Should You Try Hypnosis or Stick to Meditation?
Meditation vs Hypnosis: to be hypnotized or not to be hypnotized
I read online a beautiful quote that said “Meditation is being in tune with your inner universe”. As a meditator, this quote really resonated with me. Meditation practice allows the mind, body, and the universe to be in harmony.
I am also a Certified Hypnotherapist. Plus, I teach self-hypnosis to many people every month. Basically, I help others to step into their power. Hypnotherapy is also a self-improvement tool. When we talk about self-hypnosis, hypnosis, and meditation, they may seem similar and we may get lost wondering where to seek help.
Especially during self-hypnosis classes, many participants tell me that they find self-hypnosis to be very similar to meditation. They may be right for different reasons. But the real question is, how do we know what self-help tool to choose when it comes to different problems we experience in life?
When to choose meditation?
Although it’s been mainstream in the last 20 years, meditation is an ancient practice that has been exercised by Buddhists for centuries. It is simple, yet very powerful. Some meditation practices consist of just sitting in stillness or breath awareness. Think of it almost like living in slow motion for 10-20 minutes.
It helps us to understand ourselves better and reset the mind in the busy city life. Practicing meditation every day will change your life for the better. You may find that it’s easier to manage anxiety, release the need for control, or simply be happy!
With that being said, meditation is not usually used for treating mental illnesses or helping you get over emotional traumas. With the help of meditation, you can increase the awareness within. You can become more conscious about what thoughts circle in mind, what areas in your body have you been holding tensions or how can you be more present.
Recently, many psychotherapists have been recommending their patients to start meditation or mindfulness practice to manage stressful thoughts easier in daily life. It can help you manage your irrational thoughts effectively.
In sum, meditation is a great start for deeper self-awareness, self-understanding, and mastering the body. If you are currently working on improving yourself, or simply if you want to live in the present more, meditation can be the best practice for you!
When to choose self-hypnosis?
If you don’t know what self-hypnosis is, don’t worry, many people are still learning about it. Self-hypnosis actually inspired my journey as a hypnotherapist. Before I became a hypnotherapist, I used to bite my nails and I was able to stop biting my nails with self-hypnosis. This powerful journey eventually led me to learn hypnotherapy and help others.
Self-hypnosis is a self-improvement tool that is very similar to meditation. For example, during self-hypnosis, you may feel calm, relaxed, and focused just like meditation. However, self-hypnosis is usually focused on a goal and requires you to organize your thoughts.
Many people give up on meditation because they claim that it’s hard for them to empty their minds or stay focused for a long time. In these cases, self-hypnosis can be very helpful because it requires that you create the hypnotic state within by organizing your thoughts. After you create deep calmness and relaxation, you are ready to give yourself suggestions, a.k.a affirmations!
Self-hypnosis is great for achieving a goal that is important to you. The spectrum of help is very large. You can work on increasing your motivation, improving memory, improving sleep, or even reducing stress. Self-hypnosis can be great to basically accomplish any general self-improvement goal.
When to choose hypnosis?
Hypnotherapy has been misunderstood as a magic trick to control people’s minds to make them do things they don’t want to do. Needless to say, this perception is absolutely false.
Hypnosis is nothing but a deep physical relaxation, mental calmness, and focus in the mind. This altered state creates a fertile ground for changing false beliefs, toxic patterns, or other subconscious learned behaviors.
Hypnotherapy is a form of therapy. Although its main scope is determined as vocational and avocational self-improvement purposes, hypnosis can also be helpful with other medical and mental issues with the referral of a licensed professional.
Hypnosis is widely known to be helpful with quitting addictions such as smoking or drinking. It’s also known for losing weight and releasing irrational fears. With the help of a professional hypnotherapist, hypnosis can go beyond self-improvement and become straight-up life-changing!
It can go beyond meditation and self-hypnosis because during hypnosis, not only you can easily become aware of your old patterns but also you can change them for the better.
As a result, if you have test anxiety and don’t know what to do, if you want to stop eating junk food but don’t know how, or if you feel stuck and don’t even know why, hypnotherapy can be a great option for you to change your life all around.
Final Words
The decision is yours! Which category do you often find yourself in? Do you struggle with stress on a daily basis? Do you have certain goals that you want to accomplish? You know yourself better than anyone else. Look within! What is the most essential need for you to be a better version of yourself?