Guided meditation is another word for ‘hypnosis’. So what is hypnosis then? I bet a lot of you have an image of a performance hypnotherapist in mind who makes people walk and sound like chickens on stage. Thus, that’s why I personally prefer to call it ‘guided meditation’ because too many people have prejudice and uninformed opinions about it.

So what is hypnosis/guided meditation?

James Braid coined the word 'hypnosis' from the Greek word for 'sleep' in the mid-1800s. Unfortunately, this definition was based on the assumption that hypnosis is a sleep-like state in which the hypnotherapist has control over the participant. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Hypnosis is a state of altered conscious awareness. This state of consciousness appears when the brain waves slow down to an alpha frequency. Everyone experiences this state of consciousness; i.e. when you start crying during a movie when you, or better said your subconscious, accepts the character in the movie as real characters. Another example would be when you’re in your car driving and all of a sudden you seem to wake up and can’t even remember what happened during the last few kilometres; i.e. what cars and exits did I pass, etc. Thus, every hypnosis is actually self-hypnosis since you can induce this state of mind yourself and you’re always in control.

The Art of Hypnosis / Guided Meditation

Hypnosis/Guided meditation is less of a science and more of an art, a specific skill you can learn. Why? Because during hypnosis, the participant is always in control. The hypnotherapist cannot make you do things during hypnosis you don’t want to do. The hypnotherapist is merely there to help you get into an altered state of mind and make suggestions to replace old thought patterns and habits. Again, this is not mind control, nor is the person under hypnosis under someone’s power. The participant must be motivated and willing to change habits which takes place at a subconscious level. If you are not convinced that the suggested new habit is what you truly want, your subconscious mind will simply not take it on board. Thus, the reason why I prefer to call it ‘guided meditation’.

Free online Guided Meditation

You want to convince yourself? Well, then don’t miss out on a free online guided meditation with me and register here. This guided meditation is about calming the busy monkey mind and will help you slow down a spinning mind.