Abstract
This study investigated the effects of a brief hypnosis including relaxation suggestions on physiological markers of relaxation, cardiac vagal activity, and breathing frequency. Forty participants were tested in a within-subjects design. Participants listened to a recorded hypnosis session and to a nonhypnotic recording. No differences were found regarding cardiac vagal activity. Participants breathed significantly faster during the audio conditions (hypnosis and nonhypnotic recording) in comparison to resting measures. After hypnosis, subjective arousal was significantly lower and emotional valence was significantly more positive than after the nonhypnotic recording condition. The relaxing effects of hypnosis that includes relaxation suggestions appear to be located at the subjective level but not at the peripheral physiological level.
Highlights
Concerning simple main effects for time, there was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test for the experimental group (i.e., PSQI score decrease, indicating higher subjective sleep quality), t(31) = 2.881, p = .007, d = 0.51, but no significant difference was found for the control group, t(31) = 1.717, p = .096, d = 0.30
Concerning simple main effects for time, there was a tendency for a difference between pre-test and post-test for the experimental group (i.e., CVAmorning increase), t(31) = 2.372, p = .024, d = 0.42, but no significant difference was found for the control group, t(31) = 1.310, p = .200, d = 0.23
A significant correlation was found between PSQI change and CVAnight change (r = -.29, p = .018), while a tendency was found regarding the relationship between PSQI change and CVAmorning change (r = -.24, p = .052)
Summary
Med. 2019, 8, x; doi: FOR PEER REVIEW www.mdpi.com/journal/jcm. One of the main hypothesis regarding the cause of sleep disturbances is that they may be associated with a state of hyperarousal [6,7]. Methods aiming to decrease a state of hyperarousal usually target an activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, and of its main nerve, the vagus nerve [8,9]. One way to do so is to use slow paced breathing [10,11,12,13]
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