Hypnosis and meditation are both practices that can involve focused attention, reduced distraction, and changes in how a person experiences thoughts, sensations, and surroundings. They may look similar from the outside, but they are not the same practice and do not always serve the same purpose.
What do hypnosis and meditation have in common?
Both can involve:
Sustained attention
Relaxation or physical calm
Less attention to outside distractions
Greater awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, or mental images
A shift in ordinary patterns of attention and self-awareness
Research on hypnosis describes it as a state involving focused attention, reduced awareness of peripheral stimuli, and increased capacity for responding to suggestions.¹ Meditation is a broad term for practices that train attention, awareness, emotional balance, or a particular mental attitude. Because meditation includes many different methods, no single description applies to every form.²
The overlap is clearest when meditation involves narrow focus, such as attending to the breath, a repeated phrase, or a visual object. Some forms of hypnosis also use breathing, bodily relaxation, imagery, or a steady point of attention.
Are hypnosis and meditation the same thing?
No. They are related but distinct.
Hypnosis commonly includes suggestions provided by another person or generated through a structured self-hypnosis exercise. These suggestions may concern relaxation, attention, imagery, pain, habits, or a person’s response to a particular situation. The person remains capable of responding, thinking, and deciding what to do.
Meditation generally involves practicing a chosen way of relating to experience. For example, mindfulness meditation may involve observing thoughts, feelings, and sensations without immediately reacting to them. Focused-attention meditation may involve returning attention to one object whenever the mind wanders.²
The main difference is often the intended direction of attention. Hypnosis typically uses focused attention and suggestion to support a specific response or goal. Meditation often trains observation, present-moment awareness, concentration, or acceptance. These purposes can overlap, but they are not identical.
Does meditation put someone into hypnosis?
Not necessarily. A person may become deeply absorbed during meditation, but absorption alone does not establish that hypnosis is occurring.
Hypnotic responding is usually associated with a structured context and suggestions. Meditation may include no suggestions at all. A person practicing mindfulness, for instance, may simply notice thoughts and sensations as they arise, rather than being guided toward a particular response.
At the same time, some meditation practices may use language that resembles hypnotic guidance. A teacher might invite a person to notice warmth, heaviness, breathing, or mental imagery. Similar wording can appear in a hypnotic exercise. The words and the person’s experience may overlap, while the broader method and purpose remain different.
Can hypnosis be used during meditation?
Yes. A person can combine elements of both practices. For example, a session might begin with meditation-style attention to breathing and then use hypnosis-related suggestions for relaxation or a selected behavioral goal.
The reverse is also possible: someone may use a hypnotic exercise to settle attention before practicing mindfulness. In that case, hypnosis may function as preparation, while meditation remains the main activity.
Combining the two does not make them interchangeable. It is helpful to identify what the exercise is asking the person to do. Is the person observing experience with an open and accepting attitude? Is the person repeatedly returning attention to one object? Is the person receiving suggestions for a particular response? The answers help distinguish the methods.
Do both practices involve an altered state of consciousness?
They can involve changes in attention and subjective experience, but “altered state” is a broad phrase and does not explain exactly what is happening.
Hypnosis research has examined focused attention, absorption, suggestion-related changes, and differences among individuals in hypnotic responsiveness.¹ Meditation research has examined attention, awareness, emotion, and other aspects of experience across a range of practices.² These findings do not support treating either hypnosis or meditation as one single, uniform state.
People’s experiences also vary. One person may feel calm and absorbed, while another may remain highly aware of thoughts, sounds, or bodily sensations. A lack of dramatic sensations does not mean that a practice has failed.
Is hypnosis more passive than meditation?
No. Both can involve active participation.
During hypnosis, a person usually listens, imagines, notices, responds, and decides how to engage with suggestions. Hypnosis does not remove ordinary judgment or force a person to accept every suggestion.³
Meditation also requires participation. The practitioner may repeatedly return attention to the breath, recognize distraction, observe emotional reactions, or practice a chosen attitude toward experience. These actions can be subtle, but they are not passive.
A useful distinction is that hypnosis often provides a guided structure for responding, whereas meditation often emphasizes ongoing practice in noticing and directing attention. Neither description applies perfectly to every technique.
Can either practice help with stress?
Both hypnosis and meditation may be used in approaches intended to support relaxation or stress management, but results depend on the specific method, the person, the setting, and the outcome being measured.
Research on mindfulness-based interventions has examined stress, mood, pain, and related outcomes, although the evidence differs across conditions and study designs.⁴ Research on hypnosis has also examined pain, anxiety, and other clinical applications, with findings varying by problem and by the way hypnosis is delivered.⁵
It is more accurate to say that these practices may help some people with certain goals than to promise that either one will work for everyone. Neither should be treated as a replacement for urgent medical or mental-health care.
Which one should a person choose?
The better choice depends on the person’s goal and preferred style of practice.
Meditation may be a good fit for someone who wants to practice:
Present-moment awareness
Focused attention
Observation of thoughts and feelings
A less reactive relationship to everyday experience
Hypnosis may be a good fit for someone who wants:
A guided exercise with specific suggestions
Structured imagery or relaxation
Support for a clearly defined personal goal
To explore self-hypnosis under appropriate instruction
Some people prefer meditation because it is open-ended and self-directed. Others prefer hypnosis because guided language gives their attention a clear path. A person can also use both at different times.
Can hypnosis and meditation be practiced safely?
For many people, ordinary meditation and self-hypnosis exercises are low-risk when practiced gently and with realistic expectations. However, unusual distress, disorientation, intense emotional reactions, or worsening symptoms are reasons to stop and seek appropriate professional guidance.
People receiving treatment for a medical or psychological condition should discuss major changes in care with a qualified clinician. Hypnosis and meditation should not be used to delay evaluation of serious symptoms or to replace necessary treatment.
When working with a practitioner, it is sensible to ask about training, experience, confidentiality, the proposed method, and what will happen if the exercise becomes uncomfortable. A responsible practitioner should respect the person’s ability to pause, ask questions, or stop.
What is the simplest way to understand the relationship?
Hypnosis and meditation overlap because both can organize attention and change a person’s moment-to-moment experience. They differ because hypnosis usually involves suggestion directed toward a response or goal, while meditation usually involves training attention, awareness, or one’s relationship to experience.
They can be viewed as neighboring practices rather than identical ones. Learning the difference makes it easier to choose an exercise that matches a person’s purpose—and to combine techniques thoughtfully when that is appropriate.
Notes
David Spiegel, Raymond F. D. Greenleaf, and Peter W. Hilgard, “Hypnosis,” in Handbook of Experimental Psychology, 3rd ed., vol. 4, Methodology in Experimental Psychology, edited by John T. Cacioppo, Louis G. Tassinary, and Gary G. Berntson (New York: Wiley, 2000), 779–814.
Antoine Lutz, Heleen A. Slagter, John D. Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson, “Attention Regulation and Monitoring in Meditation,” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 12, no. 4 (2008): 163–169.
American Psychological Association, Division 30, Society of Psychological Hypnosis, “Definition of Hypnosis,” 2014. The division’s definition describes hypnosis as a state of consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness, with an enhanced capacity for responding to suggestion.
Madhav Goyal et al., “Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” JAMA Internal Medicine 174, no. 3 (2014): 357–368.
Gary Elkins, Mark P. Jensen, and David R. Patterson, “Hypnotherapy for the Management of Chronic Pain,” International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 55, no. 3 (2007): 275–287.