ceph

"what do you mean?"

""like i hypnotize people. you know. my followers. it's something they ask for kinda a lot so yeah. i just snap my fingers and like, you know, in kinda a, you know, slow voice, like, you're falling under my spell...like...yeah."

"oh, so you're a hypnotist?"

"i mean i guess? uhm...that sounds like kind of a lot to say, like a job title, like, i don't know about that. just when people ask me."

"so have you been hypnotized?"

"me? uhm, no. i've never like, looked anything kike that up or watched it. if there are really people that like, are hypnotists, like they say they have an especial power to do that, i would be interested for them to try. i don't know. it sounds pretty magical "

"it sort of feels magical. and i think i know what you mean, more like surreal or supernatural than just, really good, like how people usually mean magical, like, that place is wonderful, the apple pie is magical."

"right."

"so you then -- you wouldn't have any problem thinking it's real?"

"no. i mean, maybe. there are delusive states, fugue states, you know, you have like a fever dream -- if there's a different, very intense and long enough, sharp enough situation, especially intentionally induced by somebody, then yes. i have no trouble seeing that someone could...enter a really different place. i dont know if i could, or would, and i don't know if it would be just like they show. that it could happen, or you could be in a really different place, yes."

"that's interesting. have you ever been in...what you would call a different state, like that? or what would be an example of a different state for you?"

he thought for a long minute or two.

"one time, in about 7th grade, i lost my keys. it wasnt a huge problem, like immediately, yet if they were really lost my parents would've changed all the keys to the house, it would've been a whole hassle. so it was like, 3:30 or whatever, and i ran back to school like three blocks, and the last class i was in was gym, yet i couldn't get into the locker rooms to look, and i was running up and down around the school and couldn't find anyone, and i was just going like full freak out, and then i ran into one of the other gym teachers and like broke down crying when i saw him. for a moment he was just like utterly confused and after i explained and he let me in to look i think he was still a little like, concerned about how big a deal it seemed to me. anyway they weren't there, and i just kind of was like well i did what i could. and wasn't so like, keyed up to ninety nine. i walked home and then someone from my class had left a voicemail that they found the keys and would bring them tomorrow. so it was all kind about nothing as it turned out. so yeah, i dont know why that came to mind. it was just like a dream sequence, running around and around the empty halls."

"that's interesting. like being lost in something that was suddenly so different, suddenly the school was empty in the space of 30 minutes and the sudden change in an environment you just left and went right back to, had actually left something of yours in. yes, that could feel almost like a dream, that you'd found something in, and for a moment or two you think you still have it when you wake up. the school of day, with people, and your keys, disappeared like in a dream."

"yes. i suppose. i guess. gosh. that was a real like, oh goddd. anyway. i dont think i would be like that now, i would just be like, aww fuck. so yeah."

"so if you were...hypnotized to think that you'd lost your keys, do you think you would find that, you know, too scary?"

"no. i don't think so. i'm not sure. i obviously would be...pretty bothered. like i wouldn't be able to get it out of my mind. i would look everywhere. that's what i'm like when i lose things."

"that's interesting. so if i were to say...imagine losing your keys. that is something that might ring...a chord with you. it would be something particularly easy to conjure the feeling of. especially right know, since you just were. now if you imagine being at your door and you go with your hand to where you keep your keys, and they're not there. could you close your eyes, and imagine that for a moment? this is being hypnotized, by the way, if you don't find that too strange."

"oh, really? oh. ok." he closed his eyes.

i saw his forehead calm. he was imagining that feeling, that moment of -- ?? -- where are -- ?? -- you check your other pockets -- where -- ?? -- -- -- you blink. frick! i didn't need to say those parts, though. that's naturally what one imagines. so as i saw him thinking, in that place where he was in a moment of "??" -- i took his arm by the wrist, his right arm, and lifted it up in the air. i said, "your hand is on the doorknob." i let go of his wrist and his hand hovered in the air. "turn it. it's unlocked." i saw him turn his hand, and start -- now he was there, looking into a room he didn't expect be able to see -- i said, "yet this is a different place. this is the room of hypnosis. of being hypnotized. if you step in, all that's there is a long, long couch, and a wide, wide bed. if you lay down on the couch, you'll find that you quickly relax deeply into a strange, new kind of sleep. this sleep is hypnosis. complete, total relaxation of the body, focus of the mind. the body thinks it is asleep, yet the mind is here, with me. lay down, spread yourself out, stretch -- on that couch now."

