Meditation and Hypnosis: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Hypnosis and meditation share common features including induction through focused attention and the ability to intentionally control biological and mental processes, but they differ in scope: hypnosis is used pragmatically for specific therapeutic goals, while Eastern meditation pursues broader philosophical aims of liberation from suffering and illusion.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Hypnosis and meditation, as a whole, form a heterogeneous complex of psychosomatic techniques able to control mind and body regulation. Hypnosis has been pragmatically used for limited therapeutic targets, while Eastern meditation has much wider philosophical and existential implications, aiming for a radical liberation from all illusions, attachments, suffering and pain. The available data on the history, phenomenology, and neuropsychology of hypnosis and meditation show several common features, such as the following: (a) induction based on focused attention; (b) capability to reach an intentional control of both biologic-somatic activities and conscious-unconscious processes;