Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Tossin’ and Turnin’ - How Hypnosis Turns Restlessness and Sleeplessness into Serenity and Tranquility

We all have those nights where falling asleep can be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. Of course, sleeplessness is hard to determine the exact cause as it frequents people depending on what’s going on in a person’s life such as depression, stress, sickness, restlessness, being too hot or too cold.

No one really knows exactly why we need sleep, but studies show that sleep is as essential as food: it enables us to function and nourishes us so we can perform various tasks. Most people know this, and will frequently turn to sleeping pills so as to induce the kind of sleep that’s needed.

But instead of finding a solution through contrived means that really doesn’t address the issue, you might consider hypnosis—a far more effective method—a solution that cuts to the heart of the problem. Not only does hypnosis put you in a relaxed state of mind, which is the very essence of what hypnosis is, but hypnosis sessions discover why you’re not sleeping, and retrain your brain to not “try and fall asleep,” but to fall asleep as naturally as you once did.

Sleeplessness, or insomnia, is a very common thing in the United States. There are many symptoms, including sluggishness during the day time, waking up frequently during the night or waking up and not being able to fall back asleep.

Four years ago, the National Sleep Association did a sweeping poll across the country to see just how big of a problem sleeplessness was, labeling the study “Sleep in America.” Perhaps it’s not surprising, but the results showed that nearly 75 percent of the respondents said they exhibited at least some or all symptoms of insomnia for a few days or several weeks, and 35 percent said they experienced one of the symptoms, every night, for over a year!

The problem with insomnia is that it perpetuates itself. Once we recognize we can’t fall asleep, we focus on the fact that we can’t fall asleep, virtually eliminating any possibility of relaxing our brain because our brain is focused on that one very frustrating fact. Everything in our life subsequently suffers: our work and school performance, our relationships, our physical health (it’s not a coincidence that an increased amount of sleep helps cure colds and flu bugs) and our moods.

Hypnosis changes all that. Hypnotherapy sessions help you to relax your body physically, and most especially, mentally. Hypnosis also teaches you methods that help eliminate negative thoughts when they arise and hones in on what’s caused the problem in the first place. Sometimes the reason for insomnia stems from obvious reasons like stress at work or at home, but other times it can be something that you never dreamed would be the cause (pardon the pun).

Once your natural sleep cycle has been disrupted, for whatever reason, it’s very difficult to get it back to the way it was without some form outside supplement such as sleeping pills. But you can’t rely on sleeping pills for the rest of your life. Not only does it mask the problem, it’s unhealthy and is dangerously addictive.

Hypnosis releases you from the shackles of insomnia and the self-defeating negative thoughts that perpetuate it. Knowledge is power. Hypnosis provides you with the knowledge that can make you a falling asleep expert.

Steve G. Jones, Clinical Hypnotherapist
http://www.betterlivingwithhypnosis.com/