A lady called me out of the blue the other day, asking if hypnotherapy could assist her with her insomnia.
She claimed she had not had a good night’s sleep in over months. She was desperate. I assured her hypnotherapy would help her. In the past, I have helped clients with similar problems with great success.
She listened with interest, and said she would call back. later.
Three hours later, she told me she was trying acupuncture, Chinese herbs and teas, massage therapy and psychiatry. Nothing worked.
She had just been speaking to her psychiatrist who said, “I don't think it’s a good idea to have someone messing with your mind.”
I asked her, aside from that obviously uneducated and ignorant response, what he proposed as her “cure.” His answer was an anti-psychotic medication.
It was clear to me that her psychiatrist had zero understanding of the amazing benefits of hypnotherapy. He dismissed hypnotherapy because he was more concerned with keeping his patient than seeing her get better with a proven, effective alternative treatment.
We all have our view of the world. We approach the world based on our upbringing and sub-conscious habit pattern. In the helping professions, our view is affected by our training.
A medical doctor usually suggests medication or surgery as a fix. A chiropractor will say the problems stem from spinal decompression, and that manipulation, massage and physical therapy will solve the issue.
Six Months Here, Six Months There
A psychiatrist or psychologist will spend six months determining how a patient became the way he or she is, put a diagnostic systems manual label to it and announce what your problem is. Then he will spend another six months trying to have you conform to a new diagnostic manual label rather than have you become what you want to be.
Don't get me wrong. I admire everyone in the helping professions. All we really want to do is help people to be well.
As a hypnotherapist I, too, have my own view as to how to help clients with their presenting problems. I have enjoyed great success helping clients with a whole range of issues.
My main focus is not how a client became the way he or she is. Rather, it is to guide the person where he/she wants to be.
Insomnia is not fun. We perceive that we are really not sleeping, that we are tossing and turning all night. Our mind is racing. It will not shut down to consciously allow sleep to occur. We wake up every morning feeling as tired as we were when we went to bed.
People who claim they can't sleep actually sleep more than they realize. It is just that they think they are not. I generally ask clients complaining of this problem to write down what the time is each time they believe they are awakened from their “sleep.”
Much to their surprise, they find that they actually sleep more than they thought. In general, “insomniacs” will sleep about an hour, awaken for a few minutes, then fall asleep again for another hour. It is more like a series of catnaps, which often adds they actually get more sleep than they think. Their perception creates the thought that they are not sleeping.
Take These Ideas to Bed
Here are useful tips to help those insomnia sufferers.
Drink a glass of warm milk to help relax.
Take a long, hot bath.
Read a light, entertaining book, or watch non-drama or non-news related TV.
Create a new pre-sleep routine.
Use a mantra to slow the mind.
Eat a protein-based diet to even out your sugar levels.
I am sure I am not offering anything new. But, if possible, try to eat fewer carbs and more protein. This is probably the most important thing that you could do to improve your sleeping.
With a high carb diet, carbs break down to sugar really quickly. The result is that you end up with huge sugar level swings leading to high highs and low lows in a v short space of time.
As a result the brain often finds itself needing sugar in ever increasing amounts to function. If the brain doesn't get what it needs, it will do something to create an adrenaline burst, which gives the brain the sugar it needs. As a result of these wild sugar level swings, the brain cannot operate from its higher functioning levels, leaving you in a state of constantly changing moods, scared, shaky and hypersensitive. The brain stays hypervigilant to get its sugar.
By eating a diet higher in protein and by eating small protein-based meals every 2 hours, the sugar levels stabilize, the brain loses its hypervigilant state as it is getting all the sugar it needs in a more stable fashion. Protein breaks down to sugar more slowly than carbs, giving a more even “flow” of sugar to the brain.
As a result, the brain now functions from a higher level, eliminating the “primitive” survival states, which, in turn, allows the mind to function more effectively, in a more relaxed fashion, allowing the mind to let you sleep.
Here is a suggestion for you. Every night for the next 21 nights, when you think you are ready to sleep, write this:
Every night when I choose to sleep, I sleep quickly, soundly and deeply, and my physical body relaxes completely. When I awaken, I am as refreshed and as relaxed as if I have had 8 hours of deep restful, relaxing and energizing sleep. I accept all the challenges of this new day with a happy, prosperous and successful attitude.
Then go to bed, close your eyes, take a deep breath, (breathing in relaxation, exhaling tension) and try to focus on each part of your body, starting from the tips of the toes, to your heels, your ankles, your calf muscles, your thighs, your hips, your abdomen and back, your chest, to your shoulders, arms, wrists, knuckles, fingers, all the way to the top of your head, down to your forehead, cheeks, ears, eyebrows, eyelids, nose upper and lower lips to your chin and jaw, then say to yourself, the suggestion you wrote out just before you went to bed.
Each night when I choose to sleep, I sleep quickly, soundly and deeply. My physical body relaxes completely. When I awaken I am as refreshed and as relaxed as if I have had 8 hours of deep restful, relaxing and energizing sleep. I accept all the challenges of the day with a happy, prosperous and successful attitude.
Try this for 21 nights.
If you are suffering from insomnia, feel free to call me for help.
Sleep well.
A clinical hypnotherapist, handwriting analyst and certified master hypnotist, Nicholas Pollak may be contacted at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net