Author Archives: Bunny Besley

Hypnotherapy helped with my driving anxiety.

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How I stopped my driving anxiety – and my swearing problem

Source Daily Telegraph

For every Stig wannabe there are dozens of people who find the roads really scary. Here’s how one writer fixed her fear of driving

A woman looking stressed in a car
Swearing when you’re driving generally makes you even more tense Photo: Alamy

By Helen Nianias

2:43PM BST 09 Oct 2015

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Worse than A Levels, dissertations, spending 10 hours in stilettos or reading my first James Joyce book, learning to drive was the hardest thing I have ever done. At its best it was thrilling, and at its worst it felt like I was catastrophe-prone Maureen from the Nineties TV hit Driving School.

Lowlights of the seven-month saga included me getting my brake and gas pedal mixed up and nearly plowing into the back of a parked car, and being yelled at by a very old man in a flat cap who could barely see over his own steering wheel. Tight, shallow breathing became all too familiar when I was at the helm of that Vauxhall Corsa and one lesson ended with me getting out of the car, sobbing, saying I was never going to do it again.

I dreaded every lesson. Learning to drive didn’t make me feel like I was gaining new skills, but just picking at the things I already knew I was rubbish at. It seemed so unfair.

There was something about doing hill starts that brought out the navvy in me…

One of the most vivid embarrassing moments of my life involved me getting very drunk at a wedding when I was 18 and another guest telling my mother: “Your daughter swears like a navvy.” Well there was something about doing hill starts in Streatham and Croydon that brought out the navvy in me.

Swearing is bad when you’re driving, everyone says, as it generally makes you even more tense. When I called a van driver the worst swear there is (don’t make me spell it out) I thought my instructor was going to faint. I sat up straight behind the wheel and attempted some girlish charm: “Is my language a little too salty?” I simpered. He glared. “VERY salty, Helen.”

Sigh. So, something was going wrong. I was crying and swearing like an 18-year-old who’d encountered her first free bar. If I was going to stop chucking hundreds and hundreds of pounds at lessons without improving or gaining any confidence, I was going to need to do something.

She put me under hypnosis, encouraging me to visualise leaving the test centre feeling calm

A friend suggested hypnotherapy, so I booked myself into Shirley Scott’s clinic in Clapham Common. I know, I know. Clapham, right? But my test was two weeks away and I was desperate. Telling people about my fear of driving often elicited snorts of disbelief, but Shirley was incredibly understanding and said she’d seen other clients with the same fear.

We talked about how I needed to understand what I could control and what I couldn’t, and in between the two hour-long sessions she gave me some exercises to do at home to help me understand the power of my mind when I was driving. She briefly put me under hypnosis, encouraging me to visualise leaving the test centre feeling calm.

And would you believe it, I passed first time with three minors. I’m now doing a Pass Plus course and while I don’t love it, I know I can do it. Even if I still do let the 18-year-old navvy in me out from time to time.

Try Hypnotherapy to help you quit smoking in StopTober!

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Try hypnotherapy in October which has now become the annual StopTober campaign, where people are encouraged to try to quit smoking.

Source: Extra methods to help you stop smoking – Burnley Express

 

The month of October has now become the annual StopTober campaign, where people are encouraged to try to give up smoking.

The risks associated with smoking are widely advertised and include lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, other cancers, infertility and gum disease.Despite this, however, many people really do struggle to stop smoking. They may feel that smoking helps them deal with stress or worry that stopping will make them gain weight; it may also be all their friends smoke.

 Whatever the reason, the truth is that the benefits of stopping are enormous.

A great number of people find hypnotherapy for smoking is an extremely effective treatment for breaking the habit for good. The reason hypnotherapy can be so helpful in stopping smoking is that a key aspect is letting go of the routine you once had and looking at cigarettes differently.

If you are considering stop smoking hypnosis, the first step is to make sure you are choosing to quit for yourself. Hypnotherapy is most effective when you really want to quit. For example, if you are stopping because friends or a family member is pushing you, you may not get the results you want.

Hypnotherapy works by putting you in a deep, relaxed state where your mind is more open to suggestion. At this point your hypnotherapist will look to change your thought patterns by making suggestions such as ‘I do not want a cigarette’ or ‘I am repelled by the smell of cigarette smoke’. You may also be taught various tools and techniques, which you can practise at home.

Some people find stop smoking hypnosis is enough to break the habit, while others prefer to combine the treatment with other supportive remedies.

 These could include herbal remedies such as Avena Sativa, a remedy made from oat seed that has actually been used to help support people through anxiety and withdrawal symptoms for centuries. In fact there are records of Avena Sativa being used to help people through opium withdrawal.

If it was helpful for that, then it could certainly be helpful for nicotine withdrawal.

Additional help could also come from a herb called Lobelia, supportive in two ways.

Firstly, it could help to clear mucus from your chest, improving breathing quite quickly, according to herbalists. Secondly, Lobelia actually binds to nicotine receptors and therefore can stop the cravings.

