Dan’s Blog

The Stress Response – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Dec 14, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

The Stress Response – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

The stress response can have a massive negative impact upon your thoughts and feelings. When it feels as though the demands upon you are too great to cope with, you can easily start to spiral into a cycle of negativity and stress. And when your stress just seems to run and run, it can impact upon you detrimentally and start to weave into all the other aspects of your life too.

The stress response evolved to help us to navigate immediate and external threats and dangers. Stress hormones mobilise your resources for action. Blood and oxygen is directed to your muscles, adrenaline is released, your heart beats faster and you are ready to deal with the threat through fleeing or fighting. And although this is helpful when there is an immediate danger to deal with and where you need to act quickly, it can be less helpful when seeking to manage your life and to deal with more modern challenges.

And many of these modern challenges can come from things like relationships, other people, employment and other things that can be ongoing over a much longer period than out stress response system was designed to deal with. In many cases, it can be our own thoughts, perceptions, expectations and thinking patterns that stress us out and lead to endless worrying. And dealing with things over the longer term and that continually fire off your stress response can be pretty exhausting (mentally and physically).

The negative effects of stress can lead to a range of physical issues such as exhaustion, burnout, digestive problems and high blood pressure. You might feel overwhelmed, anxious, tense and struggle to think clearly or to make decisions. And, as a result of the physical depletion and mental fog, you will start to struggle with sleeping and healthy eating, and you might feel angry, apathetic and start to avoid things you usually enjoy. And, of course, all of these things just add to your stress load, making you feel even worse.

Yet no matter how much your stress response is negatively impacting right now, it is very possible to take back control over your thoughts and feelings. You can feel calm and more confident as you orchestrate your own internal thinking and feeling patterns and as you deal with whatever external challenges and problems may come your way.

Weight Loss Motivation – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Dec 4, 2023 | Weight Loss

Weight Loss Motivation – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

A lot of people struggle to believe me when I tell them that when I was younger I was very overweight and hated all exercise with a passion. Up until my mid-teens, I considered P.E. to be a form of mental and physical suffering and unpleasantness. And my unhealthy snacking meant I was probably the biggest kid in a school of about a thousand students. I had no interest in sport or being active, I was eating too much rubbish and I was often the brunt of fat jokes, jibes and insults. I probably wasn’t too happy with how I looked and felt but I could go home and forget about it because we didn’t have social media or messaging.

At some point in my mid teens (or thereabouts) I started doing something about it, but mainly just because my mates all played football after school and I didn’t want to be left out. I can also vividly remember at some point being so depressed about my weight that I would bike ten miles on an exercise bike at home most evenings. Then I ditched most of the rubbish and started enjoying football with mates and a little bit of running. For someone with anxiety and low self-esteem, i found that eating a bit healthier and exercising made me feel better in myself. I’ve written elsewhere on my website about the science and evidence for running and exercise benefiting your physical and mental health.

After getting a bit fitter and healthier, running became something enjoyable that I actually wanted to do, a mindset that still continues.

I work with a lot of people seeking help with their weight loss motivation and consistency with exercise. At the heart of all eating is learning how to be in control over your eating habits, rather than food running (and ruining) your life. You increase your weight loss motivation, take control over eating habits and then, feeling healthier and happier, you can continue to tweak and nudge things forward. When you have a healthier relationship with food, everything gets easier.

And sometimes people want help with exercise motivation. Maybe they’ve not done any exercising for years, or they’ve lost their motivation for it and want to enjoy being active again. And that comes from building a little bit of motivation and perseverance and then positive habits set in.

If you are desperately seeking some weight loss motivation then hypnotherapy can certainly help you with your thoughts, feelings, habits and behaviours around food and eating.

Running Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders

by Dan Regan | Dec 4, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Running Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Recently I wrote all about completing my first marathon for seven or so years when I finished the Ely Marathon. And now I’m very pleased to report that I’ve finished an ultra marathon too!

The St Edmunds Trail Race is a well organised event that takes place around Ickworth Park and surrounding villages, near Bury St Edmunds. It was a cold, wet, icy and muddy affair and I was pretty happy when I finally crossed the finish line. Ickworth Park is a National Trust site and it was lovely to jog around some paths that I’d never been down before. After that it was a case of heading out across some increasingly muddy paths before heading back into the park again. I had some nice chats with other runners on the way around and I’m massively grateful to all of the marshals who stood out for hours in the wet and cold cheering us on (and making sure we didn’t get lost!).

My main goal was to finish the 50km in six hours which, allowing for a few minutes, I successfully did. And, as always with these sort of things, there are plenty of learning points for next time (once my legs recover and I can manage stairs again!).

Many people I work with are runners or do some other form of exercise. This may be to support their weight management, to help with their mental health, or simply because they enjoy it. Sometimes as part of their sessions they want to improve their running, others want to get back started and sometimes they want to get their motivation for running back and to start enjoying it again.

