How Solution Focused Hypnotherapy Can Help With Sleep
Life's challenges can impact us uniquely, triggering stress and anxiety beyond our control.
Navigating such situations can seem overwhelming, but a crucial reminder exists – support is readily available.
Redirecting excessive worry and energy towards self-care is a proactive approach.
Identifying controllable aspects can be transformative, and prioritising self-care, especially through quality sleep, aligns seamlessly with this philosophy, given its known immune-boosting benefits.
What happens if we don’t have enough sleep?
Sleep, often underestimated in today's society, is essential for overall health.
Neglecting its significance can lead to adverse health effects, such as heightened cortisol levels, increased blood pressure, impaired blood sugar regulation, activation of the fight-or-flight response, heightened anxiety, elevated inflammation, and compromised immune function.
Achieving restful sleep facilitates other self-care goals, including relaxation, exercise, and improved dietary choices.
This is because sleep plays a pivotal role in metabolic pathways and overall bodily functions.
However, during challenging times, maintaining optimal sleep quality becomes a struggle or insomnia takes over.
Stressful situations can monopolize our thoughts, preventing the calm brain waves conducive to sleep.
The overactive sympathetic system, akin to a perpetually active computer, keeps our minds engaged even when we attempt to shut down for the night.
This part of the brain linked to anxiety, releases stress hormones like cortisol.
Cortisol is naturally highest in the morning and gradually decreases throughout the day.
However, heightened cortisol levels at night can interfere with the body's natural sleep-wake cycle, making it challenging to initiate and maintain deep sleep.
How can Solution Focused Hypnotherapy help?
Enter solution focused hypnotherapy, a potential remedy for sleep issues and insomnia rooted in stress and anxiety.
To initiate sleep, calming the overactive mind is imperative, necessitating the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the rest and digest system.
This system conserves energy, slowing the heart rate and relaxing the body, taking the amygdala off high alert.
Relaxation, a potent antidote to anxiety and stress symptoms, forms the core of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy.
The deep relaxed state (trance) and the importance of REM Sleep
By inducing a deep, relaxed state reminiscent of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) during sleep, hypnotherapy aims to alleviate anxiety, promote positive thoughts, and normalize sleep patterns.
During the REM state, our brains can effectively empty the metaphorical stress bucket that accumulates throughout the day.
Limited REM (approximately 20% of overall sleep) can lead to an inability to process accumulated stress, resulting in disrupted sleep patterns and heightened stress levels.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy sessions, whether in-person or online, leverage clinical hypnosis to encourage REM-like states, effectively reducing stress over time and improving sleep patterns.
Additional support is often provided through my Bedtime Guided Relaxation Audio, facilitating trance-like states outside of sessions and promoting relaxation before bedtime. You can download this for FREE - HERE
If feelings of stress or anxiety seem insurmountable, understanding that support is available is pivotal.
Reclaiming control over emotions and enhancing sleep quality can empower individuals to navigate challenging situations effectively.
Want to find out more about how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help you sleep better and beat insomnia?
The next step is booking a FREE 45 Minute Initial Consultation / Hypnotherapy Discovery Session (no half-measures here).
In-person at my Oxfordshire Therapy Room (Upper Heyford, near Bicester or Online via Zoom).
The first step to setting yourself free and living the life you want.
It's perfectly normal to feel a bit apprehensive when reaching out to a therapist for more information. Taking this step is a powerful choice, and I want you to know that it's absolutely okay to feel that way. I’m here to provide support and guidance every step of the way.
My name is Andy Selway (he/him) and I am a fully qualified Clinical Solution Focused Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapist. I run HeadFirst Hypnotherapy®, based in Upper Heyford (near Bicester), Oxfordshire.
I assist people in regaining control of their lives by retraining their brains to overcome limiting thought patterns, master their emotions, and cultivate resilient behaviors for a brighter and more positive future.. I know… It’s awesome!
In a nutshell, I ‘get you out of your own way’. Because, let’s face it, a lot of us are.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy taps into the power of your subconscious mind so you can move forward towards the life you’ve always wanted to live. It’s a quick, practical way to address thought patterns, emotions and behaviours that are holding you back in life.
I’m a registered and accredited member of the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (AfSFH) and National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH).
Hypnotherapy sessions can be done either in my garden therapy room in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire (Near Bicester). Ideally situated, it also serves individuals in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire and I also work online nationwide via Zoom.