‘I was so terrified of water even Princes Quay was scary. But hypnotherapy cured me’ | Hull Daily Mail

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Source: ‘I was so terrified of water even Princes Quay was scary. But hypnotherapy cured me’ | Hull Daily Mail

‘I was so terrified of water even Princes Quay was scary. But hypnotherapy cured me’

By Hull Daily Mail  |  Posted: October 07, 2015

By Kevin Shoesmith

  • Emma Carter was determined to overcome her fear of water.

WHEN her best friend decided to hold a wedding party on a boat, Emma Carter knew she had to finally overcome her lifelong fear of water.

Just a few weeks ago, Miss Carter was so gripped by fear she would even avoid the waterside parts of Princes Quay Shopping Centre.

But now after receiving an hour of hypnotherapy, the west Hull fashion designer says she is cured.

Miss Carter, who was chief bridesmaid for her friend, Amy Usher’s wedding to David Goldsmith in Cyprus last moth, said: “The jelly legs have gone.

“Never in a billion years did I think I’d be sunbathing on the mesh part of a catamaran with the sea lapping underneath me.”

It is thought her phobia – or hydrophobia to give it its correct name – was sparked as a youngster at Hull Marina.

“My grandad Ray worked the docks,” said Miss Carter, 34. “I remember as a kid being really scared of the water.

“Because he worked there, he’d try and push me to like the water, but it never worked.

“Nothing ever happened to give me the phobia, like falling in or anything. It’s completely illogical, like a lot of phobias.”

In desperation and after receiving her friend’s wedding invite, Miss Carter contacted Thak’a Na’ama, a hypnotist based in East Yorkshire.

She said: “I was sceptical about hypnotherapy, but I was desperate.

“I knew that I didn’t want to miss out on a big section of Amy’s wedding just because I couldn’t face my fear of water.

“A party was to be held on a catamaran with a bit of sunbathing the day after the wedding.

“My friend told me she’d happily change her plans for me, but I couldn’t let her do that. This was her wedding – it wasn’t mine.”

Miss Carter was visited at her home by Ms Na’ama.

“I was put into a trance,” she said. “While I was under, Thak’a taught me to make sense of water. It gives life. It’s safe. It’s comforting – the opposite of my phobia.”

Miss Carter says she woke up feeling refreshed and later tested herself at Gym 24 Seven at Princes Quay.

“There’s a balcony there, overlooking the water, that I have never been able to walk out onto,” she said. “About a week about the hypnotherapy session I decided to test myself.

“I saw a guy walk over to the balcony, learn up against it and rest his arms on the glass.

“Normally, even that would have been enough for the fear to kick in, but this time nothing happened.

“So I walked up on the balcony and looked out at the water. I felt fine. I was so happy I wanted to cry. I never thought I’d be able to do this.”

After returning from the wedding, Miss Carter decided to book a holiday – island-hopping in Thailand – at the end of the year.

“Thailand is my dream holiday,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d ever be able to go as you can’t go really go to Thailand and no go on boats.

“I am so grateful to Thak’a. She has changed my life.”

Read more: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/terrified-water-Princes-Quay-scary-hypnotherapy/story-27933611-detail/story.html#ixzz3nxdMOqWJ

Hypnosis helps mum who ate nothing but egg and chips!

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Katey Loughran, 37, from Coventry, is cured of food phobia after hypnotherapy

Source: Mum eats nothing but egg and chips for 30 years!

There’s no denying we’re a nation of chip lovers. But for one mum, her obsession with the fried potato sticks was ruining her life.

Katey Loughran, from Coventry, lived on nothing but egg and chips for a staggering 30 years.

The mum-of-two developed the habit aged six and found that the thoughts of putting any other foods in her mouth would make her gag.

Plate of egg and chips - Katey Loughran ate only egg and chips for 30 years

© Rex Features / Martin Lee/Shutterstock

So severe was the situation, that she even tucked into a plate of fried eggs and chips on her wedding day in 2013, while new hubby John and their guests enjoyed something more fitting.

The 37-year-old mum-of-two told the Daily Mail Online : “On the day, everyone thought it was hysterical – it was the highlight of the wedding.

“The only way to cover up my embarrassment was to laugh about it, but I was upset.”

But finally Katey has beaten her food demons. Having been diagnosed with Selective Eating Disorder (SED), she sought help from hypnotherapist David Kilmurry, and is now excitedly experimenting with a refreshing new diet.

Katey said: “It feels out of this world to finally put something different in my mouth.

“Now, I’ve tried baked beans, broccoli, green beans. My plate is growing every day! It’s massively changed my life for the better.”

Dr. Robert Sapien on the Hypnotic Radio Hour

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Our guest, Dr. Robert Sapien, is responsible for the current NIH research involving hypnotherapy, which is getting a lot of attention. This is the most thorough and exciting hypnotherapy research, with controlled methodology, and represents the growing movement of acceptance of hypnotherapy as a mainstream modality for health care and personal change.