his head nodded down. his arm was still raised partway in the air, where i had put it on the doorknob. "when i tug your arm in a moment, deep sleep, total relaxation throughout your mind and body, total calm, peace, rest, and life and take a deep breath in -- aand -- " i tugged -- "deep sleep. now. totally hypnotized. this is being hypnotized. and the magical thing is, if i tug your hand like that, like this -- " i lifted and tugged again -- " deep sleep, right back right here, deeply hypnotized all in a moment magically just like that."

then i said, "open your eyes now." i was still holding his right arm by the wrist. he opened his eyes, blinking, and looked right into mine, with perfect wonder. i tugged his arm, saying, "deep sleep." he relaxed utterly, nearly melting onto the floor from his chair. i caught him by the shoulder and steadied him down to resting half-curled on the floor. his eyes were fluttering, i could see.

"the room of hypnosis right now is getting lighter, brighter and brighter. what do you see in the room of hypnosis?"

"keys."

"what about ice cream?"

"ice cream."

"i would like you to open your mind in a moment. excuse me, open your eyes. in a moment. and you will be all normal again, awake, eyes open in a moment knowing you were hypnotized, knowing hypnosis is real as you did already and that you've experienced being hypnotized now and yet, what exactly do you remember? that, you can think about whenever you're having ice cream. and one, two, three, abracadabra, eyes open now -- " "snap* "wide awake wide awake, blinking, perfect. yawn, stretch if you like. perfect. so -- you were just hypnotized."

he blinked, and cocked his head lightly to the side.

"what do you remember it feeling like?"

he looked to the left, thinking, then in my eyes. "uhm, i think it was...ice cream? does that make sense?"

"yes, in a way. you did imagine...ice cream. an ice cream cone perhaps. i'm not sure."

he blinked. "i...think it worked, though. i'm not sure why i feel this way if i don't remember. i think it was...it couldn't just be ice cream. like i imagined eating ice cream until i was hypnotized? i could see something like that. an ice cream cone on a hot day is pretty intense, like we were saying about different intense things before. you have to really focus on it and fast, like -- or it all melts."

"right. it was something like that."

"that's interesting. that's really interesting. okay. ice cream."

"i can't be hypnotized" is the starting point for everyone i've ever talked about hypnosis with. the idea that you could enter a really different state just from listening to someone, or imagining a certain sequence of ideas, is something that seems unlikely; certainly it wouldn't be something that follows any sort of logic or system that you've encountered before. the idea that, just by a certain sequence of ideas, of imagined things, you could enter a genuinely different state is an unusual one. it's sort of like something elevating into the air, just by running in place. now of course, some things can do that, like helicopters, which in a way spin in place until they're in the air, pushing against the air as the the thing that's there to push against. and so, in that idea, what are you pushing against, what are you moving through, when you think? when you think a certain sequence of ideas? the space of thought. the stuff of the mind. if you imagine moving a hand through your mind, as you do through the air, and feeling the air against your hand, in there, or whatever is in there, which might provide no physical resistance, and yet feel a sort of static prickling or a sort of sound as you move your hand back and forth in your mind. a sort of flurrying of light, of movement. of whatever it is that we see in the mind's eye. of whatever nature that stuff is. that is what, to change where you are, you move through, lift off through. push against to move higher. interesting stuff. it can feel like anything. different things for different people. yet it feels like something. and this is what you're pushing against, when you think your way into hypnosis. and the thing really is, just that it's something. you push against something, and you...move somewhere else. in essence, that's what your imagining, whatever you feel when you move your hand, wave your hand fast through your mind.

and could you imagine pulling yourself forward, with both hands, up through, that stuff? can you climb it, like a thick, clifflike cloud that somehow supports, or that, there being no gravity, in your mind, you move up on just from pushing down in, however thick or insubstantial it is. and if you pull, push yourself up through that something, thick or shimmery thin, you will soon be...in a different place. imagine reaching out both your arms above your head, and parting the cloud, and pulling yourself up...on top. there you are. you're up on top of something. somewhere different. when you wave your hand in your mind now, is it different? slower? shimmerier? is it slightly liquid, like water rippling? is there a sound to it now? a whssh or an electric hum -- vmp -- vmp --as you move it? what is this different place that you're in now? how is it different? is it warmer? is it lighter? darker? are there sparks everywhere in your vision, like the background static is...buzzing at a higher volume?

