3 Tips from Self Hypnosis to Super Charge Your Meditation
(Anmol: I am very happy to present this intriguing and insightful guest article from Benjamin Langley. Ben is another fantastic blogger and advanced soul who shares his passion for meditation and spirituality on his blog http://PeacefulProsperity.com/blog/. Do head over and check it out, I am sure his writings will both inspire and uplift you personally and spiritually.
If you would like to be a guest author on Master of Meditation and Yoga, please email me at anmol@anmolmehta.com).
Hypnosis and Meditation
Self Hypnosis
By Benjamin Langley
People frequently ask questions about the differences between self hypnosis and meditation, as well as the connections.
I have played quite a bit with both disciplines over the last 15 years, and I have taken a close look at both the similarities and the differences.
To keep it simple:
The Primary Similarity:
Both are means of altering consciousness for positive growth and/or change
The Primary Difference:
Hypnosis is typically focused on getting rid of bad habits and/or achieving worldly goals, where meditation is usually focused on becoming peaceful, becoming more aware, growing spiritually, and/or becoming enlightened.
Now this is useful information, but the question that should be asked more is “How can one benefit from the other?”
And since this is a blog that talks about meditation, the question becomes:
How can the practice of meditation be vastly improved
with understandings and practices from self hypnosis?
Here are 3 Powerful tips from Self Hypnosis that you can use to Super Charge your practice of meditation right away.
1 – The Countdown
Most meditations start with some form of relaxing and focusing. Wouldn’t it be nice to have systematic way of doing this that allowed you to go deeper into meditation every time?
A countdown does exactly this!
A countdown is a process from hypnosis and self-hypnosis that allows you to simply count backwards in order to enter a more peaceful and relaxed place of mind and body.
One of the most common methods is counting down from 3 to 1 (which I learned from The Silva Method).
Breathe deeply, relax, and notice yourself entering a more peaceful place as you count downward from 3 to 1.
You can also count from 10 to 1, 25 to 1, or even 100 to 1.
Taoist meditation instructor, Mantak Chia, recommends an exercise he calls the ‘Century Breath’, where you essentially count 100 deep relaxed breaths… Why not do this while counting down from 100 and notice yourself sinking into a more and more peaceful and powerful place of meditation the whole way…
As with many things, in the beginning, you do as much as you need to get the intended result. Long term, though, less is more. You want to do less and less to ‘get’ more and more ‘benefit’. Every time you practice see how much further you can go with the same countdown, or see if you can go just as deep with less countdown.
2 – Practice Fractionation
Simply explained, fractionation is the tendency of consciousness to be able to experience something more deeply every time you come back to it.
When we move into an experience, and then back out, we can go a little further into the experience each time.
For example, if you like to practice Zazen (which Anmol describes in one of his videos), you might notice that you can count a little bit further while staying focused each time you practice.
Our mind works a lot like our muscles in this way. If you go into a stretch, release the stretch, and then go back into it… you will be able to go a little further each time. The only difference is that our mind doesn’t have the physical limitations that our muscles do.
This is a powerful principle to be aware of throughout your life, but for the purposes of meditation, you can use it to go into a much deeper place much more quickly.
When you are meditating, imagine coming out of the meditation, and then going a little bit deeper into it. Then come back out a little less, and then go deeper still into the meditation.
Using the Zazen meditation mentioned earlier, you might count as far as you can while maintaining focus, then relax and let it go for a moment. Then count a little further (starting again at 1) while maintaining focus, then relax and let it go again.
You will notice that you can go progressively further and deeper with any meditation much more quickly if you practice this!
Famous hypnotist and personal development coach, Vince Kelvin, likes to call this ‘The Dolphin Effect’. Your consciousness is much like a dolphin that comes to the surface for air and then goes deep into the ocean, and then it returns for more air, and then dives deeper and deeper in the depths of the ocean to continue playing.
3 – Convince Your Subconscious mind
The primary reason growth seems so slow at the early phases of practice, is that the deeper parts of your mind (your subconscious mind) are not yet convinced that this is more than a new distraction that will be quickly forgotten.
So how can you ‘convince yourself’ of your sincerity more quickly?
I like to look at it in terms of consistency and intensity. Start out with as much consistency as possible.
