After graduating from Pennsylvania State University with a psychology degree, Eric Mina wasn’t exactly planning on becoming a hypnotist.
“My last year in college, I was doing an internship and I was getting paid no money for thirty hours a week,” Mina explained, “And I wanted to figure out how to make a lot more money in a little bit of time, so I started being a magician out of nowhere and I started getting paid for that.”
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Mina continued, “I ended up going to see a hypnotist show around that time, and I was completely captivated. I realized that with hypnotism I would be able to help more people. I was supposed to be a social worker – something in that field. But I felt like I could inspire more people and help more people this way.”
Nine years later, Mina finds himself performing about one hundred shows a year. Mina took the stage at Keene State College on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015 and invited anyone in the audience to take a seat and be part of the show.
“For the most part, anyone can be hypnotized,” Mina explained.
“It’s all about turning off the conscious part of your brain and accessing the subconscious part,” he continued.
Jack Hagge, a KSC student who took the stage, said that he’d been hypnotized before.
“I keep coming to shows because it’s so much fun,” Hagge said.
Hagge added, “I like the idea of doing something in front of a crowd, then trying to remember it after. I think it’s pretty cool.”
Of the show Thursday, Hagge could only remember parts of it.
“I think I was a dancer,” Hagge recalled, “And I think I was dancing for a charity.”
With the help of his friends, however, Hagge said he was able to remember most of the show by breakfast on Friday morning.
Like Hagge, KSC student Amy Buonpane was also no stranger to hypnosis.
“I was kind of skeptical when I did it the first time, but I meditate a lot, so my friends all said it would work on me,” Buonpane said.
“I feel like the whole thing is in your mind. You just have to convince yourself of it and then it kind of takes over,” she added.
Joining Buonpane to go see the show was one thing, but her friend Kate Marinelli said she would never volunteer to be hypnotized.
“[Buonpane] really wanted to be hypnotized, so I went with her because I
thought it would be fun,” Marinelli explained.
Marinelli added, “The whole idea kind of scares me.” Despite this, Marinelli still had a great time at the show.
“He was really personable,” Marinelli said of Mina.
“It was amazing how he engaged the audience as well as the people on stage. My favorite part was how the audience was reacting. It was almost as entertaining as the people on stage,” she continued.
Buonpane added, “He saw someone in the audience who had been hypnotized, and he brought her on stage too, even though he already picked other people.”
“[Mina] was definitely really interesting,” Buonpane continued, “I liked that he was doing things I’d never seen before. All of his acts were different.”
Throughout the show, Mina had the students on stage act like cats, audition for a soda commercials and dance to raise money for their own fictional charity, among other subconscious performances. For Mina, he said the best part of his job is getting feedback.
Mina said, “It’s a great feeling when someone comes up to me after the show, completely inspired and asks me about how they can change themselves. Or when someone comes up to me and says, ‘Dude, you just changed my view on hypnosis. You just blew my mind.’”
Mina added, “One of the best parts is when I get to see that perspective switch and see their mind change for the better.”
At the end of the day, Mina considers himself to be a mental coach.
“I can also help you think like the person you want to become,” Mina said, “If you want to change who you are, it’s all about changing your perspective.”
Jill Giambruno can be contacted at jgiambruno@kscequinox.com
