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Overcoming Social Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

Overcoming Social Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

by | May 30, 2023 |

Overcoming Social Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

As someone who used to struggle with social anxiety, nothing beats that feeling when a client tells me how good they feel after their hypnotherapy sessions when that anxiety around others no longer limits them.

Social anxiety can stop you doing the things you want to do and leave you trapped in a never ending cycle of negative rumination and self-criticism. You want to go out and do things and so you make plans with others, only to get so anxious that you cancel just before the event. You feel anxious and worried before going to an event to the point where if you go then you don’t really enjoy it because you are so tense and worried about messing up or being judged by others. After being around others you hyper analyse every word you said, action you took and how you perceive others responded to you. You beat yourself up (maybe for days) and feel like you aren’t good enough and that no one will ever want to spend time with you again.

Social anxiety can make you feel like there is something wrong with you, that you can’t feel comfortable and do what other people seemingly do with ease, and that you will never fit in. All of this is made worse because there are times when you are totally relaxed in yourself and can just enjoy being yourself, perhaps around those you are especially close to. Yet factors such as new people, bigger crowds or where you may feel under the spotlight a bit can exacerbate your social anxiety to levels where you are just lost in your own head, can’t think straight and just want to get away to somewhere you feel more safe.

Yet, just as with any anxiety, social anxiety is a bunch of learnt thoughts, feelings and behaviours that at some point you developed, then repeated, then inadvertently got good at and then you found it all became seemingly automatic and habitual. You know you can talk to others, you know you can go places and do things and that you are capable and a decent person, yet the anxious emotions, beliefs and thoughts cloud everything and drag you back into that mass of worry.  

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Kindness, Happiness and Mental Health – Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

Kindness, Happiness and Mental Health – Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

by | May 19, 2023 |

Kindness, Happiness and Mental Health – Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

In a world where you can be anything, be kind, as the saying goes (I think it might be hanging up on a sign in our downstairs toilet at home!).

Yet, it’s kind of true isn’t it? I mean it must be because random acts of kindness even have their own day in the calender each year. And who hasn’t seen a video on TikTok or Facebook where someone shares their happiness after receiving some small unexpected act or token of kindness from someone else.

We all know that the receiver of an act of kindness generally gets a boost of positivity and happiness (and as a side note it’s my birthday soon, just saying!). Yet all to often it can seem that everyone you encounter has forgotten, or is yet to realise, the psychological benefits that can come from carrying out acts of kindness.

Most days I would say it’s fifty:fifty whether someone even acknowledges it if you hold a door open for them, lifts a hand and smiles if you give way in the car or nods their head and returns your ‘good morning’ when you walk past them. But hey, that’s their thing and not yours so you can just let it slide because the research tells us that giving acts of kindness can have a boost for your levels of happiness, your well-being and your mental health.     

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IBS Help – Irritable Bowel Syndrome Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

IBS Help – Irritable Bowel Syndrome Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Apr 19, 2023 |

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

IBS is a very common gastrointestinal disorder which is usually characterised by abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, constipation and diarrhoea. When it strikes you may need to get to the toilet very quickly, or find yourself in pain and discomfort on the toilet for a prolonged time. What you can eat, what you feel comfortable doing when out, and the time spent on the toilet and near a toilet can start to impact upon your life.

Whilst certain foods and drinks can trigger it, it can be a frustrating condition to live with as you can have an IBS episode at any time and sometimes without knowing what has triggered it. Perhaps one of the biggest causes of IBS anxiety is not knowing when it may affect you or what even causes it. You may find yourself avoiding certain places and situations, such as eating out or travelling long distances, in case something happens, or you have an episode, or through the worry about the struggle to find a clean toilet you can use in a hurry should you need to.

  

Even if you have sought medical advice and have had all the available medical investigations, you may still be left with just trying to avoid food and drink that you know triggers it and with just needing to try and live with it, no matter how much it affects your enjoyment of your every day life. I’ve known people who only go out to the same places where they are comfortable there is a toilet, or who eat the same safe foods whenever they are out, or even who avoid eating out completely and wait until they are safely home before consuming anything just in case something happens.

 

Anxiety and stress are certainly well recognised contributors to IBS symptoms. There is the lingering concern, worry and dread that your IBS will affect you when you are out, or that you will have to cancel plans at the last moment due to your symptoms. The lurking anxiety and stress that IBS may impact, and the fear about not finding a toilet in time or being embarrassed in front of others, can add to your uncomfortable stomach issues and just make your IBS more impactful as well as more likely to affect you.

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Anxiety Patterns – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Anxiety Patterns – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Jan 26, 2023 |

Anxiety Patterns – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

So many people that I meet who are struggling with anxiety think that they are somehow broken, or that there is something wrong with them in some way. They feel that they should somehow be able to just stop feeling anxious and to not find their mind being overrun with endless overthinking about things that they know are little things or unlikely to even happen.

And so, on top of the problematic and uncomfortable thoughts and feelings of anxiety, they start to label themselves and criticise themselves about their perceived shortcomings, which only adds to their levels of worry and stress and that overall sense of feeling rubbish. 

