Hypnotherapy For Insomnia

Having trouble sleeping can be really distressing and frustrating. You go to bed, wishing for a good nights sleep and then lay awake for hours, tossing and turning, becoming more and more anxious about getting to sleep. Or perhaps you drop off to sleep quite easily, and then awake at some unsociable hour and can?t get back to sleep. Either way, the result is that you may feel tired, emotional, irrational and not able to function in a way that you would like to in daily life.

Most people have had problems getting to sleep at some time or another and often this is due to specific worries or concerns, such as having a speech to give, an interview to face or being in new or unfamiliar surroundings. If you suffer from a sleep problem that affects your everyday life, it is advisable to first seek advice from your G.P to rule out any underlying physical cause.

As a Hypnotherapist, in Edinburgh, I am constantly developing the tools and knowledge that I have to help people manage and overcome insomnia. On a more personal level, I myself have experienced sleep problems in the past, so this is an area, which is close to my heart. In this article I share ways in which hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Edinburgh, can help people that cant sleep due to overthinking.

What I often notice about client?s, who present with sleep problems, is that they are thinkers. If I could identify, one cause in their inability to sleep well, it would be over-thinking. This may be thinking about problems from daily life that need solving or even thinking about sleeping!

Hypnotherapy, Edinburgh can be useful in overcoming sleep problems in several ways. One way, it that hypnotherapy, can be used is to break the pattern of over-thinking at bed-time. This is important because falling off to sleep naturally and easily, is not a conscious act. Our unconscious mind is responsible for knowing how to sleep. In fact, it will have stored memories for how to sleep well and also how to sleep badly. We can?t think ourselves to sleep, in the same way that we can think our way through other problems. During hypnosis, Hypnotherapists, Edinburgh, can help you recall times of good quality, restful sleep and make suggestions for you to experience high quality sleep again. Strategies are also taught which can help you to reduce over-thinking.

In addition, hypnotherapy can also help you to relax and let go off distracting thoughts. Learning how to let go in this way, can enable most people having sleep troubles, to sleep well again. Through hypnosis, clients are supported in planning for a good nights sleep, and cues for sleep are given and associated with activities that you usually do in order to prepare for bed. Suggestions are given in an open and permissive manner, in a way that avoids any resistance from the unconscious mind. For some people, being given suggestions to try to stay awake is the key to overcoming resistance and can break the pattern of consciously trying to sleep.

If you are having sleep problems, hypnotherapy can help you sleep naturally again. Until you have booked your session, why not try the technique below. I have personally found this technique very useful for getting off to sleep when I am kept awake by a busy mind.

Try the following: anytime a sentence begins to form in your mind, stop it in its tracks and separate and deal with each word individually. I like to imagine an invisible conveyor belt, delivering my thoughts that I can stop when I want. Take each word, and examine them one by one. You may want to ask yourself whether the word is anxiety provoking, if you are feeling anxious (once you break down the sentence into words, you can usually find that any emotional associations go) and then let the word float away, or be filed away, whatever works for you. You can then move onto the next word. This technique works by slowing down racing and repetitive thoughts and reducing the emotions they can cause. This help to induce a relaxed state, allowing sleep to happen. You may want to couple this technique with a relaxed breathing process. I find it useful to concentrate on the sound made from breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. By focusing on the sounds only, it is possible to quiet your mind.

Karen Hastings is a Hypnotherapist, Edinburgh and Master NLP practitioner. Karen provides Hypnotherapy, in Edinburgh. She is also an NHS experienced Occupational Therapist and uses cognitive behavioural therapy approaches in Edinburgh. Visit http://www.karenhastings.co.uk