Let The “Mind Game”s Begin!

By Justin McDaniel | Published November 8, 2023

Students discovered new ways to open their minds during Homecoming Week with a Mind Games Hypnosis Show led by a certified instructor of the art.

With over 19 years of experience, Paul Ramsay is well known for his work as a speaker and hypnotist, and throughout his night at Kean had participants involved from start to finish. 

Right away, Ramsay told participants to close their eyes and clear their minds of all stress and worries as a first step.

“ In order for hypnosis to work and in order to be hypnotized you have to be willing to accept it,”. he said before starting the first act.. “If you’re telling yourself or your mind that you don’t want to be hypnotized then you simply won’t. 

“When you’re getting hypnotized, what you’re really doing is you are creating a mild dissociative event. Daydreaming is another example of mild dissociation.”

After showing different illusions on a screen and explaining that he uses his voice as one of his tools, Ramsay asked some participants to join him on stage. He then demonstrated his craft by showing the audience all the different things that can be done to the mind with hypnotism.

First, he said he needed to get participants out of their comfort zones, allowing him to put contestants to sleep and with a snap, wake them up. Participants danced on command and one even believed she was First Lady Michelle Obama coming to visit the school. Participants would feel comfortable and free to do whatever they were told without the feeling of nervousness.

“I’ve never been hypnotized. Last year I tried to participate but my mind just wasn’t in the head space,” said Meliá Marte, one of the Kean students who who was called on stage and hypnotized. “ It was honestly a pretty great experience. It was also a little embarrassing afterwards. The best thing i can compare the feeling to was kinda like when you wake up from a nap and everything is fuzzy.”

Marte said she was in the audience last year but that it’s more fun on the stage. She called it “another level of relaxation. I definitely would do it again! The feeling reminded me a lot of when I used to meditate but this time I left myself open for suggestions.

“To further engage the audience, Ramsay told students to download the app “menti” where they were able to choose some of the tasks that the participants on stage had to do. It led to some fun choices such as participants turning into a wrestleror a famous opera singer who came to perform for all the students.

“I liked how the hypnotist kept sharing the message of kindness and positivity,” said Lilliana Carredo, who majors in Communication/media. “He didn’t want the hypnotized people to feel humiliated, but he still managed to make it fun for the audience watching.”

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