Re:New Hypnosis News

The days of lockdown may be behind us, but for some, its legacy lives on Lockdown. I’m sure we all remember the time of daily broadcasts from our senior politicians and scientists; the message was clear and simple: stay at home to stay safe. Just seeing that all-too-familiar logo brings it all back and makes my heart sink. This press release from January 2021 warns us that “Around one in three people with COVID-19 don’t have any symptoms and can pass it on without realising, which is why it’s essential everyone stays at home...” The message is clear – the outside world is full of hidden danger; don’t go out!  I remember how strange and how thrilling it was when the last lockdown was lifted after what seemed like the longest ever winter. People were wearing masks and we had to keep our distance from each other – it felt strange to be amongst people, and equally strange to be detached from them; life, it seemed, would never be quite the same again. Jump to the present day – alt...

One in every three of us find it difficult to get to sleep or stay asleep. Racing thoughts or an overstimulated mind can result in us tossing and turning for what seems like hours before finally nodding off. If this sounds familiar, try these tips, which I have put together to help you calm your mind and relax your body: 1. Don't worry about it! The more we worry about not  sleeping, the less likely we are to succumb to it. Relax, tell yourself it doesn't matter. This will help keep you calm and make sleep more likely. 2. Avoid stimulants in the evening: caffeine and scrolling on your phone will stimulate your brain and stop it relaxing when you need it to. 3. Plan for tomorrow before you go to bed. Prepare everything you need for the morning; write lists of things you might forget.  4. Relax in your bed. Do relaxation breathing: breathe in for the count of 4 and slowly out for 7. As you breathe out, let your body lie heavier and check that you're not holding any tensi...

 There's something about this time of year - the changing seasons, the days getting shorter, darker and colder - that seems to disrupt our sleeping patterns. I'm certainly finding that, and from chatting to people around me,  I'm not alone, but the chances are that in a week or so things will settle down and most of us will get back into a rhythm. For some people unfortunately, not being able to sleep is an on-going problem, grinding them down and making every aspect of life difficult to cope with. This was certainly the case with a lovely lady I recently worked with who had been suffering with insomnia for over 20 years. "Have you tried anything to help you sleep?" I asked her. "Everything," she answered. "Did anything work?" "No," was the emphatic response. We had six sessions together, over a span of almost 3 months. I wish we had recorded those first and final sessions, her transformation was incredible: going from as you would im...

There was a fascinating article in the Guardian recently about one in 7 of us being addicted to ultra-processed foods and why it is so difficult for us to resist them. So many of of have been there - trying to lose weight, knowing what we should and shouldn't eat, and despite really wanting to stick to our new healthy-eating plan, we can't resist the temptation to eat the wrong stuff and then it all goes to pot. These foods have been designed for us to fail - they specifically target our brain's reward system - the system that kept us alive when food was scarce, but now keeps many of us overweight. Willpower and good intentions aren't enough to short-circuit these systems, particularly given the abundance of food designed to trigger them, and once we fall off the wagon, it's ten times more difficult to get back on it than it was in the first place. I CAN HELP YOU! Hypnosis and CBT combined can help you replace unhelpful existing reward systems and replace them ...

A couple of weeks ago I broke the side off one of my molars, and last night the tooth's filling fell out. First thing this morning I called my dentist and was grateful to be given an appointment a few hours later. I'm not particularly afraid of going to the dentist, but as I lay back in his chair with my mouth wide open, I couldn't help feeling tense. Not knowing quite what's going to happen, or whether it will hurt can make even the most chilled of us feel uneasy.  While I was lying there and the dentist was examining my tooth, I ran through my checklist of Top Tips for Relaxation, and thought I'd share them with you here:  1. As you breathe out, scan your body from the top of your head down to your toes and notice any tension. Relax it. On each out breath, let your body feel heavier as you sink down into the chair 2. Focus on your shoulders. Lower them, relax them. Keep coming back to check that they are still relaxed 3. Focus on your jaw. Make sure it is relaxed....

  For the past fortnight, my husband and I have been having to get used to something that we hadn’t experienced for almost 27 years – a house with no children in it. Two weeks ago, we took our youngest to Manchester and deposited him in his university halls of residence; almost to the day 8 years before, we had made a similar trip with our eldest.   Unlike our son, who for the past year had been counting down the days, I really wasn’t sure how much I was looking forward to his leaving. I had very few worries about him, but how would my husband and I cope with only each other for company? And, more profoundly, what does it mean for us in terms of how we frame this next part of our lives? Going from being parents every day, to just being ourselves … How will that feel? What do we do?   Our lives now are very different to the ones we had before the kids came along. Being nearly 30 years older means our interests have changed – we no longer go out to bars every night! Back th...