Categories
Goal setting Hypnotherapy Life coaching

The importance of perspective

Home » hypnotherapy

Written by Nat Young – Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapist and Yoga/Pilates Teacher

This morning while I was emptying the dishwasher, I wondered where my cats’ second bowl was. Both bowls normally get washed at the end of the day. I’d taken one bowl out but couldn’t, for the life of me, find the other one. I wondered if perhaps I’d forgotten to put it into the dishwasher last night, which led to me looking around the house for it. No luck. Thinking the bowl would turn up at some point, I walked back to the dishwasher to continue emptying it and looked into the dishwasher from the other side. There was the bowl – lying sideways and in a position that was hiding it from the other side of the dishwasher where I had originally been emptying it. 

So what’s the point of this post? Perspective! 

Perspective is so important. Sometimes things may be hiding well enough that you can’t see them from where you are standing. Stand somewhere else, or have someone else look at the situation differently with you, and you may just have a lightbulb moment 💡 

Would you like to explore a new perspective on an issue? Perhaps: 

  • You’re at a crossroads and wanting to explore different options to find direction in your life or career. 
  • You’d like to boost your self-confidence generally, or in specific situations; for example, driving or giving presentations.
  • You’d like to manage stress and anxiety, and discover coping mechanisms that work for you.
  • You’d like to manage your weight; understand your eating habits and ways to practice eating more mindfully.

Or something else…? 

Online coaching and online hypnotherapy can help. Whether it’s through coaching or hypnotherapy, we can help you understand yourself better, set manageable goals, and keep you accountable to yourself. Get in touch to see how online coaching or online hypnotherapy could help you.

Categories
Health and wellbeing Hypnotherapy Mental Health and Wellbeing

I’m proud of you!

Written by Nat Young – Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapist and Yoga/Pilates Teacher.

Wherever you are in your life journey right now, I’m proud of you! 

I think many of us need to hear this right now. Whether you’ve managed to shine in 2020 despite everything that’s happened, feel you’ve survived OK but not much more, or you’ve struggled and only just come out the other side, it doesn’t matter. I’m proud of you for just being here.

Reflecting back on the last year, working from home was a godsend for me. Not just bringing classes online and continuing to run the virtual hypnotherapy clinic from home, but also being based at home for my day job. Not having to battle my way into an office meant I was able to embrace the simpler things in life such as getting out for a walk in the fresh air more often, eating lunch with Nick and being home for the boys, even if I was working (full time working parents, I hear ya – home schooling is certainly an interesting time, isn’t it?!)

2020 was also a great year for learning to embrace uncertainty, and what an uncertain year it was! For learning that the world won’t end if I don’t have an exact plan. For distancing myself from the things that don’t serve my mental health positively, to say no if something doesn’t feel right or I simply don’t have the energy for it. For once, I actually started getting enough sleep…! All of these positives were great but I also wasn’t immune to the stress. I feared for Aurora and whether we’d be able to keep going with everything moving online. There were no government grants for us and many setup costs involved with getting online. We’d also already paid for things that we now didn’t need for online sessions. Financially it has been hard. I’m so grateful for the support of all our lovely clients though.

So we’ve now reached 2021. I know that overall we’ve been very fortunate and that not everyone will have had the same experience in 2020. Especially those of you who have been key workers, working on the frontline, have faced unemployment or have lost someone to covid. My heart goes out to all of you.

So how about you? Wherever you are and however you’re feeling, it’s important to give yourself time and space to reflect. To acknowledge. Time to feel. Even if those feelings are painful, they’re important to process. And whenever you’re ready, know that life is about balance and many opportunities are there for the taking, even in adversity. You’re amazing and you deserve health, wellbeing, opportunity and happiness.

Even if you’re glad to see the back of 2020, take time to process what was. Recognise any successes you’ve had (I guarantee there will be something to celebrate, even if it’s just surviving). Leave any 2020 baggage behind and feel proud that you’ve got to 2021. Savour this moment…

Categories
Anxiety Hypnotherapy

Are you an over thinker?

Written by Nat Young – Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapist and Yoga/Pilates Teacher.

Have you ever got stuck in a cycle of ‘overthinking’ which has paralysed you into a corner? Overthinking occurs when we get stuck in a cycle of worrying and negative thinking within our own heads. This cycle can be really difficult to break. Worrying is very normal but did you know it’s also an evolutionary response to danger? 

Once upon a time humans were hunter gatherers. We’d have to hunt and gather our own food and we’d always be on the lookout for threats such as predators. We therefore became ‘programmed’ through evolution to worry and be constantly on guard to protect ourselves from threats. These days it would be extremely unlikely to be eaten by a sabretooth tiger but our ‘worry’ response can (unhelpfully) still go into overdrive and sound like a broken record.

