Self-Hypnosis + Loving-Kindness Meditation Help You Boost Mental Clarity &  Reach Goals: Discover how pairing loving‑kindness meditation with goal‑focused self‑hypnosis can calm your inner critic, cultivate compassion, and help you achieve your aspirations.

I have concluded that, for me, the self-care routine with the most positive impact for my mind is one that combines self-hypnosis with meditation.

Meditation that includes loving-kindness partnered with goal-oriented self-hypnosis is a win-win combination in my book. Why? Because a loving-kindness practice is one that, without trying to solve a problem, nevertheless transforms my mind by developing my capacity for compassion. And hypnosis gently leverages my mind’s creative power to reach a goal aligned with my values. Practicing both creates space in my mind, which creates space in my life and ultimately helps me create a life I love by changing my perception of it.

Prema Chodron tells us in her book, When Things Fall Apart about loving-kindness:

“We are not striving to make pain go away or to become a better person. In fact, we are giving up control altogether and letting concepts and ideals fall apart.”

Well, how does this fit in with self-hypnosis and hypnotherapy, which on the surface appear to be the opposite of this?

By practicing self-hypnosis on a regular basis, I’m training my mind to focus on what I want to focus on. Or if we look at this from another angle, I’m training my mind to not focus on the negative (because between you and me, I have had a lifetime of a very verbal inner critic!). The result of this regular self-hypnosis practice is a lot more quiet time inside my head, more space, which leaves room for my loving-kindness practice.

In my opinion, the important thing to note here is that both meditation and self-hypnosis are practices. These are both actions we can take on a regular basis to improve our lives… the key is to do both in a way of non-attachment, to be flexible.

If you already have a meditation practice, consider how adding self-hypnosis may offer a beneficial boost.

I think of it this way.

It is like preparing for a hard exam. I always study like I will pass easily, and then after the exam, I assume I failed. So, when I either squeak by with a pass or if graded, get a B (or even a C in some cases, between you and me), then I’m happy. Put another way, plan for success, assume the worst, be happy with what you get because if you planned for success, chances are you did something that would help you avoid “disaster.”

And yes, I purposefully said “disaster” at the end of that, instead of “failure” because we all know that “there is no such thing as failure”… and that is a whole different lesson to learn! [I’ll pick that up in a future newsletter – be sure to sign up here!]

Another example of this is “set it and forget it” – some schools of thought believe that an intention is better off expressed and then forgotten or released, and it is in the release that we are more likely to achieve the goal. This is a great example of not striving or not attaching to the outcome. This is where a regular loving-kindness practice can help us.

It can be hard to let go of outcomes. Western society is based on outcomes, striving and obtaining… so how do we keep moving forward towards our goals without getting so attached?

When self-hypnosis and meditation are paired, we create an opening to engage with our emotions. Sometimes reflecting on our emotions can be a bit shocking because it allows us to see thoughts and feelings we typically try to ignore or suppress. 

A lot of us don’t want to hear or feel what our mind wants us to know. The key here is to know that by looking at these thoughts and emotions, we release them and can more easily get to the other side of them. “Set it and forget it,” remember?

When working with a certified clinical hypnotherapist, one can start to look at the emotions that are holding us back. The hypnotic state,  a natural and relaxed state of mind,  gives us a softer way to process these thoughts and emotions so that we can release the negative in our minds through the creative power of our subconscious. The good news is that self-hypnosis is a practice and a skill that can be developed, both to offer benefits on its own and to support other self-care efforts like meditation.

We have a lifetime of experiences, thoughts, emotions, and perceptions that create our experience.

When is it going to be time to reflect, learn and transform these experiences into positive lessons? Why not now?

Mel Sharpe

Hypnotherapist & Coach

My story