Whether your thing is running or some other form of exercise, there are massive benefits for your physical and mental health from moving. Running and exercise have a wealth of research to support how beneficial they can be if you struggle with anxiety or depression symptoms.

And a recent study, that I’m covering in this article, has examined the effects of anti-depressants versus running therapy on both your mental and physical health.

Evening Positive Meditation – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 29, 2023 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Evening Positive Meditation – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

As humans we have a natural tendency to focus upon the negative and the things that are more difficult and challenging right now in our lives. Sometimes the good stuff in your life can be swamped and cast aside by these automatic negative habitual thinking patterns.

Of course, this made good sense in evolutionary terms. At one time it was a good idea to be alert for threats that could harm or kill you. Those threats used to be things external to us, whereas these days a lot of the negative stuff in our heads comes from perceived threats and from our imagination running wild with potential catastrophes and worst case scenarios.

There will always be good things going on in your life at some level each day and you can have numerous moments of positivity and happiness, or of feeling uplifted in some way. Yet whilst these are good as they happen, they don’t require any fixing, action or solving. And so these moments pass by and your natural negative tendency puts these good things mentally to one side and then brings back all the things that aren’t quite how you want them to be or that are challenges for you. Your mind whirrs away with the negative thoughts, feelings and emotions that come with the real or perceived problems and challenges occurring in your life.

And so if you want to boost your levels of positivity, well-being, gratitude and happiness in your life then you need to not only be aware of this inbuilt negative bias, you need to take action to deliberately counter it and to nurture more encouraging, supporting, balanced and uplifting thoughts and feelings.

Evening Calmness – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 26, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Evening Calmness – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

How joyous it is to experience an evening of calmness. The main business of the day is done and it’s time to relax and unwind in some way. And whether you are watching a film, reading a book, pursuing a hobby or chilling out with friends, you can decide what to do, choose whether you engage with others or answer messages and just take some time for yourself.

Or maybe not. Perhaps the busyness and distractions of the day are still running and racing through your mind during the evening. You struggle to let go of the stresses and strains from dealing with people and tasks during the day. Your mind fills with everything you need to do and the kind of obstacles that you wade through each day. Something someone else said or did, an injustice you think you were at the end of, or perhaps a sense of overwhelm and burden from aspects of your life can all keep your mind too noisy. Instead of an evening of mental and physical calmness that allows you to recharge, things niggle at you and lurk in your mind. You overthink through the evening and perhaps even lie there in bed at night churning over stuff as your mind refuses to switch off from the day.

And, of course, holding onto the busyness, stress and events of the day inside your head can make you feel stressed and irritable. It can lead to unhealthy eating or using alcohol to try and hush your thinking and relax your body. It interrupts the very time when you should be happily calm and comfortable, recharging and refreshing yourself for the next day. And it can interfere with getting a good night’s sleep, meaning you get up the next morning feeling tired, defeated and harassed.

So rather than struggling to relax, unwind and enjoy your evening, wouldn’t it be nicer to let go of the emotions, thinking and weight of the day you’ve had? You want to be able to calmly reflect on the day you’ve had and to let go of any negative emotions. You want to feel good about the positives and accomplishments of the day rather than overthinking the problems and challenges. And you definitely want to feel calm and relaxed during the evening so that you can enjoy your time and reset effectively for the next day.

Weight Loss Strategies – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 23, 2023 | Weight Loss

Weight Loss Strategies – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

The weight loss strategies that you consistently adopt will determine whether you achieve your weight goals or whether you struggle to lose weight and keep it off.

For many people even the thought of yet another weight loss attempt can feel pretty depressing and defeating. If you’ve lost in the past and then put it all back on, then the idea of doing it all over again after all that wasted previous effort can sap all of your motivation and persistence. You want to lose wight yet you don’t want to have to deprive yourself. You may enjoy food and worry about everything to do with eating becoming boring and pleasure-less. You know what you should be eating and what you should be doing yet somehow you can’t get going or make it a seamless part of your healthy, slim, lifestyle.

Sadly, the fact remains that despite more and more weight loss approaches and diets being available, more people are overweight and the majority of people attempting weight loss struggle to implement effective and workable weight loss strategies for the achievement and maintenance of long-term weight loss.

However, no matter where you are right now with your weight, or what you may have tried before, it is possible to make positive, sustainable changes. You can change your mindset and relationship with food. And, just like my other clients, you can take control over your eating habits, feel healthier and happier and consistently make progress towards being the size, shape and weight that you desire to be.

