FROM THE EDITOR
COVER: SCOTT BALMER THIS PAGE: GETTY IMAGES X2, BBC STUDIOS/MARCO CERVI, DANIEL BRIGHT
I’ve wondered about the process of hypnosis ever since seeing 1999’s cult-favourite comedy Office Space. In it, the film’s lead character, Peter Gibbons (played by Ron Livingston) undergoes hypnotherapy to escape the mundane drudgery of his cubicle-confined work life.
The hypnotherapist lowers the lights, leans towards Peter and tells him to relax all the muscles in his body. “You will slip deeper and deeper into a state of complete relaxation. All your cares and concerns are disappearing. Deeper and deeper… way down…” We watch as Peter’s eyelids drop and his worries float away. Doesn’t that sound like a dream? Working at BBC Science Focus is nothing like the tedious grind depicted in the film, but I could certainly use a hand turning down the volume on the daily stresses it produces.