It’s not uncommon for people to make the generalization that meditation and hypnosis are largely the same practice. In both you are relaxed and in an almost trance-like state, focusing on inner reflection and tapping into your subconscious, focusing entirely on one solitary thought. However the two should not be mistaken as the same practice, because their differences define them more so than their similarities.

Meditation

1. With meditation you practice achieving a completely blank mind, devoid of any and all thoughts. The goal of meditation is to empty your mind and eliminate stress from your body through calming thoughts.

2. While practicing meditation the emphasis is usually on controlling your breathing. By focusing on only this you are quieting your mind. We tend to not realize how much is actually going on in our brains until we try to silence them.

3. Usually you have a mantra (or mantras) that you repeat throughout the meditation process that bring you to a state of peace. This chanting of a mantra – whether it’s out loud or internal – tends to have an almost rhythmic and calming effect on our bodies and minds.

Hypnosis

1. With hypnosis you are targeting a singular, defined result, which is one key element that differentiates hypnosis from meditation, such as breaking a bad habit or ending an unnecessary fear. Many people use the process of hypnosis to help them quit binge eating or to finally stop smoking.

2. Hypnosis is achieved through someone else guiding you to a hypnotic state. A hypnotherapist is a highly trained professional employed to lead you into a state of hypnosis before targeting your subconscious mind and helping you to remove the barriers preventing you from achieving your end goal.

It’s not uncommon for people to be turned off to the thought of hypnosis, as many associate it with magic shows and being made to do ridiculous tasks in front of an audience while in a hypnotic state. But the truth is we experience hypnosis more often than we realize – anytime we zone out for an undetermined amount of time we have experienced a type of self-hypnosis.

Meditation, on the other hand, is more widely accepted as a beneficial practice, and something many people embrace on a daily basis. Achieving a true absence of thought, however, takes a lot of time and practice.

Both meditation and hypnosis have the power to help us reduce stress and achieve a more well-rounded sense of self; and both can help us reach a predetermined desired outcome. However it’s the practice and the desired outcome that usually differ, with meditation focusing on lack of thought and hypnosis aiming to change a behavior.

Author Bio

Melanie Slaugh is enthusiastic about the growing prospects and opportunities of various industries and writing articles on various consumer goods and services as a freelance writer. She writes extensively for internet service providers and also topics related to internet service providers in my area for presenting the consumers, the information they need to choose the right Internet package for them. She can be reached at slaugh.slaugh907 @ gmail.com.

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