Anxiety

Manage Exam Stress with Hypnotherapy

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Once again it is that time of year. With University final exams and dissertations, not to mention A-levels and GCSES’s, it can soon become an overwhelming experience for many. The pressure to succeed can result in lost sleep, anxiety, anger, depression or sometimes all of these.

Hypnotherapy has emerged as a powerful tool that can help manage the heightened levels of stress. It can give the mind a holiday from the worries of it all, while at the same time helping the mind process all the information that is needed to best perform at your best. It takes us from our protective stressed out primitive mind and guides us towards a place where the mind no longer senses danger, our intellectual mind and we can relax and recover. It is from here where we come up with our best work, our best performances and our happy place. The more we can practise being relaxed, which hypnotherapy provides, the more we reduce worries, reduce stress hormones and allow ourselves to become our best.

Hypnotherapy is however more than just a tool for relaxation. It provides each individual with a tailored program and voyage of self discovery, arming you with information and directions that help unlock issues that are causing the problem in the first place. The visualisation techniques, used in hypnotherapy, can allow students to mentally rehearse the exam environment, giving time to prepare by imagining positive thoughts and positive outcomes. Visualising yourself in the exam room, sitting at your desk and everything goes well.

If this sounds like something you or someone you know would benefit from, please contact Illuminating Minds on 07725878880 or via our website.

Overcoming Dental Fear with Hypnotherapy

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Does the thought of visiting your dentist fill you with dread, fear or anxiety? This is a highly common problem that many of us suffer without resolution throughout our lives. Some can manage it of course, but for those of us that can’t, then Hypnotherapy can be a very powerful way to manage your thoughts and feelings regarding the whole process and allow you to get the treatment you need with the least amount of stress.

Phobias in general can often be dismissed as a sort of weird thing; people can be phobic of just about anything. For those of us that suffer with a Phobia, can literally be in fear of their lives.

So why does this happen?

Well, the dictionary will define a phobia as something that is an irrational fear of an object or circumstance. However, fear can be perfectly rational. If we are confronted with a charging rhinoceros for example, it would be perfectly acceptable to be afraid. Our fight or flight response kicks in, so that we might save ourselves.

If our distant ancestors experienced a life-or-death situation, they needed a way to ensure their survival. Imagine if one of our ancestors is ambushed by a sabre-toothed tiger. If they escaped, they might associate the rustle of tall grasses with a fear response in future preparing the body for a fight or flight.

Unfortunately, this learned response can be inexact, meaning that as people we can’t afford for the exact circumstances of the first attack to happen, before we trigger the fear response, because that might be too late. So, we can continue to irrationally process the similar circumstances, such as rustling of tall grass.

The same can be true of visiting the dentist. Rationally we know we will be well looked after by a professional, but on an unconscious level our fight or flight response is being triggered.

Hypnotherapy can help here, because it can relax the mind to a state where we can alter the way the mind processes the association with a visit to the dentist. We can reduce the threat response. This is also true for other phobias, we just need to re inform the subconscious mind that it is ok, to reimagine a visit to the dentist without the trauma or stress.

Phobias are never necessary; they cause distress, drain energy and stop people living full lives. Nobody should have to live with them.

If this sounds like something that might help you, please get in touch and we can start the process of making the situation manageable for you.

Overcoming Anxiety: How Solutions Change Your Mindset

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It may seem an obvious notion that by finding solutions to our problems we would immediately start to relieve worry and anxiety that can build up in us over time. However, for many suffering with anxiety often all we can see are the problems, and the idea of finding a solution can sometimes seem insurmountable.

The important thing to be aware of here is that when we look to find a solution, however big or small, we switch to a more positive part of our brain, the pre-frontal cortex. This is the part that is unique to humans, and where we are at our best. It is very difficult to feel both stressed and anxious while be completely present in thinking of ways to make solutions.

Think about that for a moment!

