Vibration vs. Frequency - Do You Know The Difference?

Jessica Salonna
Jun 6
3 min read

Updated: Jun 7

Clearing Up the Confusion

Many people use "vibration" and "frequency" interchangeably when talking about energy and manifestation, but they’re not quite the same. Understanding the difference and how each affects your ability to manifest can completely shift how you create your reality. So let’s explore both, blending soul wisdom with real science.

The Language of Energy

What is Vibration?At the most basic level, everything in the universe is made of energy. From atoms to emotions, everything vibrates. In physics, vibration refers to the oscillating movement of particles. In the energetic or spiritual sense, your vibration reflects your emotional and mental state in the moment.

You can raise your vibration through breathwork, gratitude, joy, presence, movement, and anything that helps you feel more connected and aligned in the moment. It’s your energetic temperature right now.

What is Frequency?Frequency refers to how often something vibrates over a set period of time. In scientific terms, it's measured in hertz (Hz). The higher the frequency, the more rapid the vibrations. Emotionally and energetically, your frequency reflects your dominant energetic state over time.

You match the frequency of your desires by consistently living, thinking, and feeling from the version of you who already has what you want. Frequency is what you’re tuned to. It determines the reality you align with.

The Science Behind Energy & Emotion

HeartMath Institute has found that emotions like gratitude and love create coherent heart rhythms, which positively impact the nervous system and brain function. These emotions “vibrate” at higher frequencies than fear, anger, or shame, which create chaotic, incoherent patterns in the body’s electrical field.

Dr. David Hawkins' Scale of Consciousness assigns numerical frequencies to emotional states (e.g., shame at 20 Hz, joy at 540 Hz, enlightenment at 700+ Hz). While not universally accepted in the scientific community, this model is widely used in spiritual and healing spaces as a framework for understanding how our emotions influence the energy we emit.

Quantum Physics tells us that observers influence reality. According to the observer effect, the act of observation can collapse a wave function into a particle. In other words, your attention and your energetic state literally impact the outcomes you experience.

Why This Matters for Manifestation

In the quantum field, all versions of you already exist. Each potential version—abundant, confident, fulfilled—is vibrating at a specific frequency. You don’t get that reality; you become the version of yourself who matches it.

So while vibration is your moment-to-moment state, frequency is the long-term energetic identity you’re living in.

This explains why short bursts of visualization or affirmations often don’t work on their own. If your frequency remains rooted in fear, lack, or disbelief, those temporary high-vibe moments won’t be enough to shift your reality.

You raise your vibration to shift your state in the now. You match the frequency of your desire by embodying that state consistently over time.

How to Raise Your Vibration and Tune Into the Right Frequency

To manifest intentionally, you need to align both vibration and frequency. Here’s how:

Breathwork immediately shifts your physiology and emotional state by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. It clears stuck energy and creates a coherent heart-brain connection, allowing you to feel higher-vibrational emotions like peace, love, and trust.
Emotional awareness allows you to recognize and gently shift patterns that keep your vibration low.
Consistent practice (visualization, grounding, gratitude, movement, etc.) helps elevate your vibration and stabilize your frequency over time.

Breathwork is what I call the secret sauce because it doesn’t just change your thoughts; it changes your state at the root level, where lasting transformation happens.