Evelyn Wang, C.Ht.

The beneficial effects of meditation and hypnosis are numerous and well-documented.

They are similar in that they both use focused states of awareness and concentration in order to access deeper states of awareness.

The difference is that therapeutic hypnosis focuses on specific goals and behavioral changes, whereas meditation is more about raising your threshold level to stress in the world around you, developing greater awareness, and enjoying a more calm and centered nature.

Of course, being able to have a qualified hypnotherapist test your suggestibility in person and having them there to observe and respond to you during your session with them is ideal. However, anyone can obtain benefits by listening to a well-produced hypnosis recording by a qualified hypnotherapist—particularly one that combines the hypnosis in the recording with brainwave entrainment technology to further increase receptivity to positive suggestions!

When hypnosis is performed either by a hypnotist or by you listening to a hypnosis audio, it's called “hetero-hypnosis”.

When hypnosis is performed solely by you (without listening to a hypnosis recording), it's referred to as “self-hypnosis”.

One of the main differences between the two is in the way each method affects the critical analysis function of your mind. Hetero-hypnosis disorganizes the critical function of your mind for the purpose of deeply accessing and reprogramming your reactive, habitual mind. Self-hypnosis organizes the critical analysis function of your mind in order for you to relax, to release thoughts, and to work with general self-improvement issues. The more you use it in your daily life, the more beneficial and effective the changes will be. For more challenging concerns, however, it's best to work one-on-one with a properly trained hypnotist.

Your dominant brain wave frequency at any given time determines your state. (Human brain waves are limited to frequencies below 40 Hz.)

Gamma (over 40Hz)
High mental activity. Problem solving. Increased perception.

Beta (40 - 13Hz)
Alert. Waking state. Time and space perceived. Upper levels can be stressful.

Alpha (12 - 8Hz)
Relaxation (while awake). Meditation. Daydreaming. Reflection. Visionary experiences. Pre-sleep and pre-waking drowsiness. No time and space limitations. Some subconscious access. Increased serotonin levels.

Theta (7 - 4Hz)
Even deeper states of relaxation and meditation. Enhanced creativity. Improved receptivity to learning. Further access to the subconscious mind. Dreaming sleep (REM).

Delta (4 - 0Hz)
Very deep, dreamless sleep. Repairing and rejuvenation of the body. Human growth hormone released. Unconsciousness.

It is impossible for the human ear to hear sounds lower than about 20Hz. However, in 1839, German scientist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove discovered an interesting phenomenon.

If you play the sound of an audible frequency in one ear, and a sound of a different audible frequency in the other ear, the brain deciphers the sound as the difference between the two sounds.

For example, if the left ear hears 100Hz, and the right ear hears 90Hz, the brain interprets a sound of 10Hz. That sound is called a binaural beat.

With the publishing of Dr. Gerald Oster's article “Auditory Beats in the Brain” (Scientific American, 1973), new insight was introduced regarding the cognitive and neurological applications of binaural beats. Dr. Oster, a research scientist at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, discovered that binaural beats are processed by different neurological pathways in the brain than ordinary sounds are.

Listening to a particular binaural frequency can produce a similar frequency in your brain which can lead to the effects associated with that particular brainwave. This sound-induced phenomenon is called the “frequency following response”. In other words, your brain moves toward (or entrains) to match the particular binaural sound frequency you're listening to.

Binaural beats have been credibly documented to activate various sites in the brain. Ordinarily, you would not be able to consciously entrain to these frequencies, because you can't “hear” them. Binaural beat technology makes it possible.

Brainwave entrainment is used by many to induce various beneficial states from greater relaxation to better focus to enhanced creativity. Some promising studies have even shown that, with repeated use, a reorganization and balancing of the brain's hemispheres occurs.