By Christine DuRoss, Certified Hypnotherapist

A Guide to Subconscious Meditations, Guided Visualizations and Hypnosis Recordings

You may have heard about hypnosis audios or guided visualizations for all kinds of issues. Perhaps you’ve searched for help with sleep, focus, motivation, stress management or anxiety and had hypnosis meditations amongst your search results. Maybe you’ve even used some of these tools in the past, or have some curiosity about how they work or if they even do what they promise. This post is your guide to understanding how these audio tools work, so you can decide if they might be a useful addition to your own repertoire of healing techniques and supports. 

Imagination and Reality

The subconscious part of your mind represents approximately 95% of your inner experience, including your perceptions, interpretations, belief systems, habitual patterns, relational tendencies and so much more. The database of your memory is within the subconscious too – essentially, this is where helpful, adaptive, positive and neutral memories are held, as well as the emotionally-charged and even traumatic material that your deeper mind and nervous system hold as a learning which can protectively guide you to avoid similar experiences in the present and future. 

Have you ever had the experience of remembering a dream or something pleasant that you’ve imagined? The way that you recall what you’ve imagined, visualized or dreamt is the same process as how you remember what has actually happened. Your memories and your imagination are “seen” in the mind in the same way. While you consciously can tell the difference between the two and have awareness that one was imaged and the other a memory, your subconscious mind doesn’t distinguish between these. You recall imaginary material the same way as memories. When you use the power of your mind to visualize, your mind responds to the visualization with acceptance. 

Creating Neural Connections in the Brain

This is important because when the mind is used to visualize a potential outcome or experience, the brain creates neural pathways associated with that outcome. You might have heard of the concept of “reprogramming” or “rewiring” your brain and this is part of that process – to create new neural pathways through learning, imagination, emotion, and repetition. Your imagination can be used to create a greater sense of familiarity with that potential outcome and this can be both a positive or negative thing, depending on how it’s used. For instance, if a person were to anxiously imagine the worst case scenario, running scenes of disaster in their mind, they will create and reinforce neural connections in the brain around that anxiety and in anticipation of those negative events happening. The body responds to the imagination – or what is visualized and thought about – physiologically by releasing neurotransmitters, hormones, glucose, etc to mobilize the body to respond to the mind. If you use your imagination to mentally rehearse positive and desirable outcomes, the mind and body will respond to that too. 

Repetition

The more you imagine or visualize an experience or outcome, the more familiar you become. With repetition, you are using that pathway in the brain, and the neural wiring becomes stronger. Consistent and repeated exposure to hypnosis meditations and guided audios can lead to positive, beneficial changes in mindset, beliefs, behaviours, self-concept, the physical body, and patterns of thoughts and feelings. The subconscious mind and nervous system require repetition to change through the creation and reinforcement of new neural pathways and connections in the brain. When the neural wiring in the brain shifts, it makes choosing new behaviours, changing habits, and feeling different more effortless. 

Suggestion and Receptivity

The subconscious mind becomes more open and receptive when the mind and body are relaxed, and this is why in hypnosis we use relaxation as part of the induction or process of entering that state. When a suggestion is provided in the state of hypnosis, the mind is more likely to accept and act upon that suggestion. This is why intentional cues and language while in that state of greater openness and receptivity that hypnosis gets you to is so powerful for making shifts. Suggestions are used to make the changes you desire at the level of mind where thought patterns and beliefs live, because changing at the level of belief has a ripple effect on thinking, emotions, and actions. 

Language

The subconscious mind is literal and carries out perceived directions. How you speak to and about yourself really matters! Being aware of how you self-label is important. Avoid negations (don’t, can’t, etc) and try to choose a neutral or positive way of speaking about yourself. 

When you identify yourself with labels or descriptors that are not what you want, you are inadvertently directing your subconscious to find evidence for that through your perception and attention. The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a part of the brain that filters what your brain attends to in your environment and how you perceive the world around you. If you were to identify yourself with language such as “I’m so anxious” you are essentially instructing your RAS to hone your attention and awareness on potential threats and heightening feelings of unease, which reinforce the experience of anxiety. Your mind will filter through the information in your environment, focusing on what reinforces this belief about the self. 

Intentional, thoughtful and supportive language that suggests and reinforces positive beliefs and helpful shifts combined with hypnosis (which increases subconscious receptivity) communicates those supportive suggestions directly to the subconscious mind. When internal shifts take place, they ripple out into awareness, emotions, behaviours and into how you show up in the world. 

Brainwave Entrainment 

The brainwave entrainment hypothesis assumes that sounds at certain frequencies lead to the brain’s electrocortical activity matching that frequency. Brainwaves at the levels of alpha (8-12 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) are associated with relaxation and calm, drowsiness, daydreaming, creativity, meditation and resting. When a sound set to the frequencies of alpha or theta is played, the individual listening may experience a shift towards these states. This is the basis of isochronic tones, binaural beats, sound bowls and other therapeutically-used  instruments.

Studies measuring brainwaves have demonstrated that during meditation and hypnosis, a shift is observed in brainwaves which slow to the levels of alpha and theta. The pairing of sounds tuned to these frequencies and verbal cueing helps the subconscious mind to increase receptivity and easily absorb the positive suggestions that are provided. 

How to Use this Information to Your Benefit

1. Bring awareness to how you speak about and to yourself. Rather than saying “I am ______”, try adjusting your language to “I am feeling ______ right now.” Small shifts can lead to significant changes. 

2. Use sound supportively. You can use your knowledge of pairing tones or frequencies to work with your mind for your benefit. If you need to relax, try searching for theta music, binaural beats, isochronic tones, or attending a sound bath. Your brain will begin to match the frequency of the sound through the power of entrainment, resulting in easier access to that desired relaxed state. 

3. Try hypnosis meditations. Hypnosis meditations are intentionally created audios that pair supportive sounds, beneficial suggestions, guided relaxation and skillful language to speak to the subconscious mind directly. They can be used for many types of goals, including stress management, improving sleep, releasing negative emotions, nervous system regulation, goal setting and progress, habit changing, improving mood, and decreasing anxiety. Hypnosis audios exist for an almost endless variety of topics. 

If you are interested in trying hypnosis meditations, our Natural Route Health community is invited to use the code NATURALROUTE for a discount and gift with purchase from go WTHN. go WTHN is a collection of intentionally crafted and professionally-recorded hypnosis meditations by Christine DuRoss, our certified hypnotherapist. These audios are currently available for pre-order and pair hypnosis with guided relaxation, beneficial suggestions, supportive sounds set to both alpha and theta frequencies, and nervous system regulation techniques. Find out more at www.go-wthn.com or join the email list to stay updated about new releases and helpful tips https://gowthn.myflodesk.com/sign-up