If anxiety has become a problem for you, then all that really means is that at some point along the way in your life, you learnt some unhelpful patterns of thinking and feeling. You then repeated these over and over until it seemed that these habitual anxious experiences had become automatic and a part of who you are and what you do. As creatures of habit, pattern and repetition, you generally just get better at the things you do over and over until you expect to think and feel a certain way, then you experience it and then that confirms to you that you are an anxious person as you reflect negatively and dwell over things.

Of course, everyone experiences anxiety and worry at certain times or about certain things. It’s a normal human response when faced with some sort of perceived threat or danger. With anxiety, those problematic patterns have just become seemingly more automatic, more present, more persistent and more troublesome.

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The Anxiety Equation – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

The Anxiety Equation – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Jan 26, 2023 |

The Anxiety Equation – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Anxiety can be totally debilitating. Those anxious thoughts and feelings can seem to take over your mind and how you feel. And you’ll have already noticed how anxiety can grow inside your thinking patterns and feelings so that the more you feel anxious, the more you seem to struggle with it. 

You can find that all of those anxious thoughts keep your mind so busy and you can’t seem to think clearly. Anything and everything can seem like a threat with the risk of something going badly or going wrong in some way. You feel anxious about the possibilities of what might happen and so you either have to endure the discomfort or you try and avoid those things that could escalate how uncomfortable and anxious you feel. You may dread and fear even the possibility of being anxious and it may feel like you are stuck in an ever spinning cycle of worry, stress, dread and anxiety.

And when people come to see me for anxiety hypnotherapy, their focus is naturally upon the people, places, times and things that cause them to suffer with the unwanted thoughts and feelings. There is a link between those places, situations and things and your anxiety. 

 

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Challenging Anxious Thoughts – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Challenging Anxious Thoughts – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Jan 26, 2023 |

Challenging Anxious Thoughts – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Along with the feelings of anxiety, it is the endless anxious thoughts that spiral through your mind that can start to wear you down and make you feel helpless and at the mercy of your own unwanted thinking processes. You may feel tired and exhausted from the constant stream of anxious thoughts that seem to always find something to attach to and worry about.

And because the future is by it’s very nature uncertain and many things could possibly happen, your imagination can conjure up, create, amplify and magnify any number of vivid worst case scenarios or catastrophic outcomes. Those people, places, situations and circumstances that you are anxious about become a source of ongoing threat, dread and worry and your anxious mind can start to create things to fill in the blanks of how things may turn out. Those initial, imagined scenarios can then play out in your mind, leading you to feel more and more anxious, as you focus upon and think about how things will progressively get worse and worse for you into the future. You imagine not just the initial anxious catastrophe, but also all the other bad and negative things that will inevitably follow for you as a consequence of it having happened.  

Yet whilst it may feel like those anxious thoughts have taken over your mind and your thinking right now, it is possible to challenge, undermine and reign back in that free flowing stream of anxious thought. Whilst it may seem to be out of control and that your mind is just too noisy and too busy, you can learn how to take away the debilitating impact of your anxiety. You can learn how to relax in your own mind, evaluate your thinking more clearly and logically and to develop the sense of perspective that means you can trust in your ability to handle whatever comes your way (knowing that whatever happens, you’ll be ok).

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The Negative Impact of Political News on Mental Health – Anxiety and Stress Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

The Negative Impact of Political News on Mental Health – Anxiety and Stress Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Jan 24, 2023 |

The Negative Impact of Political News on Mental Health – Anxiety and Stress Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

It’s been a tumultuous few years in politics here in the UK, from Brexit through to Partygate and with all the other scandals, leaks and ministerial changes that have been happening. What happens in politics impacts upon us all, with the ripples from Westminster flowing into everything from employment, the economy, health, education and pretty much everything else in-between. There is no escaping it and it impacts upon all of us in some way or another.  

With everything that has been going on, and the way it can have positive or adverse impacts upon us all, it can be very easy to start watching more and more news on TV and engaging in more and more political content through the many media channels out there. And aside from sport, there are very few other topics aside from politics that can cause such a level of debate, argument, falling out and disagreement between people.

And, of course, the ever changing news and constant flow of information can make politics almost addictive as you try and keep abreast of what is happening and the latest news. It can be the first thing you tune into when you get up in the morning, and the last thing you watch, read or listen to before sleep (and for some, it can even be something they check if they wake up in the middle of the night).

With all the negativity in politics and the general news, I’ve often advised clients who are struggling with anxiety, stress and worry to cut back for a bit. When your anxiety levels are heightened, it isn’t helpful to start or end your day with a dose of negativity and potential threat, usually about things you have no control over.

And now, some research has investigated the daily impact of politics upon your mental health and well-being.  