Robert E. SapiĂ©n, MD, MMM, FAAP is a Distinguished Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, is Chief, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Associate Dean for Admission at the School of Medicine. Dr. SapiĂ©n, a native of NM, received his bachelors of science and medical degrees from the University of New Mexico and a Master’s in Medical Management at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

He has also been a practicing clinical hypnotherapist for the past 8 years, receiving training at the Hypnotherapy of Academy in Santa Fe, NM and mentorship from Timothy Simmerman. Dr. Sapien also incorporates hypnotherapy into his medical practice, and is currently helping conduct a National Institutes of Health Randomized Control Clinical Trial on women with overactive bladder to compare the efficacy of hypnotherapy with medications.

Hypnotic Radio Hour can be heard on Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network.

What Really Happens When You Are Hypnotized Revealed

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What you thought you knew might not be true after all.

Source: What Really Happens When You Are Hypnotized Revealed

August 31, 2015
By First to Know

There is a lot of myth and misunderstanding that surrounds the practice of hypnotism and hypnotherapy. From fear of mind control to becoming lost in a trance, and of course the classic trope of being made to “cluck like a chicken” in front of an entire audience, it’s hard to sort fact from fiction for those new to the world of hypnosis.

For an outsider, the world of hypnotism sounds kind of scary! So we’re going to break it down for you, and explain what really happens when you are hypnotized.

In reality, hypnosis refers to a trance-like state into which a person can enter. Hypnotherapy is a calming, soothing practice that can reap a multitude of benefits to those who practice.

Hypnosis heightens the senses and focus of the individual. Often times this helps the patient get in touch with their subconscious mind. This aids in many things, including dealing with major physical and psychological struggles.

Frequently hypnotherapy is used by patients to cope with anxiety, pain, or to better control bad habits and sleeping disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Usually the experience is guided by a trained hypnotherapist. The hypnotherapist will guide the subject into the trance and through the session using verbal cues, repetition, and mental imagery. It’s actually quite similar to meditation.

Then at the end of the session the patient is simply asked to awaken themselves from that state.

So here are a few common myths that are actually wrong, and instead what actually happens during hypnosis that prove it’s not so scary after all.

A person can be hypnotized against their will, or fall under “mind control” and do things they do not want to do.

According to the Hypnosis Help Center, this is simply not true. A person must be a willing participant in order to be hypnotized. Someone who has been hypnotized will not do something that they wouldn’t do while in a “waking state.”

So what happens during a hypnotism at a stage show, when a hypnotist make audience members do some really weird stuff?

While under hypnosis, a person may be more open to suggestion, but they always have control over their own behavior. A participant at a stage show may go along with “performance” commands—like clucking, or barking—but only if they are willing to do so.

Being hypnotized just means you fall asleep.

This is also not true, mostly. Entering into a state of hypnosis will make the subject more in touch with their subconscious. This heightens their senses. However someone who is already tired may fall asleep—like how someone might doze-off during meditation. At that point the person is no longer in hypnosis, simply a relaxed sleep.

You can get “stuck” in hypnosis.

Because you do not lose control of yourself when hypnotized, it is not possible to become stuck in a state of hypnosis.

Hypnosis Seems To Offer ‘Therapeutic Value’.

