. I use it daily to help people rewire self-sabotaging thoughts, smash limiting beliefs, and build bulletproof mindsets.

But what social media’s doing is not transformation. It's exploitation.

These social media agencies aren't interested in your growth. Only your gaze.

Your attention is the commodity. Your emotional reactions are the currency.

The algorithms don’t want you empowered. They want you entranced. Obsessed. Triggered. And above all... scrolling.

 

Snapping out of it

This isn’t a spiritual detox. We'll get to that shit at a later stage. This is a psychological intervention. 
Because someone has to wake you the hell up!

Here’s how to break the digital trance:

 

1. Audit your apps like a ruthless accountant

• What platforms own your time?
• How many hours a week are you gifting them?
• What’s the ROI? Be honest.

 

2. Install pattern interrupts

• Move your social apps into a folder called "Are You Bored or Avoiding?"
• Add a screen time lock. Bonus points if you forget the passcode.
• Say out loud: “I am not a thumb zombie.” (Yes, out loud. Humour helps.)

 

3. Trade scrolling for sanity

• 10 minutes on Instagram = 10 minutes of journaling, breathing, or walking.
• Swipe less. Think more. If you spend half the time you scroll on social media, reading actual books (not novels, useful books), you will be unrecognizable in a year's time.

 

4. Become the Hypnotist, not the Hypnotised

• Start feeding your brain with your own programming.
• Use affirmations, mental rehearsal, NLP, and visualisation.
• Take a course. Learn self-hypnosis. Reclaim the controls.
• And if you don't know how, head over to Mindwalker Academy.

 

If it triggers you, it owns you

Social media is the slickest, most seductive hypnotist the world’s ever seen, and we invited it into our lives, our homes, our minds, and our morning routines.

But here’s the truth most people don’t want to hear:

If it can hijack your focus, steer your mood, and shape your identity, then it owns you.

So, what are you going to do about it?
Stay lulled, swiping endlessly while your potential rots in the back seat?
Or will you snap your fingers, sit upright, and declare:

“Not today, algorithm. Not today.”

Your mind is the most valuable asset you have. Stop renting it out to code written by people who couldn’t care less about who you become.

Wake up. Walk away. And take your damn power back already!