Hypnosis and Mindfulness Meditation: The Power of Suggestibility.

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested that mindfulness meditation and hypnosis are similar, but there is a lack of empirical data to support this claim. In this current study, college students were randomly assigned to a hypnosis or mindfulness meditation condition, and they were tested on the Waterloo Stanford Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form C. Results from this study suggest that, while under hypnotic induction and after engaging in mindfulness meditation, participants experienced similar results on the WSGC. That is, participants experienced the same bodily feelings and reactions regarding a standardized hypnotic suggestibility test.