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For some time now, medicine has had an interest in the potential of hypnosis. Existing for hundreds of years, hypnosis has always seemed to have an intriguing and almost unbelievable hold on the mind, suggesting its capability to help the human psyche and body alike. But as hypnosis seems to become more relevant in medicine, used in psychological settings, as an alternative anesthetic and a way to reduce symptoms of disease, researchers are wondering if there is a way to test its efficacy. In a new study by researchers from INSERM, a team under lead author Bruno Falissard looked into how effective hypnosis has been in some of its popular applications. Among its many uses, researchers looked at hypnosis involving women’s health, digestive ailments, surgery, and psychiatry. They also looked into the potential risks associated with hypnosis.According to the researchers, hypnosis exists in between sleep and wakefulness as a state of altered consciousness. When examining the effect hypnosis has on the brain, imaging techniques like MRIs have found that hypnosis creates a change; past researchers have observed differences in brain activity of certain regions of the brain when someone is undergoing hypnosis.As of now, there are a few common uses of hypnosis in a medical setting. The first is hypnoanalgesia, or using hypnosis as a potential pain reliever. Others include hypnosedation, which uses both anesthesia and hypnosis to sedate a patient, as well as hypnotherapy which utilizes hypnosis in a psychiatric setting. Along with hypnosis, the researchers looked at Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR), a form of therapy developed from hypnosis used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.Falissard and his team faced several obstacles when conducting their research; because hypnosis training in France can be offered both by universities and private organizations, the qualifications of hypnotists and who can be certified to become a hypnotist are not fixed. Keeping this in mind, researchers selected the conditions they sought to evaluate and looked at the results of 52 clinical trials, along with 17 trials involving EDMR therapy.When examining the trials, the researchers first observed that hypnotherapy often yielded an improvement in symptoms for patients with irritable bowel syndrome; many reported the reduction of abdominal pain, bloating, and episodes of diarrhea. It then examined the results of hypnosis used in conjunction with anesthesia. Specifically, the team looked at surgical procedures like wisdom tooth extractions, breast biopsies, transcatheter procedures and pregnancy terminations, which were often accompanied by the use of painkillers. Overall, they found that when hypnosis was used along with surgeries, patients’ use of painkillers afterward was reduced.Even though hypnosis’s benefit for PTSD patients is still questionable, many have previously found that EDMR therapy can be very effective. Out of all the other applications of hypnosis-based therapies, the researchers found that EDMR targeting trauma-centered cognitive behavioral therapies showed the most beneficial outcome. But, so far the team has only observed the potential of EDMR therapy in adults, because very few trials have examined children and adolescents.Though the team had planned to examine how hypnosis impacts other medical practices, the trials they examined could not produce conclusive data. The INSERM team thus could not determine whether hypnosis was effective in pain management during childbirth, preventing post-partum depression, and helping those with schizophrenia.When searching for safety repercussions, the researchers found some promising results in the trials; there were no serious, negative effects associated with hypnosis in these environments. They warn, however, that adverse effects are still a possibility, even though the incidence of them was observed to be low.Though researchers found that medical practitioners are interested in hypnotherapy, the legal standards as they are now must be reexamined. Currently, French laws regarding hypnosis allow health professionals and non-health professionals alike to practice hypnosis. As hypnosis is already an unconventional practice, it is important that it be professionally and safely executed in a medical setting, especially when used in conjunction with anesthesia.Study: Falissard B, Barry C, Hassler C, et al.  Assessment of the effectiveness of hypnosis. 2015.

Source: Hypnosis Seems To Offer ‘Therapeutic Value,’ But Experts Still Can’t Say For Sure

The Truth About Sugar Documentary 2015 – YouTube

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A brilliant documentary which I recommend to all my weight loss clients.

The Truth About Sugar BBC Documentary

 

Sugar is not, I repeat not, very good for you but you probably knew that.

In a new BBC documentary called The Truth About
 Sugar,  Fiona Phillips decided to take a look at just how harmful sugar actually is. Fiona meets scientists, sugar junkies and people from the food industry to figure out just how dangerous our favourite substance is.

‘I heard a news bulletin the other day from the government’s lead person on childhood cancer and he said if our kids continue eating junk food and fizzy drinks at the rate they are then they’re going to be the first generation to die before us,’ Fiona said. ‘I thought that was so shocking. How can manufacturers be allowed to make a can of Coke with nine teaspoons of sugar it when the daily allowance is six?!’

The problem lies, according to the documentary, not in naturally occuring sugars but instead in ‘free’ and ‘refined’ sugars. ‘You need to watch out for sugar OUT of it’s natural sources,’ Says Fiona. ‘Once removed from it’s natural sources, we’re liable to eat way more of the stuff .’

So what damage can overeating sugar do? ‘It’s packed with pure energy, but no nutrients,’ explains Fiona. ‘So, if you’re packing loads of sugar away and you’re not burning that energy off it’s leading to obesity, it’s leading to type 2 diabetes, liver diesases
 Since you can’t burn it off it gets stored as fat and then if it doesn’t get stored as fat then it starts getting stored in your organs and it can be horrendous.’

WE’RE HARD-WIRED TO CRAVE ALL ENERGY GIVING FOOD BECAUSE IT KEEPS US GOING BUT SUGAR IS JUST EMPTY ENERGY; IT DOESN’T HAVE NUTRIENTS

What’s even worse is that our brains are actually hard-wired to crave sugar. ‘There’s a receptor in your brain that lights up and makes you feel good and it makes you want more sugar. We’re hard-wired to crave all energy giving food because it keeps us going but sugar is just empty energy; it doesn’t have nutrients.’

And it’s not just food to watch out for; obviously Coke and sports drinks are big offenders but other drinks you might not have considered like ginger beer (six of more teaspoons per can) and sweetened water (same per bottle). Also, seemingly healthy drinks
 ‘Those Innocent smoothies!’ Says Fiona. ‘I used to think “What would keep me going through the day that’ll give me a bit of nutrition?” And then halfway though the morning I’d have a massive slump and it’s because there’s so much sugar in those smoothies! When you’re overeating sugar, your body is really struggling to get enough insulin out to deal with the sugar and that’s why your pancreas can eventually stop working.’