If you notice you’re overthinking and worrying, one thing you can do is practice stopping it in its tracks. Try this 3 step process to help with overthinking: 

  1. Recognise you’re overthinking (this is probably the most difficult and it takes practice!) Mentally say ‘STOP!’
  2. Focus on facts rather than ‘what ifs’, ‘buts’ and ‘maybes‘. This can help you to make sense of your thoughts and understand if your worry is an actual problem that you might be able to do something about or a fear that’s outside your control. 
  3. Distract your attention outside your head by doing something else. You could talk to friends/family, meditate and focus on your breathing, crack on with a hobby you love, do some yoga or exercise or, look out the window and notice the sounds of nature.

If you’re a worrier and would like a little assistance, Hypnotherapy can be incredibly helpful. Through our online hypnotherapy sessions together, I’ll help you draw on your own ‘toolbox’ of resources so you can begin to free yourself from the constraints of anxiety and overthinking.


Even better, I’m offering online hypnotherapy sessions at just £40 in January (normally £60) so why not get in touch today to get your new year off to a great start?

Categories
Hypnotherapy

Online hypnotherapy special offer

Written by Nat Young – Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapist and Yoga/Pilates Teacher.

Anxious? Stressed? Lacking in confidence? Want to manage your weight but don’t know how? Feeling stuck in life? Hypnotherapy could be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Your mind might still be on the events of 2020 but it’s never too early to start thinking about what’s next. I’m now taking bookings for online Hypnotherapy sessions in 2021 and I’m offering these at a very special rate of £40 per session (normally £60). Hypnotherapy is quite a short term therapy and results can often be seen quickly (within 3-4 sessions), depending on what you want to work on.

In our sessions together, we’ll work on a ‘toolbox’ of resources so you can learn to be your own therapist and, ultimately, feel happier and more in control. If you’re ready to make a change, I’d be delighted to help.

Categories
Mental Health and Wellbeing

Feeling the pressure to learn?

Written by Nat Young, Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapist and Yoga/Pilates Teacher.

I’ve seen so many advertisements for home study courses on social media recently, and at least an equal number of people feeling stressed by the pressure of seeing such things. “Learn this”, “grow that”, “use this time wisely”, “fill your free time!” While some people may be furloughed and have excess time on their hands, many are still working. Even many of those who are furloughed are struggling to be teachers as well as parents or simply trying to survive in a climate that, let’s face it, is really challenging right now. Where’s that free time that so many of these companies seem to think everyone has?!

“The ‘needs’ at the bottom of the pyramid must be met before those at the top.”

I’m reminded of a psychological motivation theory that I learned about while I was studying for my psychology degree many years ago and also revisited when I qualified as a hypno-psychotherapist back in 2015. That theory is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. There are several versions of the theory but in simple terms, it’s depicted as a pyramid which shows our needs as human beings. The needs at the bottom of the pyramid must be met before we can even think about those at the top.

At the moment, many of us will be in the ‘physiological needs’ and ‘safety needs’ parts of the pyramid. We’re spending our time surviving and trying to find a place where we feel safe because the current situation has ripped the safety net out from underneath us.

Things like courses and opportunities for growth would be right at the top of the pyramid under ‘esteem’ and perhaps even ‘self actualisation’. Many of us won’t be up on those levels of our pyramids at the moment.

So if you’re feeling the pressure, thinking that you should be ‘using this time wisely’ and wondering why you’re struggling, remind yourself of Maslow’s theory and give yourself a break! There will be plenty of time for learning and growth when you’re feeling grounded again.

Need some help?

If you’re in need of some time to ‘be in the moment’ and recharge your batteries, our mindful yoga and pilates classes could help. If you’re in need of a bit more, why not try a hypnotherapy session with me? Sometimes a chat is all it takes to help you feel better about things.

Categories
Anxiety

Feeling overwhelmed by uncertainty?

Here’s an infographic which explains what happens to us when faced with uncertainty. Uncertainty triggers a myriad of events in the brain and what you feel is an evolutionary response. In other words, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s all perfectly normal…

How to bring things back into perspective

Ever heard of the saying “a problem shared is a problem halved?” A hypnotherapy session can be a great way to explore feelings of uncertainty and sometimes the very act of talking about how you’re feeling can bring things back into perspective.

Taking time out to practice relaxation is also useful as it calms the body’s fight, flight, freeze survival response, springing your ‘logical brain’ back into action. We offer a number of different activities for relaxation such as our weekly meditative yoga class, and our hypno yoga and yoga nidra one-to-ones so you’re sure to find something that will help.

Get in touch to see how we can help