Hypnosis? It Can Work for Stress

Part of a plan for Stress Management may include either hypnosis or self-hypnosis, as a way to reduce and eliminate the symptoms of stress. A person under hypnosis is experiencing a trance like state, which allows them to enter into either the “theta” or “delta” states of consciousness.

These states are the equivalent of either light or deep sleep, and allow for the hypnotized person to experience an “altered state” of consciousness.

Hypnosis can be effective in managing stress, whether the state of hypnosis is assisted by a licensed Hypno-therapist, or whether the state is induced by the person entering into the hypnotized state.

Since many people are uncomfortable with the idea of being hypnotized by someone else, self hypnosis is often used as a part of a stress management plan.

In order for self hypnosis to take place the individual must be in a comfortable position, and be free from outside distractions. The individual should begin with some relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, followed by releasing any tension in the muscles, one at a time, beginning with the feet and toes, and proceeding over the entire body.

When entering into a self hypnosis state the person is simply allowing the subconscious mind to take over, while the conscious mind enters into an “altered” or “quiet” state of being.

In order for self hypnosis to be effective, the conscious mind should impart a “purpose” or “intent” to the subconscious, before the actual hypnotic state is achieved.

It is also important to set a time limit on the hypnotic state, generally 15 to 20 minutes. The subconscious mind will respond to the suggestion, and cause the individual to return to the normal state of consciousness at the prescribed time.

Are You Overwhelmed?

You are feeling completely stressed out. Work demands, a hectic family life, commitments you have made to friends and relatives. There are so many things you have to do, and it just doesn’t seem like there are enough hours in the day to it all. You need a few quick stress tips to help you regain control.

Well, you are in luck. Here are three quick and easy things you can do restore some of the order to your busy, frantic life.

What Do You Really Need To Do?

One of the major causes of stress is having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Finding ways to either eliminate some of the unnecessary To-Dos from your life, or at least make them easier, can take a lot of the pressure off of you.

Does rushing home to make dinner for your family make the hours after you get off work even more hectic? Instead, why not make a week’s worth of dinners over the weekend and put them in the fridge. After work, all you have to do is heat them up.

Think about the things you do every day, and try to eliminate or simplify as much of it as you can.

Learn To Delegate

There are some things on your daily To-Do list that you simply can’t skip or pass up on. These things must get done.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be the one to do them.

Think about the things you do every day that could be could be done by someone besides you. Who else could you ask to do them instead?

It’s Okay to Back Out

Some of us find it hard to say no. You might worry that, if someone asks you to do something, and you refuse, they will get mad at you. Or they’ll decide you aren’t the nice guy they thought you were.

But agreeing to take on extra commitments when you know you already have more than enough on your plate can be a major cause of stress. So learn to say no without feeling guilty about it.

If you have already agreed to do something, but have come to realize that this added commitment is just too much for you to handle right now, it is okay for you to back out. Go to the person you made the commitment to, and explain the situation. You can even try to help find someone to take your place. Chances are, they will understand.

Feeling overwhelmed by your hectic life? These three quick stress tips will help you decrease some of your daily burdens, and regain some of the peace and calm you have lost.

Get Better Sleep the Easy Way

More often than not, how to get better sleep is among the common questions that working people think about. This is because they rarely experience it because of too much stress or being too busy in their work. If you are one of those who are having problems when it comes to sleeping, here are some of the ways that can help you get better easier:

1. Develop better sleeping habits. Like everything else, developing good habits helps a person accomplish a certain task at hand. For those who are prone to not sleeping well at night, it would be best to start developing good habits that would help him or her get better sleep. Good sleeping habits might include daytime routines such as eating the right foods, exercise, and enough napping in the afternoon. Experts say that eating the right foods would help a person be lulled into sleep without so much hustle. If one wants to get better sleep, he or she must avoid eating foods that contain ingredients that stimulate the nerves and the senses such as those with caffeine content. To help the body relax, enough physical activities such as exercise should also be done at day time so it will somehow exhaust the body and let it crave for rest at night time. Although napping is good to some people, it can be bad to those who are having sleeping problems because they have a tendency to "over nap" that which will eventually affect their sleeping at night.

2. Enough amount of daily exercise can help a person to get better sleep. Aside from health benefits, regular exercise also helps a person get better sleep especially at night. This is because it lets the body work just enough so it would want to rest at night. Strenuous activities such as workouts are not really necessary if one is not used to it. Simple exercises such as brisk walking or light yoga activities are enough to help to get better sleep at night.

3. Come up with you own personal sleeping plan. Above anybody else, you should be the one who knows your body. If you are having problems sleeping at night, you are the first person to identify what is the problem and try to address the issues properly. If you are having trouble sleeping, analyze what may be the problem. If it is something that you can handle, try to do the things that will help you overcome it. You can do this by coming up with a personal sleeping plan that will really work for you. You can plot the activities that you can do and try to implement them during nighttime. If the specific plan doesn’t work today, try another set of sleeping plans the next night and then another one for next, next night. By doing this, you can discover the techniques that would work for you.

4. Create a good sleeping environment for yourself. If one wants to get better sleep, the easiest way is to create a comfortable, nice, and cozy sleeping environment. If you are having trouble sleeping and you have tried all the techniques available but those did not work, why not try re-arranging your bedroom. Figure out is something inside your bedroom that hinders you from getting better sleep. Check if your bed still suits the needs of your body and if not, try replacing it. Check if there are some things that catch your attention and make it hard for you to sleep, if there are, try removing them for a while until you are able to sleep better.

How to Develop a Stress Management Plan

A stress management plan does not necessarily require a lot of time and energy. Many times it is just making a commitment to reduce the level of stress in your life, by taking a few small, but meaningful, steps toward improving your overall health and well-being.

A good place to begin your stress management plan is by identifying 5 activities that you really enjoy participating in. These can be anything from reading a good book, to taking a long walk on the beach.

If you have hobbies that you enjoy spending time on, be sure to include these in your list. Other options could be things you have always wanted to do, but never got around to, or things that you used to enjoy, but haven’t had the time for lately.

The one stipulation is that these are activities which are not related to work, or another source of stress in your life.

Make a list of at least 2 things that you almost always do, that you either probably shouldn’t be doing, or can live without doing. This list can include things like bringing work home from the office, doing your teenagers laundry, cooking huge meals during the week, after working all day etc?

These are things that will not cause the world to fall apart, if you stop doing them.

Make a list of at least 2 things that you probably should have done by now, but didn’t. Things you have been putting off, or problems you have not been dealing with directly.

If you’ve been meaning to call your insurance agent for the past few weeks, but haven’t, if you’ve been thinking about dusting the cob-webs on the front entry way for a month, but haven’t, write those things down.

At this point your 3 lists will now become a goal sheet. Your stress management plan will look like this

This week I will

-Spend at least 15 minutes every day doing one of the things I enjoy. (List the 5 things you wrote earlier under this section.)

-Eliminate 2 needless tasks from my list of things to do. (List the 2 things that you wrote earlier under this section.)

-Tackle 2 things that I have been putting off for a while. (List the 2 things that your wrote earlier under this section.)