LETS TALK ABOUT YOUR BRAIN (PART 2)
This is the second part in our two part series comparing Meditation and Hypnosis…this first section is a review of Part 1. Scroll down for Part 2
Let’s talk about your brain!
Besides weighing about 3 pounds, it is 60% fat and one of the fattest organs in your body. And it can generate about 23 watts of power, enough to light up an entire room. It is an amazing organ that manages to provide us with all of our ability to move and all of our thoughts.
There is one thing that our brains are not and that is stagnant. Our brains don’t stay in one state all the time. Our brains move from state to state and we measure these movements by looking at the waves they produce. Brain waves are simply electrical impulses in the brain. Some of these waves are very big (high & slower) and some are small (short & faster). Brain waves fall into five categories ranging from the most activity to the least activity.
Beta (14-40Hz) – The Waking Consciousness and Reasoning Wave
Beta brain waves are associated with normal waking consciousness and a heightened state of alertness, logic, and critical reasoning, but they are also responsible for stress, anxiety, and restlessness. This is the state we are in while we work, have conversations and interactions in our daily lives.
Alpha (7.5-14Hz) – The Deep Relaxation Wave
Alpha brain waves are present when we are relaxed. They are the gateway to your subconscious mind and lie at the base of your conscious awareness. This is an optimal state for hypnotherapy because the constant chatter of the Beta state ceases to a large degree and the subconscious mind is open to suggestion.
Theta (4-7.5Hz) – The Meditation And Light Sleeping Wave
Theta brain waves are present during deep meditation and light sleep, including the all-important REM dream state. Your mind’s most deep-seated programs are at Theta and it is where you experience vivid visualizations, great inspiration, profound creativity, and exceptional insight. It is at the Alpha-Theta border, from 7Hz to 8Hz, where the optimal range for visualization and hypnosis or reprogramming of your mind begins. It’s the mental state in which you consciously create your reality. At this frequency, you are conscious of your surroundings however your body is in deep relaxation.
Delta (0.5-4Hz) – The Deep Sleep Wave
The Delta frequency is the slowest of the frequencies and is experienced in deep, dreamless sleep. Delta is the realm of your unconscious mind, and the gateway to the collective unconscious, where information received is otherwise unavailable at the conscious level. Deep sleep is important for the healing process as it’s linked with deep healing and regeneration. When people don’t get enough deep sleep it is detrimental to their health in more ways than one. Once a person is in the Delta state even though their subconscious mind is very active, hypnosis would not be effective because the person would not be able to hear the suggestions given. This is a time when the subconscious is like a computer sorting, filing, organizing, and discarding data.
Gamma (above 40Hz) – The Insight Wave
This range is the most recently discovered and is the fastest frequency. While little is known about this state of mind, initial research shows Gamma waves are associated with bursts of insight and high-level information processing.
Meditation and Hypnosis
Meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness, and enhancing overall health and well-being. Many studies have been conducted to look at how meditation may be helpful for a variety of conditions, such as high blood pressure, certain psychological disorders, and pain.
Hypnosis is a trance-like state in which you have heightened focus and concentration. Hypnosis is usually done with the help of a therapist using verbal repetition and mental images (hypnotherapy). When you are in a state of hypnosis, you'll feel calm and relaxed, and you are more open to suggestions. Hypnosis can be used to help you gain control over undesired behaviours or to help you cope better with anxiety, pain, or even hot flashes. It's important to know that although you're more open to suggestion during hypnosis, you don't lose control over your behaviour.
Both meditation and hypnosis are tools that allow you to alter your brain wave state from awake (Beta) to relaxed; a lower frequency or vibration (Alpha or Theta). By adjusting the state or brain wave you're experiencing you can feel calmer, happier, and healthier.
The practice of meditation is just that, a practice. It is something that yields the best results when it is used regularly. Most people who meditate do so almost every day.
Hypnotherapy is the practice of hypnosis for therapeutic purposes. Just like moving into a meditative state is something that we can do ourselves, all hypnosis is ultimately self-hypnosis. A hypnotherapist merely helps to facilitate your experience.