We can be anxious one minute, think of a solution and then go back to feeling anxious, but what we can’t do is feel both at the same time. The more time we spent focusing on thinking of solutions, the more time we spend away from our anxious feelings. Then when we find a solution and apply it, we have achieved something that makes us feel good.

So, with this information we learn that it is sensible to dedicate some time each day to sit down, break down our problems and try and come up with a solution. We may know what we want to achieve ultimately, but what we don’t sometimes apply is the idea that when problems are too large, we may need several steps to break this down, and so part of the solution might be just a very small thing that leads to the ultimate resolution.

If you are having trouble with this process, Solution Focused Therapy or Counselling is a very useful modality in which you can start this process for yourself. Solution Focused Therapy uses a variety of techniques, tools and questions that help refocus the mind to help you step away from your problems. Over time and with practise this then becomes your new normal.

Sounds like you?

Reach out and take the first step on the journey to finding your resolution.

Coping with Covid-19 during Winter – Self Help Strategies

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These past months have been a great challenge for all us. We have had to cope with the loss of many of the things we have previously taken for granted. The company of others being a major one, and that is not with-standing the fear that the word Covid-19 strikes in many of us, in relation to our own health, or those of ones we love.

I myself have at times found my mind wandering into the realms of fear, placing my mind into the what ifs, and what might never happen mode. By returning to the present moment, and filling it with positive things, it allows me to centre myself. The following list of things, has empowered me to regain control, feel happier and able to bring balance to my own situation and I hope it can work for you too.

Regular Exercise

With the likes of Joe Wicks and Major Tom Moore, there has been plenty of inspiration to keep us moving over the summer months, both of these amazing individuals have shown that with positive thoughts and positive actions incredible things can be achieved, but as we enter Winter, and whilst we all cannot achieve the recognition those gentleman have, it shows us that things can be it still be achieved by people of all ages and that regular exercise remains as important as ever. We all know that physical activity is a great way of keeping our bodies healthy, but what is often forgotten or neglected is the importance it has on our Mental Health, keeping active helps us produce Serotonin, along with other feel good chemicals, that keep us calm and balanced and feeling braver and more in control.

Routine

By keeping a routine, we keep a purpose and motivation to carry on day to day. By having a routine, it informs our brain of our intentions, and if our intentions are positive, this allows us to feel positive.

Talking to others

Find a way to talk to those you love, this can be over the phone, Zoom calls, or maybe even writing to someone you love. (Look for the positives, think in a positive way).

Make laughter a way to be

Why not put on your favourite comedy shows and sit and enjoy and laugh. Laughing this helps boost our mood as well as helping us to relax.

Help others (interact in a positive way)

Helping others is known to give us a warm sense of purpose and helps us produce and release feel good chemicals in our brains. So not only do we feel good for doing something for someone else, that someone else gets to benefit too.

Appreciate what you do have (Gratitude)

This may seem and obvious thing to do, but so many of us can get caught up in focusing on what don’t have or what we appear we have lost, we forget to take the time in our daily routine to stop and reflect on what it is we do have, and to give thanks for this. Once again by thinking in a positive way we retrain our brain over time to look for all the things in life that are good for us. Our brains operate in a happier and more fulfilled and purposeful way when we train ourselves to give thanks, be it big or small, it all counts.

Meditation practises

If we try to keep our minds in the present moment, it can help our minds from wandering off into a cycle of negative thinking. Negative thoughts are heard by our subconscious mind, and it is here where we produce the wide variety of chemicals in our brains. If we think negative, we trigger the reactions that can lead to depression or anxiety, so it makes sense to try to avoid this way of thinking if possible.

Ways we can do this include;

  • Exercise
  • Reading
  • Gardening and or connecting with nature
  • Playing a Musical Instrument
  • Sitting quietly, focusing on you something you enjoy and holding that thought for as long as you can.
  • Listening to relaxing music, or a Hypnotherapy relaxation track.

Learn Something new

Use the lockdown time to learn something new, or revisit something you have loved doing in the past but not had the time.