imagine clapping your hands in your mind now. clap. the next time i ask you to do -- to imagine -- just that, i want you to open your eyes right up and feel full of a jolt of energy -- like lightning running through you -- and still in a different place somehow. and how do you come back here? to the place that's different? on top of this cloud? you can come back here from reading -- seeing and saying -- the word "different" with that red i. if you see different and say "different" to yourself, right back here, right away, eyes, body, mind just as they are right now. whatever that is, different from normal.

clap.

how do you feel? i want you to try something now, which is to say a certain word aloud to yourself when you read it, and then keep reading. the end will take you right back here.

the word i want you to read aloud is "different."

are you right back here now? is it glossy? glimmery? shiny? is it harder at all, or somewhere further from you, to read what's written here? there are only a few more words in this. maybe you're more focused than ever, and it's just me that's tired. i'm yawning actually... it's quite late as i'm writing this. i have to sleep soon, really. maybe you will too, or you might feel full of energy. that would say something about whether you...follow what's said, or naturally...harmonize with me, with the state i'm actually in. you can see what happens -- after you just imagine the one word below, a really really loud

the first few days where it's really warm out, turning into hot, i like to wear like, three layers. undershirt, button down and unzipped zip up hoodie. i like to get reallly really hot walking around. i can't really explain why. i guess it makes a cold shower afterwards feel even more excellent. and to use an old timey word...it feels purgative...like i'm sweating out all the cooped up old humours of winter. i know that's not a real thing. still...working those glands, you know, running clear fresh water through the lines, lol.

if people ask why, i say "i'm sweating it out." i suppose sweat lodges are a thing already, so it's not that mysterious. there is certainly a bit of an altered state you get into when it's hot hot, like hot hot, and you're walking in the sun. partway to that almost paradisical feeling of laying out in the sun at the beach. just the pure heat of it.

on that note, something i'm curious about is, do people who are hypnotized to feel like it's really hot actually perspire? i suppose, like anything, it would be person to person -- it's not something i've ever head mentioned, though. something to look into when hypnotizing someone in real life i suppose.

"i'm 1000 years older than you. i've learned every trick. i know what you're going to do before you do it. i've seen it before. you're going to blink in a moment, and nervously look to the right. there. see? next you'll smile nervously, and look right in my eyes. see?

it can quickly become disorienting to have someone say everything you'll do before you do it. you're going to nervously touch your right ear in a moment. there. see? and if i keep predicting, like this, what you're about to do, and i'm correct, you'll quickly and oddly start to feel like it's actually me deciding what you're about to do.

now after thinking about that for a second, you'll blink twice and shake your head. there. see? i know everything you're going to do. next you'll take a step back, and lean a little to the right, too look at me differently -- to see if my eyes follow you. there. see? and you're still looking in my eyes. you'll keep looking in my eyes. by now, you feel transfixed by the contact between us. you'll swallow nervously in just a moment. there. see?

now if i act, i also know exactly what you will do in turn. when you are transfixed like this, if i take a step back, you'll take a step toward me, wanting to keep contact. see? yet if i step closer, you'll stay right there -- your eyes will get a little wider. there. see? eyes quite wide, looking into mine. and since i'm so close now, if i take your right hand by the wrist, you won't look, you won't hardly notice. i can lift it right up above your head and -- let it fall. and it's loose there. your vision, your focus is transfixed, right here in my eyes. you'll now take a deep, deep breath, in -- realizing that -- there. annnd out. there. see?

being transfixed like this, focused like this, right here, takes energy. it takes a lot of energy. your eyes naturally will want a break, to get heavy. it will start to be noticeable in a moment. there it is. see? notice the slight heaviness, the flicker, the fluttering starting there, in your eyelids, while you keep perfect focus? your eyes will close in just a few moments. sooner than you think. and then you can just focus perfectly on my voice, on the shape of my words. letting. each. word. fill. your. mind. as. i. speak. transfixed. i can see that your eyes are very, very heavy now. in a moment when they close, i will tug you by the wrist, an you can follow me, carefully walking where i lead, listening as i speak, focusing on the shape of each. word. as. i. speak. heavy. in just one moment more, at the end of this sentence, i believe your eyes will be so heavy that they're closed all the way, and stuck closed. there. see? try to open your eyes, and you will find that you can't. stuck. they're stuck. too heavy. stuck. there. see? now let me take your wrist -- here -- and step carefully, this way. following my voice. transfixed. another word for this...is hypnotized. did you realize that you were being hypnotized? pay close attention, as you step, and step, forward, the way i'm tugging you -- pay close attention to the feeling, to the place you're in right now. to being hypnotized. now that you know what it's like to be hypnotized, you'll find that you rapidly return to this place, to being deeply hypnotized, whenever you look in my eyes and i say, 'transfixed.' if i ask, 'are you transfixed?' everything will slide out in a moment, deeply hypnotized, so quickly you don't have to worry about answering -- you know that i know that the answer is yes. when you look in my eyes, you are transfixed. when i say the word 'transfixed,' you quickly slide faaar out, waaay in, to an intense, deep hypnotic trance, just like this.