The reason that hypnotic states work is because between the conscious and the subconscious mind is a filter. Many have heard the saying: Your conscious mind is also your critical mind. The filter (conscious mind) is important because it helps a person to judge and evaluate all of the information coming in on a daily basis. When a person is in the Alpha-Theta brain wave state or hypnotic state, that filter (or conscious critical mind) is weakened. This gives you easier access to the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind holds ALL of your memories including those that your conscious (critical) mind has forgotten. Working with the subconscious mind is where the magic happens.
Meditation can help you:
Improve cognition. Researchers agree that an excellent way for professionals to increase the likelihood of success is to keep meditation practice as a part of their daily routine. Studies have revealed that both transcendent and mindful meditation practices improve the brain’s problem-solving and decision-making strategies, which can bring a desirable shift in our professional life.
Promote emotional health and well-being. Studies have shown that meditation improves self-image and self-worth. When we meditate, we get a clear picture of our mind and become aware of the thoughts that drive our emotions and actions at the moment.
Reduce stress. Encountering immediate threats increases the level of cortisol, or stress hormone in the body, and activates the Autonomic Nervous system, which is responsible for fight-or-flight responses. Brain studies of regular meditators revealed that they have lower cortisol level in their brains, which explains their resilience and insightful nature.
Reduce depression. Studies on mild and major depressive individuals showed that introducing an adjunct of meditation to their regular depression management strategies reduced the symptoms of loneliness and general low mood.
Lengthen Attention Span. It thickens your prefrontal cortex, a part of your brain that's involved in focus, planning, and impulse control. It also raises your brain's level of dopamine.
Hypnotherapy can help you:
Control pain. It can help with pain due to burns, cancer, childbirth, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint problems, dental procedures and headaches.
Reduce hot flashes. It reduced hot flashes by as much as 74% in the study conducted by researchers at Baylor University’s Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory and funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Change behavior. Hypnosis has been used with some success in the treatment of insomnia, bed-wetting, smoking, and overeating.
Ease cancer treatment side effects. Hypnosis is the most frequently cited form of non-pharmacologic cognitive pain control and has demonstrated positive outcomes for the reduction of chronic and procedural-related pain in oncology.
Improve mental health conditions. It can help a person with panic disorder improve self-esteem, overcome negative thinking, and manage troublesome symptoms. Additionally, hypnotherapy can assist in treating common co-occurring conditions, including depression, headaches and migraines, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Overcome phobias. Many phobias exist in our subconscious and are learned responses. This makes them particularly vulnerable to hypnotherapy.
Most of us are familiar with how meditation works. In its most basic form, you just sit or lie comfortably. Close your eyes. Make no effort to control the breath, just breathe naturally, and focus your attention on the breath and on how the body moves with each inhalation and exhalation. There are many types of mediation (mindfulness, spiritual, focused, movement-based, mantra (or phrase repeating), and transcendental are a few).
Fewer people are familiar with how hypnotherapy works. Hypnosis works by altering a patient’s state of consciousness in such a way that the analytical left side of the brain is turned off and the creative right side becomes more alert. As the subconscious mind is more deeply-rooted and more instinctive, once you are in this state, you are more receptive to changing your behaviour.
For hypnotherapy to be effective, a good rapport between client and therapist must be established. A hypnotherapist will begin by taking a detailed case history to establish your mindset, personality type, the problem you wish to address and the desired outcome. Next comes the hypnosis itself. The hypnotherapist’s gentle guiding voice will lead you into a state where your body and mind are relaxed ideally in a wave state between Alpha and Theta. The therapist will introduce the things you wish to change or work on, as previously discussed and agreed upon with you. Finally, following the hypnosis, the therapist will encourage you to discuss your experiences during the session and any insights gained.
In conclusion:
Meditation and hypnosis are complementary tools. There is no need to choose one or other. People who meditate can also benefit from hypnotherapy and those who have used hypnotherapy can benefit from meditation.
The difference between meditation and hypnotherapy, other than the use of a therapist to guide you during hypnosis, is that meditation can help you change how you feel and hypnotherapy can help you change how you behave.
So which is better?
The answer is neither! Meditation and Hypnosis are two different complementary ways to get in touch with the part of your brain that helps you relax, retool, and heal. The important thing is find a way to access your natural healing abilities in order to improve your life and well-being.