Meditation and hypnosis: The difference

Is meditation the same as hypnosis? Is the state of meditation the same as the state of hypnosis? No, hypnosis and meditation are two different things. When you are in hypnosis you are in a state where you are open to suggestions or just completely focused in the moment. For example, a hypnotic experience is the experience when you are automatically completely absorbed in your work or if you suddenly "wake up" while driving then you have actually been in hypnosis for a bit.

Meditation and hypnosis differ from each other and also have different benefits. Therefore, in this article I will discuss the differences of meditation and hypnosis and what both mental states can be used for.

Hypnosis and meditation are often used as alternatives or last resorts for mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, (chronic) pain, or trauma recovery.

Because hypnosis and meditation are known for their trance-like states, there can be confusion about the difference between hypnosis and meditation. This is understandable because the actions of meditation and especially self-hypnosis are very similar.

Yet there are differences. Not least because there are many different meditation techniques and because hypnosis is also a state that you can end up in automatically, for example while walking.

There again, you can immediately see the difference, because when you meditate while walking you are actually very aware that you are walking and of the movements your body is making. Whereas if you walk in the hypnotic state you are probably much more distracted by your thoughts and after a while suddenly notice that you have already walked past a certain part that you did not notice at all.

Despite these differences, both techniques influence your subconscious and conscious behavior. To help you understand exactly what this difference is, in this article I’ll explain what hypnosis is, what meditation is, and how you can tell the difference during a session.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a state in which you are actually more focused, but also that your awareness is more detached from your body than in meditation and you are more open to suggestions. As a result, a hypnotherapist can help you process certain experiences and you accept suggestions more quickly during self-hypnosis.

During hypnosis, you can bring up certain emotions linked to memories, but you can also view the problem from a more detached perspective during regression.

In addition, some emotions can also be somewhat hypnotic. Have you ever noticed that when you are already a little angry you are easier to fire up than when you are relaxed. This is because then you are more open to that kind of suggestion.

This also shows that the state of hypnosis is not always relaxing. The relaxed hypnosis that is better known is used during hypnotherapy and other therapeutic interventions.

During that hypnosis you can also become totally absorbed in past experiences, visualizations or performances that turn problems On or Off.

Explicit suggestions often play a key role in changing mental processes through hypnosis, in contrast to meditation. In addition, you can also receive post-hypnotic suggestions from the hypnotherapist that can influence your behavior and thought processes when you’re faced with a problem.

Meditation

In meditation, it is precisely important to quiet your mind or at least live in the here and now. In meditation, it is important to strengthen the contact between your brain and body and also the connection between you and your environment.

Meditation also helps you let go of thoughts and separate emotions from your identity. This means you can feel an emotion, but that emotion doesn’t dictate your behavior. Through meditation, you can gain more distance from your emotions and, as a result, make decisions that are the best solution in the long run.

Still, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what meditation does compared to hypnosis because there are many different types of meditation, such as seated meditation, mindfulness meditation, yoga meditation, guided meditation, mantra meditation, and so on.

What do you use hypnosis for?

Hypnosis can be used to address many issues; in particular, overcoming fears is often achieved through hypnosis. In addition, hypnosis can help you lose weight by creating a sort of mental gastric band.

Hypnosis influences your beliefs. By changing those beliefs, you can change certain behaviors. Smoking, for example, is a habit that is sustained by beliefs that are inaccurate or, at the very least, do not help you quit smoking.

Hypnosis isn’t just for treating fears and unhealthy habits. When used under professional guidance, hypnosis can also help combat depression and support its treatment.

In addition, hypnosis is increasingly used in hospitals because the calmness and reduction in anxiety it provides can improve and accelerate the healing process after surgery.

What do you use meditation for?

You can apply meditation for almost the same sure as hypnosis, only the method is slightly different. You go on self-discovery for your fears and try to learn through meditation techniques to maintain composure when confronted with those fears so that you can get over them.

Meditation also allows you to recognize your body's reaction to a particular moment more quickly, giving you the realization that your body's reaction is in turn influencing the emotion, allowing you to distance yourself from the emotion more quickly, allowing you to make rational decisions about how to react in that moment.

In addition, meditation helps you experience less stress. This can be achieved, for example, through mindfulness meditation—especially when practiced throughout the day.

What is the difference between hypnosis and meditation?

Hypnosis and meditation both affect the connections in your brain and the making of unconscious decisions. In meditation programs against stress, it takes about 8 weeks to change those connections to the point where you suffer less stress.

During hypnotherapy, such a new connection can be established more quickly. In the case of smoking, a single hypnosis session may be enough to create the new connection, so that you no longer feel like having a cigarette.

However, in cases of depression and long-term stress, self-hypnosis is also needed to maintain long-term success.

In addition, there is also a difference between meditation techniques—such as mindfulness meditation, which you can use throughout the day to reduce stress —and hypnosis techniques that you can use throughout the day to reduce stress.

In both cases, breathing plays a role, but in the case of hypnosis, visualizations about turning buttons are also important to reduce stress or other problems.

The differences between hypnosis and meditation also become clear when you compare their effects side by side.

For example, people who do a lot of zen meditation against pain have a different brain pattern than people who don't do zen. For example, they have a thicker gray matter in the regions of the brain related to pain also there is more overlap between the activation of different brain regions in pain than in people who do not do meditation ( 1).

People who actually use hypnosis against pain actually have decreased brain activity to counteract pain during (self) hypnosis. This effect is not seen with meditation.

However, in people just starting meditation to reduce pain, after four days of meditation training, the same can be seen in the brains of people just starting meditation against pain as in those using hypnosis against pain.

In contrast, for people who have been practicing meditation for a long time, this effect is completely different. Exercise, therefore, affects the brain differently than hypnosis in the longer term, but is similar in the short term.

Different brain development after hypnosis or more advanced meditation does not mean that one form is better for addressing problems than another. It mainly means that there are multiple paths leading to Rome from which to choose for addressing problems.

Can you use hypnosis and meditation at the same time?

Yes indeed, meditation and hypnosis often follow each other and can be used interchangeably during treatment because they have many similarities in addition to differences.

According to some experts, for people just beginning meditation, the state is almost the same as hypnosis, but advanced meditation practitioners may respond differently to hypnosis than people just starting out.

The relaxation exercise for hypnosis is also widely used for meditation. Guided meditation is similar to a guided visualization in hypnosis, but it is not exactly the same. For example, guided meditation can also help with certain forms of yoga meditation to allow the asanas to flow smoothly into one another.

With guided meditation, you can also think about performing relaxation exercises while a visualization during hypnosis can be a representation of the solution to the problem, such as when you have anxiety about driving.

Would you like to learn more about hypnosis, meditation, and other techniques for influencing your mindset? Then check out the courses offered by the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands or attend a seminar.

Also pin this handy infographic as a reminder:

Sources:

http://arxiv.org/abs/1605.03553

Grant, J.A. (2012), Towards a more meaningful comparison of meditation and hypnosis. The journal of mind body regulation. 2(1), p. 71- 74.