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Using Hypnosis To Manage Rumination – Depression and Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Using Hypnosis To Manage Rumination – Depression and Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Jan 13, 2023 |

Using Hypnosis To Manage Rumination – Depression and Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

If you have a tendency to ruminate or dwell then you’ll already know how it can become an habitual, perhaps even seemingly automatic, way of thinking. You can find yourself going over and over negative events and outcomes and other situations where things didn’t turn out well or where you consider yourself to have failed in some way. 

The more you imagine, focus upon and engage in these repetitive negative thoughts, the more they can lead to you feeling anxious, down, low or angry. And as those negative feelings increase, you get caught in the internal thinking spiral that leads to more and more overthinking and ruminating. 

Whether you ruminate for a few minutes at a time, or for hours, it can seem like you are lost in a sort of trance of negativity that you can’t always bring yourself out of. Your head seems to be always busy and noisy and stressed.

Rumination is a thinking pattern characterised by negative and repetitive thoughts that are often linked to a sense of loss or failure. It is a common thinking pattern that contributes to common mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. You may find yourself struggling with anticipatory anxiety where you worry ‘what if’ something bad happens and other anxiety provoking worst case scenarios. You may find yourself wishing that things could have been different to how they are (thoughts that are about ‘if only…’) or you can find yourself being negative and critical in your assessment of yourself and your capabilities, such as telling yourself you are a failure or not good enough and so on. As you repeat these thoughts and thinking patterns, you feel more and more down, low, anxious and stressed (which can then have a ripple effect into the rest of your life and your relationships with others). 

Rumination, and the negative feelings that it generates and that persist, thrives on receiving focus, belief, engagement and having time and space to run on and on through your mind. Yet as a learned pattern of thinking, and because what goes on inside your own head is something you can certainly learn to manage and orchestrate, it is a style of thinking that can be modified reduced, diffused and changed in a variety of ways that will lead to you feeling more in control and feeling better in yourself (rather than repeating the same old ongoing spiral of negative thoughts that go on and on).  

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Hypnosis As A Support in Cancer Treatment – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Hypnosis As A Support in Cancer Treatment – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Jan 12, 2023 |

Hypnosis As A Support in Cancer Treatment – Anxiety Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Cancer is a terrible condition that sadly is likely to have affected many people that you know. There’s the worry, anxiety and fear around the condition, your treatment and your prognosis, that can cause concern for you and your loved ones. And the condition and treatment can entail pain, fatigue, insomnia and anxiety. 

A significant number of cancer patients experience anxiety or suffer with depression. There can be symptoms such as muscle fatigue, insomnia, poor sleep quality, and chronic and acute pain. 

Recently a close family member went through chemotherapy for his cancer. Before his diagnosis was confirmed he was very poorly, and throughout his treatment there were challenges such as fatigue and sleep problems. Thankfully recent scans show that the treatment has been very successful. Yet as with all cancer patients, there is always the lurking anxiety about health and the worry of the cancer returning. 

At every stage of the cancer journey there can be mental distress, anxiety worry and fear. There can also be the impacts of treatment on your mental and physical well-being. And whilst hypnotherapy and hypnosis can’t cure cancer (in fact it is illegal for anyone to claim they can), the research and evidence demonstrates that, alongside your medical treatment, there are many ways that hypnotherapy can help with the things that come with it, from cancer treatments or symptoms, such as anxiety, nausea, distress and so on. 

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How Nature Helps With Anxiety, Stress and Depression – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

How Nature Helps With Anxiety, Stress and Depression – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by | Jan 10, 2023 |

How Nature Helps With Anxiety, Stress and Depression – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

I don’t know about you and your family, but we quite like to watch Richard Osman’s House of Games on TV together. I really like some of the rounds and the way they are put together, and it’s one of those shows that, no matter what your age, you can join in with and play along at home. Only no shouting out the answer please because that just leads to arguments! 

The other day, after a particularly engaging play along at home episode, a show came on the TV which was all about groups of strangers getting together and hiking in areas around the country. In the show, five walkers compete against each other with their favourite walks to win a voucher or something at the end of the week. It’s like a strange hiking based reality competition show. 

As the show aired, we were shown some absolutely fabulous areas of nature in Yorkshire, and we became particularly interested when they walked in and around Robin Hood’s Bay, a place we’ve visited on many occasions and which we always enjoy going to when we are in that part of the world. They showed some areas nearby that we’ve never explored, or even been aware of, on our previous visits.    

Now the reason I mention this is not because I now work for the Yorkshire tourist board, but more because of some of the comments made by the walkers about their love of hiking and what got them into it, along with what they continue to get from their endeavours.

Several of the hikers mentioned how walking, and particularly walking in nature, had helped them with their mental health. From overcoming fears to anxiety and lowness, they had found a method and a passion that helped them. Part of this may have been having a sense of purpose and part of it may have been from being in an environment where it can be a bit easier to discuss mental health issues safely. Yet certainly a large aspect of the mental health boost they talked about came from getting out and spending time in nature.

Now, if you are an avid follower of my articles here on my website then this perhaps wasn’t really news to you. Research upon research has shown that spending time in nature and walking in nature can have immensely positive impacts upon anxiety, stress, depression and your mental health and well-being.   

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