So what needs to happen to make people sit up and take notice? Fiona reckons it’s the food manufacturers that need to take responsibility. ‘There’s a bit of the interview I did with a woman from a food manufacturer in the programme and I sat there and grilled her for half an hour and she just played the safe thing saying: “Well, you know sugar isn’t bad for you if it’s not taken in large amounts and blah blah blah
” But they need to take responsibility!’ More supermarkets need to up their labelling game, too, ‘It takes me two hours to do a shop because I’m studying food packets and I shouldn’t have to do that. Everyone should be made to adhere to that traffic light system that Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer do so we all know that if we see a “red” by fat or salt or sugar you should not be buying it. But more to the point they shouldn’t be making it.’

Hypnosis Works – YouTube

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Hypnosis Works!

 

Hypnosis registers pretty highly on most people’s skeptic scale, way up there with psychic readings and levitation. The fact that the average person’s exposure to hypnosis has been limited to a stage performer during their college orientation week doesn’t help much.

While convincing a group of people to make animal sounds might catch our curiosity, the truth about hypnotherapy proves to be more nuanced. In this video, hypnotherapist Sasha Carrion unpacks the difference between charlatans and legitimate practitioners in the field. She goes on to explain how a person who’s hypnotized may not be prone to quacking like a duck, but they are more suggestible and therefore able to rewire longstanding neural pathways.

It’s a subject which most of us harbor questions about, and Carrion’s straightforward explanation offers up plenty of thought-provoking answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Fall Asleep – and Stay Asleep – the Natural Way – US News

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Sleeping pills aren’t the first-line treatment for insomnia – cognitive behavior therapy is.

Source: How to Fall Asleep – and Stay Asleep – the Natural Way – US News

Nearly half of all Americans suffer from occasional sleeplessness, and a staggering 15 percent have chronic, unremitting insomnia. We live in a culture where resorting to medication tends to be the first-line treatment. Most people only know about the medications available to treat insomnia: We constantly hear about them on TV, and many friends write about their insomnia sleeping pill use on social media (in the middle of the night). Medications can indeed be helpful for insomnia, and they surely have their place in insomnia management. However, many people are not aware that sleep specialists do not consider sleeping pills to be the first-line treatment for insomnia. Instead, sleep medicine’s gold standard treatment for insomnia is cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia, which is also known as CBT-I.

CBT-I is a non-drug, short-term treatment and has benefitted people of all ages and many types of patients who have trouble sleeping, including those with insomnia related to chronic pain, depression or anxiety. CBT-I consistently produces results that are comparable to, or even exceed, those of sleeping pills. Even one year after ending treatment, many patients continue to sleep well (rates that far outperform sleeping pills).

There are many ways one can engage in CBT-I, starting with self-help tips that I will mention in this post. There are a number of books on the market that focus on CBT-I as well as apps that you can download that will take you through the treatment in a more focused way. If you consistently try the techniques here (or in a book or app) and it isn’t working, consider seeing a specialist who will specifically target treatment to your particular situation. You can find a specialist here. Most sessions with a specialist last between three and 12 visits.

CBT-I is based on the concept that chronic insomnia is sustained by a variety of factors that maintain the problem. Examples of these behaviors are sleeping in, going to bed early, napping, using alcohol as a sedative, caffeine use, worrying about your sleep and tossing and turning in bed. These factors are the focus of the treatment.

The first step in CBT-I is tracking your sleep. Completing a sleep diary for two weeks can bring to light issues with sleep hygiene and sleep scheduling and make you more objective about your overall sleep pattern. There are many sleep diaries available online, but a good one should track your bedtime, wake time, how long it takes you to fall asleep and how much you are awake in the middle of the night. It should also record caffeine intake, exercise, napping, alcohol and sleeping pill use. Look for any patterns in your sleep diary. For example, do you notice it takes you longer to fall asleep on nights where you napped or dozed off earlier in the day?

The next module is sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene should be thought of as the basic building blocks forinsomnia treatment. If you don’t have proper sleep hygiene, the other modules won’t work as well. However, fixing sleep hygiene alone typically isn’t a cure for more chronic insomnia. It is the starting point in treatment. Sleep hygiene rules include limiting caffeine within eight hours of bedtime, stopping alcohol, heavy meals, liquids, nicotine and exercise within three hours of bedtime, avoiding clock-watching at night, engaging in exercise in the late afternoon/early evening, avoiding screens/electronics, winding down within one hour of going to bed and keeping your bedroom quiet, dark, comfortable and cool throughout the night.

Stimulus control is a highly effective and essential component of CBT-I. Insomnia patients often lie in bed watching TV, reading, worrying and thinking. As a result, the bed becomes associated not only with sleep, but also as a place to be awake. The rule is simple: The bed is only for sleep and sex. If you are awake in bed (usually for roughly 20 minutes, but don’t look at the clock – just guess!), get up, go to a different room (or if you’re in a studio, get up and sit in a chair next to the bed) and do something quiet, calm and relaxing in dim light. When you get sleepy again, go back to bed. If you don’t fall asleep after a little while, repeat the process. No lying in bed awake, no TV in bed, no eating in bed, no phones/computers in bed or during the night. Do this throughout the night until your alarm clock goes off in the morning. It is tough, but very effective when done consistently.

