Aspire Therapy Blog

Self-Hypnosis With the Help of Relaxation CDs

We hope that clients coming to see us will in the course of their sessions develop skills of self-hypnosis or relaxation. This puts them in control and gives them life skills that allow them to move forward and become free of the therapist…for good!

Using self-hypnosis techniques or short hypnotic exercises does however require self-discipline. It is helpful therefore to back this up with the use of a relaxation CD.

Maintaining The Feel-Good Factor

So did you manage to get your work-life balance sorted out over the summer - and if so will you be able to maintain it through the winter?

Time out from work may well have helped you regain a sense of equilibrium in your life.

Often it is only when we get completely away from the scenery and settings of our everyday routines that we fully achieve a state of calm and clear-headedness.

The problem is how to maintain that sense of equilibrium when we return to our daily lives and our jobs.

A combination of Life Coaching and Hypnotherapy can provide an excellent way of dealing with stress and maintaining that ‘feel good’ factor. Hypnotherapy can provide the relaxation techniques while life coaching helps to decide upon priorities and set realistic goals.

Work...and the Thought of Work: There is a Difference

One of the major contributors to stress is workload, particularly in professions such as teaching and nursing. The more work a person does the more it seems there is to do.

There are of course ways in which we can ease that load - by working more effectively and setting strict limits on the time we give to chosen tasks; by prioritising and using lists to free our minds up; by making distinctions between the quality use of time and its ineffective use.

Still though, teachers will argue that there is no way that they can reduce their workload – the marking just has to be done.

Sometimes, however, workload can be confused with the amount of thinking we do about work.

The Teacher who Beat Stress and Sleeplessness to Gain ‘a totally different view of who I am’

Sylvia came to us for hypnotherapy because she was suffering from severe stress as a result of her job as a teacher and manager in a Lancashire college. She had also suffered a blow to her confidence when she had to give up her management responsibility.

Following six sessions of hypnotherapy she found herself able to ‘look ahead with a totally different view of who I am’.

Take a Deep Breath – The Importance of Effective Breathing

Breathing is the most basic of all human activities - but how good are we at doing it? Not bad if staying alive is the measure of our performance.

But there can be a lot more to breathing than just staying alive, as singers, athletes, newsreaders and others who have to be able to control their breathing will testify.

Most of the time we do it without thinking of course – and couldn’t function efficiently otherwise. It’s one of those many activities that we are able to perform automatically due to the wonderful ability of our body to work in close conjunction with our unconscious mind.

However, people who need to maximise their physical performance have to pay close attention to breathing technique – and all of us can learn lessons from this. For these people to be able to breathe correctly helps to conserve energy and maintain physical poise.

Instant Relaxation - How to reduce stress at work, at home and in your daily life

This is one of the best self help books on relaxation we have come across. It contains a seven-day plan for reducing stress and achieving instant relaxation.

The varied range of techniques include breathing and posture exercises, focused eye movement techniques, affirmations and visualisations – all designed to facilitate access to what the authors call our ‘relaxed core state’.

Still in the Storm - Dealing With Stress

This practical little book by Dr Ann Williamson reminds us of the basics of stress management. Short and easy to read, the content is not ‘rocket science’, but it can still be regarded as an effective self-help guide for anyone seeking practical advice on how to reduce the amount of stress in their life.

It works on the familiar premise that stress can be tackled in three ways. First you can remove some of the external causes of stress - though this is not always easy. Second you can alter your own responses to situations and things. Third you can learn techniques for dealing with the symptoms of stress.

The first option means actually changing aspects of your life, the second requires a change of thinking and the third involves learning stress reduction and relaxation techniques.

Just A Minute...

Did you know it takes as little as one minute a day to start making positive changes to your life?

The ‘Just a Minute’ campaign aims to encourage people to incorporate regular periods of silence into their busy and often chaotic lives – but in easy to manage, ‘bite-size’ chunks.

By taking just 60 seconds out at regular intervals – a person can begin to feel the benefits of inner calm and peace – allowing them to ‘step back’ from the worries and stresses of their day.

To find out how you can benefit from introducing one minute meditation sessions into your day-to-day routine, check out the ‘Just a Minute’ campaign.

A Source of Relaxation

The flickering light cast by a candle can be an excellent source of relaxation. It is therefore a very useful image to focus upon when entering into hypnosis. The rhythmic dance of the flame, the subtle variations of colour, the smooth flow of the wax can all help infuse the mind with a feeling of well-being and calm.

Not only is the flame a source of calming light, it also creates an atmosphere of quiet and security. The thoughts can become subdued to its rhythm, the gentle flap of the flame reminding us also of the snap of canvas when a sail catches the wind. So the mind can be allowed to drift pleasurably into a deeper feeling of relaxation.