Sleeping Difficulties
In my experience there are three probable reasons for insomnia.
- The first reason is an inability to switch off from the events of the day.
- The second is that it is a bad habit that became conditioned with repetition.
- And the third is that it could be chemical.
What’s on your mind, are you still thinking about work or are you mulling about the problems in your life? If you are sure that there is nothing going on inside of your mind that is affecting your sleep patterns then it might be simply a bad habit. Most likely though is that you have some form of underlying stress.
If you go to bed one night and don’t sleep very well you may then be wary of it happening again the next night. If the on the next night the same thing happens you could begin to get anxious and tense as the effects of lack of sleep start to show.
The more this cycle happens in this way the mind and body can begin to lock the thought of sleep into a feeling of tension. The more this cycle is repeated the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where the mind starts to condition it in to a negative habit. Instead of thinking about sleep as a nice time to relax and recharge your batteries, the insomniac views it as the start of the battle, so that adrenalin is released into the body to get ready for it. Do not try to beat insomnia, as it will beat you. If you make it a battle, it will win.
To combat this I use Hypnotherapy to relax the mind and also thought re-training. A personal CD recording of their relaxation session is given to the client to reinforce the suggestions from the Hypnotic session. Often blocking the bothersome thoughts is enough to start to change the negative habit of insomnia. A detailed plan for thought re-training can be found in chapter two of The Principles of Life book as well as other valuable advice to combat insomnia. There are also exercises to help a person forget about the stress of the day so that the thoughts about the events of the day can lose their emotional charge.
Lastly I mentioned that insomnia could be chemical. Insomnia can also be a symptom of Calcium deficiency so it would also be a good idea to take home some good quality high strength calcium formula. The one I use is by a company called Kordells and it is called “Calcium bone formula”. I do not get a penny from this company I just think it’s a great product so I endorse it. All the ingredients are at the correct ratio and it is chelated so that it is highly absorbed into the system. Studies show that a lack of calcium in the diet can cause insomnia so why not give it a try. The worst-case scenario is that it won’t cure your sleep problems but you will end up with stronger bones!
If you have or are suffering from insomnia do not despair there is help. On a personal level if it is convenient you can come to see me personally. Low insomnia is usually easy to deal with and require 2 sessions for successful resolution with further reinforcing of the therapy on the clients part. A CD of your hypnosis session will be provided with each appointment. If seeing me personally is not possible due to distance a full and detailed recovery plan is given in the principles of life book where the thought re-training technique is explained as well as some more mental relaxation exercises to bring about more emotional peace.
Contained inside the book are the strategies for overcoming insomnia and learning to neutralize the real cause. Do not be put off by the simplicity of reading a book to help you as many people have found it very effective for them with a cessation of anxiety after using the many exercises contained.
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