now -- here we are. let me adjust your position a little, by your shoulders -- step sideways, turn, there. now in a moment, i will tap you just lightly, right in the center of your forehead. and the funny thing is, when you're deeply hypnotized, this has a special effect. your eyes will roll up, to look right at where you were tapped, and suddenly every muscle in your body will instantly relax and melt, turning out like a light -- black starry night all in your mind, glittering sparks of light are all that you can see -- and you'll fall, fall backwards. you're in front of a bed, which is an excellent one -- thirty inches thick. now -- " *tap*

"you look completely, perfectly relaxed. my long experience tells me that you are in quite a profound state of hypnotic trance. if you try to open your eyes, you find that they're stuck -- you can't. if you try to lift your right arm, you find that it's stuck -- you can't. if you try to remember your name, you find that it's stuck somewhere -- try, and you find that you can't remember anything like that at all. what were you called? right now, you can let everything you might remember to worry about just fade, dissolving like a fog that the sun is melting away with rays of light, until everything is calm, clear, crystal-perfect in your mind. deeply hypnotized. transfixed. remembering looking into my eyes, and how quickly, almost instantly, you were transfixed, and deeply hypnotized. when i say "sleep," right back here. deeply hypnotized. when i say "transfixed," right back here, deeply hypnotized. when i tap your forehead, right away instantly deeply hypnotized, just like this, right now, completely transfixed, hypnotized, focusing on the shape. of. each. word. that. i. say. one. at. a. time.

now. open. your. eyes. blink. blink again.

hello! how do you feel? do you know where you are? do you remember your name? what are you called? strange feeling, right? in a moment, you'll start to blink, and blink again, trying to recall something you know you should know, and yet it's far away -- there. see? blinking your eyes. trying to remember. you'll shake your head in a second, trying to clear whatever's -- there. see? do you see now that i really do know everything you'll do? forget about it for now. everything will be back to normal soon. you'll blink, and wake up, just where you were before, everything like it was, except now you know what it's like to be transfixed all in a moment, and to be deeply hypnotized, just by focusing on. each. word. for now -- no worries at all. just look in my eyes. are you transfixed again? i see that you are." *snap* "sleep." *tap*.

"you've really never heard of that? of being hypnotized? okay. i can show you what it's like, and in a different way from all that. what it's really like, between two people like this. it's really just a sort of human experience, like feeling carried along with a story someone's telling you while you're listening, closing your eyes now and then to picture what they're saying. or following along with watching a movie, drawn into it so much that when it ends and the screen goes black -- you sort of blink, and shake yourself and come back to reality. that feels really close to what hypnosis is like. being drawn into someone, what they're saying, into looking right where they ask you to look, focusing there, and imagining right what they ask you imagine, so perfectly that it suggests things to your body without you thinking that far. it's really just perfect focus on someone. here. and if you pay close attention. now. to the shape of each word i'm saying. you can actually feel. if you pay close attention. this effect start to happen to you. looking right in my eyes. now. will make it stronger. and looking right here at my hand, just here, a little above you, slowly shifting there, this will make it stronger still. to look right there, to focus right there, to focus on the shape of every word i'm saying. and something unusual now, you can imagine happening. as my hand moves closer, even from this distance away, you can feel somehow...my hand is pushing...down...something that makes your eyes start to feel...just slightly heavy. imagine...as my hand moves closer...a million tiny little weights all along your eyelids, that get heavier...as my hand...is closer...and closer. and if your eyes get so heavy...you close them...just focus, right here, on the shape of my words. closer and closer. heavier. i can see the force. that you need. now. to keep your eyes open. and you can relax. and let them close. when you like. and then you can imagine sleep. you can imagine deep sleep, deep, deep sleep, asleep at night with the stars and the moonlight out up there above you, in the heavy, total darkness of night, sleep. deep sleep. i see that your eyes are closed now, and i see...that you're imagining...deep, deep sleep. sleep. perfect...*snap*...sleep. and this, you now know, is the feeling of being hypnotized. it's like imagining that you're deeply asleep, and you are, except really, just your body is asleep. your mind is secretly awake, listening to me. you are deeply hypnotized. deeply hypnotized. *snap* sleep is the signal, a secret signal between you and me, that you, right now, can be deeply hypnotized, shifting right in just a few moments from upright to relaxed to thinking of sleep to deep, deep, deeply hypnotized, deep sleep. *sleep.*

