Have you ever contemplated the similarity between hypnosis and meditation?
It’s a subject I’ve pondered from time to time while on the blissful edges of both practices. So, I researched to scratch the itch, and it occurred to me: surely, I’m not alone in my curiosity.
In honour of the curious, this month we dive a little deeper into these two fascinating tools providing access to our wonderful (and powerful) subconscious minds. To be honest, what I learned about meditation and hypnosis has truly deepened my awe and respect for both.
Would you agree that people are generally aware of the benefits of meditation and mindfulness? It’s become part of the subcultural zeitgeist—a generally known approach to relaxation—though some still have this lingering stigma of it being ‘woo-woo’.
It seems that science also wants to get to the bottom of this, with thousands of papers published, and hundreds of randomised clinical trials (RCTs) studying the outcomes of meditation and mindfulness.
Research suggests participants regularly report decreased levels of pain, stress and rumination. That’s just the published results. There are many people outside of these studies (you may be one of them) who regularly engage in meditation and mindfulness practices that proclaim benefits for their:
mental
emotional
physical health
We’re talking:
better blood pressure
better quality sleep
better anger management
decreased levels of anxiety
Further research led me to this interesting RCT published in 2022, looking at effective ways to address pain without the use of medicine. The trial randomised 328 veterans to gauge the effectiveness of three pain-management approaches:
hypnosis
mindfulness meditation
education
Researchers studied the participants’ average pain intensity before and after the randomly allocated activity. Results showed:
decreased pain intensity
decreased pain interference
decreased depression
at 3 and 6 months after treatment for both the mindfulness meditation and hypnosis groups. The long-term results for the education control group were less impressive.
Medical imaging also indicates an overlap in the brain’s attention and interoception networks. These networks are closely associated with emotion, attention, and decision-making at both behavioural and brain-function levels.
Further similarities have shown both hypnosis and meditation reduce activity in the default mode network (DMN) within the brain.
Why care about the DMN?
It’s linked to mind-wandering, negative thought loops (rumination), and self-referential processing (identity and concept of self). Lowered activity is associated with improved concentration, emotional regulation, reduced anxiety, and greater focus on the present moment.
Hands up anyone wanting more of that in their life.
Thanks for taking part in today’s dive into the same-same—the overlapping similarity and benefits of both hypnosis and meditation—two practices swimming in the same pool of the mind.
Next week we discuss their different strokes.
Warm wishes until then.
x Marisa
Study link from newsletter: PAIN 163(10):1905–1918, October 2022. | DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002586
https://journals.lww.com/pain/abstract/2022/10000/effects_of_hypnosis_vs_mindfulness_meditation_vs.6.aspx
Visuals thanks to GIFY!