The next module, sleep restriction, limits your time in bed, therefore increasing your body’s drive to sleep. It goes squarely against common sense that tells us to go to bed earlier or sleep in during the morning to try and “catch up” on lost sleep. However, it’s this common sense that gets us in trouble. Although books, apps and working with a therapist will give you much more detailed and personalized instructions for stimulus control, the overall principle is simple. If you have trouble sleeping, go to bed later and wake up at the same time every single day. For example, if you only sleep six hours on average per night (based on your sleep diary data), set a fixed wake time daily, count back six hours from that time and this is your wake time. Reassess a week later, and if you’re improving, go to bed 15 minutes earlier each week. Keep the wake time the same. Don’t restrict to less than five hours, and if you have other issues such as sleep apnea, epilepsy, sleepwalking or bipolar disorder, speak with a sleep specialist before doing full-on sleep restriction.

The cognitive module teaches patients to recognize and modify inaccurate thoughts that affect your ability to sleep. A number of my patients have the thought “I must get eight hours of sleep tonight to function well tomorrow.” This thought puts additional pressure on patients to get eight hours of sleep, causing them to be tense and anxious – a state that clearly does not induce sleep. Try to swap inaccurate thoughts for more evidence-based ones. It is quite possible that you might function well on seven hours of sleep instead.

Relaxation exercises can be used to help quiet the mind and relax the body. There are a number of techniques that can be taught, such as muscle relaxation, deep breathing and biofeedback. You must find what works for you, and many websites (as well as therapists) can guide you through techniques. Patients who feel tense before bedtime show the most benefit from this module.

You do not necessarily need to discontinue sleep medication to benefit from CBT-I. Many patients gradually taper off their sleep medications once they have learned alternative techniques for their insomnia. This is a highly effective treatment for many people, but it isn’t as easy as taking a pill. The key is to remember that insomnia develops over time in many people, and it isn’t cured overnight. Consistency is key with insomnia management: The more you stick with the treatment, the better the outcomes.

Heal Your Relationship

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If there was one thing you could do to heal your relationships, would you do it?

The one cause: self-abandonment.
When you abandon yourself emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, relationally and/or organizationally, you automatically make your partner responsible for you. Once you make another person responsible for your feelings of self-worth and well being, then you attempt to manipulate that person into loving you, approving of you and giving you what you want. The controlling behaviour that results from self-abandonment creates huge relationship problems.
Let’s look at the various forms of self-abandonment and how they result in relationship conflict and power struggles, or in distance and disconnection.

Emotional self-abandonment.
When we were growing up, many of us experienced much loneliness, heartache, heartbreak and helplessness. These are very big feelings, and unless we had loving parents or caregivers who helped us through these feelings—rather than being the cause of them—we had to find strategies to avoid them.
We learned four major ways of avoiding these core painful feelings of life, and these four ways now create our feelings of anxiety, depression, guilt, shame and anger, as well as relationship problems.
1. We judge ourselves rather than accept ourselves.
Did you learn to judge yourself as a way to try to get yourself to do things “right” so that others would like you? Self-judgment creates much anxiety, depression, guilt, shame and emptiness, and can lead to many addictions in order to avoid these feelings. Self-judgment also leads to needing others’ approval to feel worthy, and your resulting controlling behaviours to gain others’ approval can lead to many relationship problems.
2. We ignore our feelings by staying up in our head rather than being present in our body.
When you have not learned how to manage your feelings, you want to avoid them. Do you find yourself focused in your head rather than in your body, more or less unaware of your feelings?
We emotionally connect with each other from our hearts and souls, not from our heads. When you stay in your head as a way to avoid responsibility for your feelings, you cannot emotionally connect with your partner.
3. We turn to various addictions to numb the anxiety, depression, emptiness, guilt, shame and anger that develops when we judge ourselves and ignore our feelings.
Addictive behaviour, such too much alcohol, drugs, food, TV, gambling, overspending, work, sex and so on, can create much conflict and distance in relationships.
4. We make our partner or others responsible for our feelings.
When we emotionally abandon ourselves, we then believe it is someone else’s job to make us feel loved and worthy. Do you try to control your partner with anger, blame, criticism, compliance, resistance or withdrawal to get him or her to give you what you are not giving to yourself? How does your partner respond to this controlling behaviour?
Many relationships fall into a dysfunctional system, such as one person getting angry and the other withdrawing or resisting, or both getting angry or both withdrawing. In some systems, one is angry and the other is compliant, which seems to work until the compliant partner becomes resentful. In all of these systems, each person is emotionally abandoning themselves, which is the root cause of the dysfunctional relationship.
Financial self-abandonment.
If you refuse to take care of yourself financially, instead expecting your partner to take financial responsibility for you, this can create problems. This is not a problem if your partner agrees to take financial responsibility for you and you fully accept how he or she handles this responsibility. But if you choose to be financially irresponsible, such as overspending, or you try to control how your partner earns or manages the money, much conflict can occur over your financial self-abandonment.
Organizational self-abandonment.
If you refuse to take responsibility for your own time and space, and instead are consistently late and/or a clutterer, and your partner is an on-time and/or a neat person, this can create huge power struggles and resentment in your relationship.
Physical self-abandonment.
If you refuse to take care of yourself physically by eating badly and not exercising, possibly causing yourself severe health problems, your partner may feel resentful by having to take care of you. Your physical self-abandonment not only has negative consequences for you regarding your health and well being, it also has unwanted consequences for your partner, which can lead to conflict and power struggles.
Relational self-abandonment.
If you refuse to speak up for yourself in your relationship, and instead become complacent or resistant, you are eroding the love in the relationship. When you abandon yourself to another through compliance or resistance, you create a lack of trust that leads to conflict, disconnection and resentment.
Spiritual self-abandonment.
When you make your partner your source of love rather than learning to turn to a spiritual source for your dependable source of love, you place a very unfair burden on your partner. When your intent in the relationship is to get love rather than to share love, then you will unfairly lean on your partner for attention, approval, time or sex. When you do not take responsibility for learning how to connect with a spiritual source of your own for sustenance, your neediness can create relationship problems.
Spiritual self-abandonment is related to emotional self-abandonment, in that you cannot commit to 100% responsibility for yourself without a strong connection with a spiritual source of love and wisdom.
Learn to love yourself rather than abandon yourself.
Learning to love yourself is the key to a loving relationship. When you learn to connect with a personal source of spiritual guidance and access the love and wisdom that is always within you, you learn to fill yourself up with love. While self-abandonment creates an inner emptiness that relies on others to fill you, self-love creates an inner fullness. Self-love fills your heart and soul with overflowing love so that, rather than always trying to get love, you can now share your love with your partner.