Most of all try to enjoy the Yuletide and Christmas period as much as you can, it’s a great time for appreciating life, and reflecting on what we would like life to look like in the future.

From all at Illuminating Minds have a very Happy and Healthy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year

How to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

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What is Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)?

SAD or Seasonal affective disorder is considered a type of depression that is experienced in relation to the change in seasons.

It is a type of depression most commonly associated with a lack of sunlight during the winter months. However, in some people they can feel depressed in the summer months and feel better in winter.

It is suggested that SAD is caused or triggered by the lack of sunlight received by the eyes, which causes the hypothalamus, the part of our brains that is responsible for our bodily chemistry, to change its chemical balance.

Melatonin is the hormone that is produced that makes us feel sleepy.

Serotonin is the hormone responsible for our mood, appetite control and sleep. When the level of serotonin drops it is believed that it can cause symptoms of depression.

Circadian Rhythm (Internal Body clock)

We know that light regulates our sleep patterns. When we receive less light, it may naturally encourage us to sleep more. This in turn may trigger the symptoms of SAD.

Some of the symptoms of SAD include the following;

  • Low mood that persists
  • A lack of interest in normal daily activities or an absence of pleasure in such activities.
  • Irritability
  • Despair, guilt and worthlessness are common feelings
  • Lethargy and wanting to sleep during the day
  • Sleeping for longer periods than is usual.
  • Craving carbohydrates and often gaining weight.

Treatments for SAD

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that SAD should be treated in the same way as other types of depression.

There are a variety of ways in which SAD can be treated;

Light Therapy

For some people SAD can be successfully treated with the use of Light therapy, which can help some peoples’ mood improve quite noticeably. Light therapy involves the use of a Lamp specifically designed for the treatment of SAD, called a light box. Some people with SAD find that light therapy can help improve their mood considerably. It becomes effective when you sit close to the light box for anything up to an hour at a time.

These specially designed light boxes can either be used as a desk lamp or can be mounted on the wall. The lamps use special bulbs that emit natural full spectrum daylight, and use a very high Lux, which is the measurement of light. This means the bulbs are very bright, much brighter than a normal bulb, and are designed to simulate the brightness off the sun, that is often missing, during the darker nights of winter.

It is thought the light may improve SAD by encouraging your brain to reduce the production of melatonin (a hormone that makes you sleepy) and increase the production of serotonin (a hormone that affects your mood).

Counselling and talking therapies

Counselling is a talking therapy and involves sitting down and talking with someone trained to listen to your issues and concerns.

The aim of this type of psychotherapy is to create an environment where you can discuss and explore your feelings, in relation to yourself and others, and look at past experiences with the aim to highlight whether anything from your past is effecting how you interact in your life today.

Hypnotherapy allows the subconscious mind to process the emotional content of your life and with a qualified practitioner can successfully aid the emotional healing and issues that are the underlying causes of stress on the body and mind. It is also an extremely relaxing state and can help balance the chemical processes that can affect depression.

Other useful things you can try

  • Try to get as much natural sunlight as possible. Maybe go for a walk or spend some time outside.
  • Ensure that your work environment is as bright as possible, with fresh air.
  • Ensure that you are getting plenty of Sleep.
  • Sit as close to the window while indoors.
  • Try to get regular exercise and if possible outdoors in the natural daylight.
  • Where possible eat a healthy and balanced diet.
  • Take a trip somewhere.
  • Do things that make you happy or change your mood, such as listening to music or try some Art therapy.
  • It can also be helpful to talk to your family and friends about SAD, so they understand how your mood changes during the winter. This can help them to support you more effectively.
  • Where possible, avoid stressful situations.

How Hypnotherapy can help beat the Brexit Blues

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For many people in the UK ‘Brexit’ is proving to be an extremely stressful process. It has caused many households to be at odds with each other, forcing families to sit on opposing sides of the Brexit argument. For some this added stress can prove too much and can start to affect the health of those struggling with the concerns surrounding the uncertainty that Brexit is causing.