and on the count of three and the snap of my fingers you'll find your eyes blink, blink, blink open, all the way wide and bright and you're right here, right here with me, knowing that somehow you've just been hypnotized, somehow from focusing somewhere you were just now hypnotized and then 1, 2, 3, *snap* eyes open, right here right now all the way back to reality. hello! so that's being hypnotized. and there you are. is there anything else you're curious about, with being hypnotized? it would take me only a moment to show you quite a lot of further things that are quite intense feelings. have you ever seen, or could you imagine someone hypnotized so...they thought they were perfectly awake and normal, and yet they couldn't move a step from where they are, like they're stuck in place, and yet they just don't know, just can't figure out why, still can't really believe they were hypnotized? do you think that would work, right now, on you? if you're not certain, may i -- for my curiosity -- see, if you have a minute more? wonderful. alright. look right here -- deep breath in, annd ssshhhhwwwww *snap* sleeep. perfect. perfectly hypnotized. you are perfect. and now i would like to start your focus, a focus on relaxation, all the way at the top of your head, right at the very top relaxing that small circle of muscles...and bit by bit, we'll relax downward all the way to your toes, yet for now...just still at the top of your head, a ring of light there like you're being read by something, a relaxing ring of light proceeding down around your head, around your forehead, reaching the tops of your ears and starting to touch your uppermost muscles around your eyes, and already...just here...feeling so relaxed. already imagining perfectly that you're deeply asleep. and you can go even deeper. now."

like, "yes, hypnosis works. it's like confidence. it works. it's not necessarily something numerical, or that you can teach in any way other than the feeling. part with words, and part without. just the feeling. do you want to feel the feeling of being hypnotized? look right here in my eyes. believe it or not, having followed what i just said, looking in my eyes, you are very close already to being hypnotized. can you feel that feeling of looking in my eyes, of close contact with me right now, growing more intense, more encompassing each moment? that's just how looking someone in the eyes works. that's how hypnosis works. your focus increases, gets deeper, becomes total. totally focused right here, right now. and once -- like this -- you are focused, it's natural that your focus lets things happen without you having to actively decide. if i say, your eyes might feel heavy, your focus on me leads you to imagine perhaps a million tiny little weights, and your eyes start to feel heavy even in reality as long as you're focused on me, right here. and the moment your eyes close, you will really be hypnotized, and the word sleep will signal, then, closing your eyes, relaxing everything, everywhere, all over totally loose, deeply asleep in your whole body, yet the mind is awake, listening to me. if your eyes are heavy enough, you may want to let them close, or you might keep them open now, letting them get heavier, and heavier, and heavier until...they close. and -- sleep. your body is asleep, your mind is awake, focused right here on the sound, now, seeing perhaps still the image of my eyes, focusing on my voice, now. this is what being hypnotized is like. the relaxation that you feel...is why hypnosis is real. feeling so completely, and perfectly relaxed...is how you know you're hypnotized. and something else that's true is, now that you know what it's like to be hypnotized, it makes perfect sense to come right back here, whenever i say sleep and look you right in the eyes. hypnotized right away, all in an instant, just from the word sleep. just like that. and now, whatever else you may be thinking, or wondering about being hypnotized, i'd like you to just forget for a moment, and on the count of three open your eyes and blink yourself back to reality so i can ask you something, 1, 2, 3 -- hello?

how do you feel about being hypnotized now? is your mind changed as to whether or not it works, or did you already think it might?"