Relaxation intervention improves symptoms, may help treat IBS, IBD

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Participation in a relaxation response based mind-body group intervention was associated with improvements in disease-specific measures, trait anxiety and pain catastrophizing in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease, according to study findings.The quality of life in patients with IBS and IBD is often significantly affected and influenced by stress and resiliency

Source: Relaxation intervention improves symptoms, may help treat IBS, IBD

Posted in IBS

New mum credits hypnotherapy sessions for helping her conceive.

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Hypnotherapy Helps Mother to Conceive after 5 Miscarriages

Source: New mum credits hypnotherapy sessions for helping her conceive after five miscarriages

New mum credits hypnotherapy sessions for helping her conceive after five miscarriages
Wednesday, Jun 24 2015 WRITTEN BY Lara Martin

Leah Elliott had endured five miscarriages before the birth of her beautiful baby son Joseph.

And on today’s ITV’s Good Morning Britain she spoke out about believing her pregnancy was helped by sessions of hypnotherapy.

Leah Elliott discusses using hypnotherapy to boost conception chances Leah endured five miscarriages in four years.

Leah did three months of hypnotherapy with a fertility specialist via Skype and said today it taught her body and mind to relax. “It made me a little more at easy through the fertility journey. It is a stressful journey, an emotional journey,” she said.

The 40-year-old had endured five miscarriages in four years and said doctors diagnosed her with Graves’ disease and endometriosis but had been unable to explain the exact cause of her miscarriages.

She and fiancĂ© James considered IVF but were reluctant to go down that route believing it to be “very taxing” on the body. Baby Joseph was conceived after three months of hypnotherapy.

Discussing her hypnotherapy sessions, Leah said: “I think because, without realising it, I was telling my body it wasn’t safe to conceive because of these diagnosis. And my body was listening. It’s all about the mind-body connection.

“We just let go of the struggle and let go of the idea of fertility being our whole life at the time. Without giving up, we just decided to stop trying for a while and I went for the hypnotherapy treatment.”

Dr Sarah Jarvis said: “Women do get pregnant. There is a good outcome overall even with recurrent miscarriage. A study came out recently showing women who had an average of four miscarriages have a seven per cent chance of getting pregnant and keeping the baby next time, so we know it does happen.

“Once you’ve had three miscarriages
 we know up to one in five pregnancies tragically ends in miscarriage anyway but once you’ve had three, that goes up to 40 per cent. That does mean many people will keep their baby.”

With Leah, she relaxed and let go. There is no science behind it but as a GP for 25 years I’m amazed at how many people who have been trying and their whole lives are consumed with getting pregnant, once they get to the stage where they have been referred to a clinic and are waiting for tests, they start to relax.

Dr Jarvis said there were many things that could boost the chances of conceiving including not smoking, no alcohol, exercising, making sure you’re not underweight or overweight, eating correctly and taking folic acid supplements.