Why do issues like Brexit affect our overall health?

First let’s explore why an issue like Brexit can go on to cause mental health issues. As a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist, we look at the causes of anxiety. Anxiety is triggered by thinking about issues surrounding our lives in a negative way, so we create anxiety by negatively forecasting the future. The problem with issues such as Brexit, is no-one really knows what will happen if the UK finally leaves the EU. The media provides the negative forecasting for us, and many of us get caught up in the worrying implications presented to us, such as impact on Jobs, income, medical supplies etc. The reason this is important is that these worries or anxieties build up, on top of our everyday issues.

In my practice I say that the stresses of the day go into our own personal stress bucket. The analogy of the stress bucket is important, because as human beings we do have a method for emptying our stress bucket daily, and this is known as REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). On average we need around 1.6 to 2 hours of good REM sleep a night. REM is the part of our sleep pattern that processes and discharges emotional stressors, that we experience during the day, but haven’t let go, such as an argument or things we have seen, or tasks we haven’t completed. It can take an enormous amount of energy to process these anxieties that have built up in our stress bucket, sometimes over a long period of time. The more we worry about something, the more we pile this worry into our stress bucket, and therefore the more energy we need to use to process what’s in our bucket during our REM sleep. If the amount of energy we are using during our sleep pattern is too much, we are naturally brought out of sleep, to conserve energy, and therefore this is why we find ourselves awake at 2-3am, heavy with worry, during difficult times in our lives. This means we haven’t emptied our stress bucket from the previous night and we have more to process the following night, and so we become trapped in a vicious circle which drains our precious resources.

How can Hypnotherapy help?

Hypnotherapy can be a very useful tool to help those who are suffering with anxiety or depression, because it can break the cycle of sleep deficiency. It does this because during the trance process, it mimics REM sleep. So, during a typical hypnotherapy session we allow our bodies to go into a deep state of relaxation, and during the process it allows our minds to continue to empty our stress bucket. This means we have rested but also allowed the mind to process worry and find solutions to them. The more we do this the better able we are to get a full nights sleep, feeling rested and reinvigorated, which has a profoundly positive impact on our overall health.

As a Solution focused hypnotherapist, I also use the first half of every session to assist those seeking help to focus on solutions to issues that are bothering them. We try to encourage people to re-think issues in a more positive way using the inner resources we all possess. This has the impact of diffusing and naturally emptying many of the stresses that have been, often un-knowingly, piling into their stress bucket. The more positively you think, the less worries that end up accumulating. This consequently means you use less energy while you sleep, and you can go on to achieve the good night’s sleep your body needs. I call trance a mini break for the mind. It provides time away from the troubles and negativity that can affect our busy lives.

Welcome to Illuminating Minds

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What is Solution Focused Hypnotherapy ?

This form of Psychotherapy is designed to reduce anxiety and Stress related symptoms. It is called Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and as the name may imply during our sessions we focus on the solutions for future, rather than dwelling on and analysing the past. It is structured to empower people to change the way they think, and as long as a person is committed to this change and follows the process it can be highly effective in relieving symptoms of stress and anxiety.

By focusing on the solutions and not dwelling on the past problems we instead ;

  • See where you are currently.
  • Highlight and illuminate where you want to be going forward.
  • Empower you with the tools to make the changes required.

When it comes to the mind we say ‘Use it or lose it’. We are looking to lose the ruminating on painful memories part and rewire and fire the brain with positive actions that can only move us forward.

Famous quote

“You can’t effect the cards you are dealt, but you can determine how you play them “ Milton Erikson

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy uses practical, modern, well-researched strategies to help people make significant and beneficial changes in their lives.

It is an extremely effective treatment for Fears, Phobias, Giving up Smoking, Anxiety, Weight Loss, Depression, IBS, Sports Performance and many more.