It’s like dreaming, but reality. Like sleeping, but not. It can resolve everyday issues such as obesity and addiction and is available to everyone.
If this sounds too good to be true, it will only take you a few minutes in Stephane Juncker’s company to be convinced that miracles can happen when your conscious and subconscious start communicating.
Juncker – or Stef – has used the art of hypnotherapy for many years to entertain, but also to assist people in overcoming fears and obsessions.
With his stage performances – like the ones he will be doing over Easter weekend at the MTN Nelson Mandela Bay Splash Festival at Hobie Beach in Port Elizabeth – he has the audience in stitches when he hypnotises volunteers and make them do silly things.
Stef describes these shows as “an hour of relaxation, escapism and entertainment” – also for himself. “On stage, I’m also in a state of semi-hypnosis.”
He says none of his performances are ever the same, as people react differently in any given situation.
According to him, hypnosis is “fascinating, interesting, helpful and entertaining” and apparently anyone with an IQ of over 40 can go under, so to speak, provided they embrace the process.
“In the past I battled with insomnia, but through self-hypnosis I can now fall asleep within 30 seconds.” This, says Stef, is one example of how human behaviour can be manipulated through hypnosis.
Behavioural problems – like obesity, addiction and anxieties – usually stem from childhood experiences or trauma that were experienced then or later in life.
He says in most cases the problem – for example a fear of heights – does not relate to an obvious experience, but rather to a type of hidden agenda that the subconscious uses as a coping mechanism.
Stef says he finds it interesting how many of the cases he deals with have roots in dysfunctional family relationships.
This Belgium-born entertainer – who moved to South Africa at the age of one – says his passion for the entertainment industry started at university in Port Elizabeth when he taught himself to be a clown, to do magic tricks and to be an escape artist.
Thereafter he submerged himself in the wonder world of hypnosis and when he came to, he was presenting more than 400 stage productions at festivals and corporate functions across the globe each year.
It was then that the 37-year-old – who has visited more than 80 countries and speaks six languages – decided to strike a better balance in his life.
He used one of his other passions, paragliding, to obtain this goal and now offers tandem paragliding sessions to people who would like to share in this unique experience.
Stef still does about 150 stage performances annually.
For more information, visit www.splashfestival.com or phone the festival office on 041 393 4844.
Issued by:
Full Stop Communications
Coetzee Gouws
041 368 4992
082 575 7991
coetzee@fullstopcom.com
www.fullstopcom.com
On behalf of:
MTN Nelson Mandela Bay Splash Festival