She added: “Relaxing and just genuinely allowing your body to do its own thing can make a difference. Easier said than done. If hypnotherapy works for you, fine.”

source: https://fertilityroad.com/fertility/leah-and-james-elliott-welcome-little-joseph-jake-cruz-10330/

Why you should stop focusing on your problems

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Why You Should Stop Focusing On Your Problems By Emma Hypno On September 14, 2014 ·

How you can help yourself overcome anxiety and depression by understanding why you should stop focusing on your problems.

“Have you ever been caught by someone picking a scab and they’ve scorned – “don’t pick it” and it’s true isn’t it, if we persist in picking that scab, not only does it hurt, but the healing process is delayed – but there is something irresistible about picking a scab.  This rather childish analogy does actually go a long way to explaining why you should stop focussing on problems. Zits, spots, pimples, acne – what does everyone say? “don’t pick them”, “don’t squeeze them”, and we know they are right, but it is very difficult to resist.  But even worse than with a scab, pick a zit and not only does it hurt and make it worse, but it also spreads, the bacteria infects the surrounding areas and we can end up with even more spots.Sorry, I know it’s a bit of a gross subject, picking scabs and zits, but it is an apt analogy for why we shouldn’t keep going over and over our problems – mostly it keeps hurting, it will make them worse and can even spread the feelings into more anxiety and depression and aggravate whatever symptom you are experiencing which could be OCD, IBS, eating disorders, over eating, anger and in particular insomnia and sleep disorders.Take insomnia and sleep disorders as an example – when you can’t sleep at night or you wake up in the middle of the night – why is that?  Have you got thoughts going around and around in your head?  Do you keep going over some problem or another or keep thinking about something or someone who has upset you?Just like someone says to you ‘Stop it’, when you’re picking a scab or spot – stop thinking about the problems, it’s not going to change anything.The solutions is not in the problem, so going over and over the problem, over analysing it, is not going to solve it but most probably, your imagination will step in and you start imagining lots of different scenarios, taking it to the worst possible scenario.  We need a different part of our brain to come up with solutions.Have you ever done this?  You’re expecting someone to call, a family member or loved one, partner or child perhaps, or you said you would call them, but then they don’t call or you can’t get hold of them.  What happens – well, initially you might just brush it off, staying logical and tell yourself they’ve got delayed, their battery might be dead, they can’t call right now and so you wait.As time goes on and you still haven’t heard, your anxiety levels start to rise, you start to worry and slowly you lose intellectual control and the part of your brain responsible for the fight/flight systems starts to step in and this part of your brain always works within the parameters of anxiety, depression or anger – so you could get angry with them, you might feel miserable and tell your self things like, well they don’t care or you start to worry about why.  But significantly, your imagination then starts to work with your fight/flight systems and you start imagining why they are out of contact, you might start imagining all sorts of scenarios of what’s happened, you might even start imagining what they are thinking or why they haven’t called – your imagination runs wild – but your brain doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality, so you believe you and you think these things are actually true and your anxiety levels increase any further to the point of obsession.The actual reality is usually fine and there is some simple explanation, but you have been to hell and back in the meantime with your imagination and did you find the answer there – no!The same is true when we focus on our problems, our imagination steps in, but in a very negative way and imagines everything else which could go wrong as a result, we make it into a catastrophe, we imagine the worst possible scenario and the problems grow and spread, increasing our anxiety, depression or anger – will you find the answer there – no!The intellectual mind is the part of your brain which will come up with solutions, can work it out and will know what to do, it is your job to access that part of your brain.You know the old saying ‘sleep on it’, very good advice.  When you go to sleep at night, to put it simply, during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the brain reorganises everything from the day before, sorts it out and puts it in perspective and when you wake up in the morning, you often feel better about the problem from the day before or have a better idea of what to do.   OK, so this doesn’t always work as effectively as it should, but that’s  because there is just too much worrying for your mind to deal with in just one session and you then continue nurturing the problems by going over and over them, but it does help.  Another self help is exercise and spending time with friends and family – going for a long walk or run, cycle, swim etc or go and see a friend, spend time with some family.

If you do, it will help two fold, positive activity (exercise and hobbies) and positive interaction (spending time with friends and family) will help engage that intellectual part of your brain which can come up with solutions and distracting yourself with something more pleasurable which doesn’t hurt will also stop you picking the scab and going over and over the problems.

You cannot come up with a solution while you are thinking of the problem, they just don’t go together, you have to stop the problem thinking before you can engage the solution thinking.  Your brain is already aware of the problem you need to solve or resolve – give it credit, you don’t need to keep reminding it and throwing in a whole load of imagined problems.  Distract yourself with something pleasurable and fun and let your vast intellect do what it is so well designed to do.

I understand that if you have been in the habit of focussing on your problems for a long time, it can be incredibly difficult to stop doing that, this is where hypnotherapy helps.  Solution focused hypnotherapy can help you find the solutions from within.

 

Source: Why you should stop focusing on your problems