what if you were hypnotized such that every time someone touches your stiff thing, or you touch it yourself, you get rrreallly sleepy, drowsy, your eyes close and you relax completely, drifting off into somewhere else after just a few strokes up and down your stiff thing -- i've done this and it's intense, you stroke, zone out, and the next thing you know you blink your eyes, and realize you were just asleep -- kind of asleep -- and you might stroke yourself again, and one, two, three...you feel yourself sort of stuck in place, zoning ouuuutt...and you blink, and wake up. and you might try again. if someone else is stroking you...they might stop, or slowww down, way down when they see you've zoned way out, letting you find yourself, blink, and come back, and then stroking you faster and faster until in just a few, one, two, three strokes, you're totally relaxed and waaay out there again. or they might just keep going, steady or faster and faster as they see you start to dream, deeper and deeper with each stroke -- and when you hit a point of depth, so deep you know you're hypnotized and can't think of anything else besides being deeply hypnotized by this feeling instantly -- you realize you are truly perfectly hypnotized and that's when you come -- ahhh -- ahhhh...and you blink, and wake up, knowing that just now, you were hypnotized instantly at the first touch, deeply hypnotized, in a totally profound trance until you came. and you know that if you feel that touch, the next time you feel that touch, just the same feeling, an even stronger feeling will instantly rush over you. touch, one, two, threee strokes and you're alll the way out, far out in a dream of being hypnotized just by that touch.

and when that touch stops...or you come...you might keep drifting for a minute, whether you...relaxed so completely you stopped stroking, or...someone stroking you slowed waaay down and you kept drifting for a minute, and then came back up. if you're stroking your stiff thing right now, it's helping you be far more intensely hypnotized with each stroke. stroke. stroke. slowww down....and stop now, and drift for a minute, breathing, and feel yourself come up...back to full, lucid clarity, knowing now...how intense of an experience it is to be deeply hypnotized just from and every time that you touch your stiff thing. and you know now, therefore, to be careful about starting to touch it, to touch it...that way, since if you do touch there, you know now that you would quickly be deeply, deeply hypnotized, just from a few, one, two, three strokes. deeply hypnotized. stop now, if you started again, and otherwise you can...stay stopped and take a minute now, breathing, taking a deep breath with each number as you count as high as you like, until you feel all the way up, back to where you were.

i want to be so hypnotized that i forget i'm even being hypnotized. completely lost in a fantasy, in a dream, until i blink, and open my eyes, and it sort of hits me all over anew that i'm being hypnotized, really hypnotized; that where i was just now was a vision, and this right here, being hypnotized, is what's real...and knowing that in just a few moments i could forget that again, going way far out in just a few seconds into another vision, dream, fantasy, so real and total that i forget again that i'm being hypnotized, until i blink, and open my eyes, and there i am, really being hypnotized.

i think sitting there, knowing you were just completely hypnotized, knowing you might be completely hypnotized again in a second, must be...a feeling like nothing else. like sitting up on the side of a pool, sun up in the air, toes in the cool sparkling water, taking a few breaths and letting the sun heat you for a moment before you just lift off that slim edge and down again, splashing into the crystal, shimmering water -- deeply hypnotized. metaphorically. or for real, if you were only imagining the sun, and the beautiful water, if you were really just so deeply hypnotized that it all seemed completely real, like the only real thing in the world right now. and then you blink, and open your eyes, and you're sitting just up on the edge of that ledge again, warming in the sun, letting yourself get hotter and hotter, toes in the cool crystal water until -- splash! all of you is under again. and if it was strange, heavy, thick water that you could somehow breathe, if you breathed slow, deeply in and out -- how deep could you go? how far down could you swim, if you could breathe the water?

that is actually sort of a real thing. there are organic liquids called perfluorocarbons which can have dissolved within them sufficient oxygen for humans to "breathe" them -- your body hates it though, because the feeling of liquid in your lungs induced coughing reflexes, even if you're "breathing" just fine in terms of getting enough oxygen.

there's also sulfur hexafluoride, which is sort of like reverse helium -- if you breathe it, since it's heavier than air, it makes your voice thick, and low.

perhaps this is odd, but i think hypnotic suggestions to feel like you'd breathed in helium or SF6 so your voice was high or low would be interesting to experience, or to give to people. i'm curious how well it would work -- voice modulation is something people do unconsciously already, to match the tones and paces of people around them. so if you started to say in like a very high chipper voice, "YouFeelLikeYou'reBreathingHeliumIsntThatFunnyHeeHeeHee" the person listening would naturally be inclined to mirror your change in pace and tone, amplifying the suggestive effect. likewise for SF6 -- "you....feel....like....you...breathed....something...

really........heavy."