The Silva Method advises: Practicing once a day is good, practicing twice a day is great, and practicing three times per day is excellent.
When you have a solid base of consistency, begin to build on it with greater intensity.
The Silva Method advises: Practicing for 5 minutes is good, practicing for 10 minutes is great, and practicing for 15 minutes is excellent.
Starting off with a simple 5 minute meditation once per day is fine… just stay consistent with it! Gradually you can start to practice more frequently. Then you can begin to add a little more intensity as well.
Ultimately, you want to immerse yourself in as much practice as you can while still keeping it joyful (in order to avoid burnout).
Put simply, the more you lovingly put into your practice over the long term, the further you will be able to joyfully take it. And the further you joyfully take your practice, the more you will get back from it.
Another way of looking at this is summed up by world famous stage hypnotist, Marshall Sylver:
“Small commitments lead to large commitments.”
Each small commitment to practice builds a little more momentum… after a while, the most serious practice of meditation just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, anymore.
So as you continue to work with your own practice, or one of the many practices Anmol describes on this site, begin to bring in these powerful tips from hypnosis, and watch how quickly your results improve!
Benjamin Langley has been on a quest of self discovery through meditation, self hypnosis, and energy work for over 15 years. He has written well over 300 articles on these topics at his website, and he has a page devoted to hypnosis instructions. His new book, Master Meditation, Master Your Life is currently in the process of being published, but you can still get a free copy of the ebook version by opting in at
Good article, but I find the big difference between the two is that meditation aims to clear the mind, whereas hypnotherapy aims to add suggestions. The two can be very similar at times though.
great post on the differences between hypnosis and meditation. Keep up the good work
It is true that there are very small differences between self hypnosis and meditation however I feel a major difference is the understanding of our subconscious and actively trying to reprogram it. This is the scientific approach of hypnosis as opposed to the spiritual approach of meditation. There is a great hypnosis ebook that I read which really opened my understanding up.
Benjamin you’ve done a great job of not only highlighting the differences between hypnosis and meditation, you’ve also offered great advice on how we can draw upon both disciplines to reinforce each other. Thank you.
There are a multitude of great self hypnosis recordings available for specific needs (and also a multitude of bad ones) and once you have your intention it should be fairly easy to find one to suit your needs. However, should you chose to try self hypnosis without the aid of a recording you can follow the self hypnosis script below. Just keep practising your self hypnosis everyday until you reach your goal.
I am still learning self hypnosis and liked the comments about consistency. When I first started I was getting no where because I was not consistent. These days I am getting better as I get into a better routine. They say practice makes perfect.
I have been practicing both self hypnosis and meditation for over 25 years and I cannot feel any difference between them. Obviously the intent of self hypnosis is different than the intent of meditation.
There are a number of self hypnosis techniques that you can use for a variety of purposes, including building your self esteem. You may consider several or just one of the techniques to use on yourself depending on what you think will be the most effective for you.
THANKS FOR SHARING THIS…
Self Esteem Affirmations
Thank you for a very good article. Your thoughts on both hypnosis and and meditation were very much in tune with my own.
Hypnosis CD”>
I’ve found that Hypnosis as well as meditation can be useful tools to teach your clients as both have their own benefits. When combined I’m sure the results would be much stronger.
Hypnosis Training
Great post on the difference between hypnosis and meditation. Intensity and repitition are absolutely important. If anything becomes a habit it becomes easier with time and that would apply to meditiation or self hypnosis. The challenge is getting the habit started so that its intensity and repitition can unfurl their benefits. Great post! :)
This was a very interesting and insightful article. I too have been teaching meditation and hypnosis for many years as part of my practice. You tips are right on point! Perhaps my article “The Benefits of Deep Breathing and Meditation Exercises” would be beneficial to your readers. Please use it if you think it will help. Would you mind if I posted this article on my site?
Hi
I also love Ben’s blog and am a frequent visitor there, thank you to him and you for all of your great information!
All the best…
Many people are unsure of the difference between hypnosis and meditation, I think this article did good job explaining what they are.
Thank you very much, Anmol!
I’ve really enjoyed your blog for a long time… so it is quite an honor to be featured on your site!
keep smiling,
Benjamin
Very useful & good artical. Step by step guidance & tips are informative. Thanks, we can use any help to make meditation a success.