In the western world people are comparatively comfortable with ‘hypnosis’. In the east the word ‘meditation’ does not raise any eyebrows. Hypnosis has been used mainly for ‘directed healing’. Meditation has been used mainly for ‘general’ well-being.
In the West, visualisation and imagery have developed from hypnosis. This is a commonly known fact among practitioners of hypnosis. But visualization is also integral parts of meditation- is not commonly known.
Hypnosis and meditation have both been described as ‘altered states’. They are considered to be ‘altered’ because they transcend the conscious, reasoning mind. The conscious mind is mainly dependent on reason and logic for its activities. Unlike the ‘Unconscious’, it has to make effort to think. On the other hand the ‘unconscious’ is the ‘feeling’ part of the nervous system, is spontaneous and regulates all the internal organs of the body. This is the ‘effortless’ part of the mind.
In order to change our internal body physiology, we have to have access to the ‘unconscious’ that controls our heart rate, blood pressure and the secretion of various hormones and juices in the body. Hypnosis is a method by which access to the ‘unconscious’ is made by letting a person go into a relaxed state. Usually hypnosis is done by a hypnotherapist, though self-hypnosis can also be done by an individual in certain conditions.
Meditation is usually done by oneself without any instructions from another person. So once you have learnt self-hypnosis, you can go into a meditative state spontaneously. In deeper meditative states, visualization is an active process. It is theorized by the practitioners, that the human spirit then has access to dimensions that are beyond the reach of human senses in wakeful state.
Hypnosis is usually goal-orientated. People practice hypnosis to achieve something –the least is a relaxed state. The commonly known goal of meditation is relaxation only. Whatever follows from relaxation is spontaneous and not necessarily with a goal. Visualisation and imagery though spontaneous, are also integral parts of meditation.
Imagery is now considered a different state than hypnosis or meditation, though it is common to both. The reason for this is that one can experience the benefits of healing with imagery without going into a trance state. One has simply to close one’s eyes and start having images. Imagery is the language of the ‘unconscious’. All of our memories are stored in the form of images. If you remember the images of an event from the past, the body goes through the same physiological responses as it underwent when the event was actually happening. Using imagery, one can change the perception and thinking about various issues in life by changing the images one has.
In my own experience, changing the emotions associated with the events changes the images that the ‘unconscious’ carries. This reduces the stress experienced by the nervous system and the body in general. This enables the body to rid itself of various habits, behaviours, thinking and perception that are detrimental to the person. If someone is on psychiatric drugs, this reduction in stress helps the person reduce medication on a regular basis.
More details of this work can be obtained from my website.
Copyright Pradeep K Chadha 2006
Pradeep K Chadha is a psychiatrist who specialises in helping patients with meditation and imagery using little or no medication. He is the author of The Stress Barrier-Nature's Way To Overcoming Stress published by Blackhall Publishing, Dublin. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.His website address is http://www.drpkchadha.com
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