Sleep problems
Everyone experiences times when sleep is a problem for short periods, and while unwelcome, we can cope with it being temporary. But when poor sleep is what you experience night after endless nights, then it is a very different story indeed. People can often become trapped in a vicious, continuous cycle of tiredness, increasing stress levels and damage to their physical, emotional and mental health.
How well you sleep at night often depends on your mental state before you go to bed. You may feel exhausted physically but if you are beset by worries or just have endless thoughts whirling around in your head, it can be very hard to get off to sleep. And if this happens, what do you do? Do you just lie there in the dark with nothing to distract you from your thoughts? Feel uptight and helpless, and perhaps get more and more frustrated at not being able to get that good night’s sleep that you are long overdue? Or do you just give up and get up for a while? And when you finally get to sleep, are you awake feeling good and rested?
Ironically, a good night’s sleep is one of the best antidotes to stress and irritability, lack of concentration and other ways of feeling “off” or “down”. By good sleep, I mean regular, quality sleep that revitalizes the mind, body and spirit. So just how do you break the vicious cycle and once again enjoy good sleep?
Sleeping pills may give some temporary relief and they are only designed to be used for a short while to help reset your ability to enjoy good sleep naturally. They also often come with unwelcome side effects such as drowsiness. With sleeping pills, there is also the risk of dependency. Don’t take my word for it, as here is what the NHS website had to say:
- Doctors are usually reluctant to recommend sleeping tablets in the long term because they just mask the symptoms without treating the underlying cause.
- They can also cause potentially dangerous side effects, such as drowsiness the following morning, and some people become dependent on them.
- If they are recommended, you should have the smallest effective dose possible for the shortest time (usually no more than two to four weeks).
So medical opinion is clear – sleeping pills are not a long-term solution.
Hypnotherapy is a highly effective way of overcoming sleep problems.
Over a course of 3-4 session sessions, I can:
- Reconnect your unconscious mind with a time you slept soundly, deeply, healthily and easily – no matter how long ago, there was a time when you enjoyed a good night’s sleep as regular as clockwork;
- Reset your body’s sleep “clock” The Circadian rhythm which is is the 24-hour internal clock in our brain that regulates cycles of alertness and sleepiness by responding to light changes in our environment;
- Restore your ability to drift off to sleep easily;
- Learn relaxation techniques and train your mind to slow down when your body is getting ready for sleep;
- Identify and overcome underlying causes of insomnia such as anxiety and stress.
Hypnotherapy is especially useful if insomnia is caused by a “racing mind” or excessive emotional or mental arousal, where the mind simply cannot stop rushing through different subjects and trains of thought. It also helps to re-educate the mind positively because when you go to bed expecting a relaxing night and pleasant dreams, you are much more likely to get that result.
In addition to one-to-one sessions, I also provide some special recordings for you that support our work together.