Sleep, Alcohol and Caffeine – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 20, 2023 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Sleep, Alcohol and Caffeine – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

Interrupted and disturbed sleep can have a huge impact upon your well-being and ability to function in the daytime. A few poor nights sleep can grow into an ongoing pattern of struggling to get, or stay, asleep and then feeling tired, foggy and anxious during the day. It can detrimentally impact upon both your physical and mental health.

It may be that your anxiety has led to poor sleep as you overthink and worry at night and struggle to switch off. Or it may be that you have been battling with your sleep and that has led to feeling exhausted, stressed and anxious. You may now find yourself feeling anxious during the evening as bedtime approaches and fearful of not getting enough sleep.

No matter what you are currently struggling with, checking in on how you sleep is always important because of how it can exacerbate unwanted thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This can include your sleep quality and quantity and your habits and routines about switching off and unwinding before you go to bed.

You may have tried all sorts of things to try and get enough sleep, and if the usual sleep hygiene things aren’t cutting it then you can find yourself feeling pretty low and pretty desperate.

Many people turn to alcohol and having a drink or two in the evening to try and help them to mentally calm down and physically relax enough for sleep. And if your sleep is poor, you may also be relying on caffeine to keep you functioning and productive through the day.

The Importance of Coping Skills – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 17, 2023 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

The Importance of Coping Skills – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

When someone comes to see me for help with something like anxiety, stress, panic attacks, overthinking or something else, one of the things I want to know is how they currently attempt to handle, deal and cope with their unwanted thoughts and feelings. I want to know what strategies they have put in place, deliberately or without realising, that may be helping or hindering them feeling better.

Often clients have been to see other therapists along the way, whether for similar issues or something different. I will always ask about what strategies, skills and techniques they were given to do outside of their sessions by that therapist. I want to explore what they may have tried before and what has, or hasn’t, worked well for them. There’s little benefit in me suggesting they do more of the same if they haven’t found that it helped at all. Yet along with building upon what works, sometimes adjustments and slight changes in other strategies can make them more effective and easier to apply to interrupt things like anxious thoughts.

However, more often than not their former therapist didn’t give them any techniques for outside the sessions to help them in managing their own thoughts and feelings. To be honest, this astounds me because the importance of having effective, workable coping strategies in your life cannot be underestimated.

Can Being Kind To Others Reduce Social Anxiety? Hypnotherapy Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 15, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Can Being Kind To Others Reduce Social Anxiety? Hypnotherapy Ely and Newmarket

I’ve written before about my own earlier struggles with social anxiety and how it plagued my life for many years before hypnotherapy helped me. It’s something that I often discuss with clients who are seeking help with social anxiety itself or related issues such as low self confidence and low self esteem. It certainly is very possible to end all that anxiety and worry and to feel more relaxed and comfortable in your own skin.

I can still clearly remember how I would initially get excited about an upcoming event when it was first mentioned. Yet then over time, that initial excitement and enthusiasm would get slowly eroded by feelings of worry and nervousness. I would start to think of all the things I could mess up, from what I might say and do, through even to what to wear and what others would think. Every little decision was a potential minefield that could lead to embarrassment, being judged or failing in some way in front of others (and usually others who I would then have to face again afterwards knowing they would know about whatever I’d messed up).

My social anxiety would drive my imagination into all sorts of worst cases and catastrophes. Sometimes I would feel sick beforehand. Many times I would contemplate cancelling plans or not going through with things. Many times I did actively avoid situations. And I would often be hot, sweaty, panicky and tense from the outset.

At work I would avoid presentations, endlessly overthink before meetings, minimise my interactions with senior staff, try and avoid speaking on the phone in front of others and seek to manage my work style to minimise all of these risks and threats. Sometimes out of frustration I would push myself to go outside my comfort zone in the hope that at some point all of the anxiety would vanish, yet it would be there throughout, leave me exhausted afterwards and I’d just end up starting my worry habit about the next hurdle I would be facing.

I proposed on stage in front of five hundred people, made myself join a running club, became a parish councillor and a district councillor so I’d have to speak and do stuff in front of others. Sometimes these steps went ok and I felt good for a while. Other times they were just an ordeal that I would negatively dwell upon afterwards. My own negative beliefs and social anxiety patterns of thoughts and feelings would just rumble onwards relentlessly no matter what I tried to do to overcome it (before hypnotherapy).

Dealing with Flight Anxiety – Hypnotherapy Ely and Newmarket

by Dan Regan | Nov 9, 2023 | Anxiety Stress and Panic Attacks

Dealing with Flight Anxiety – Hypnotherapy Ely and Newmarket

Flight anxiety can be made up of a whole load of anxious thoughts, feelings and behaviours. For some, their generalised flight anxiety can mean that even seeing a plane or hearing about someone else’s flight can stir up all that anxiety and fear. There will also likely be anticipatory flight anxiety where you can worry from the moment you buy a ticket right through the airport and getting into the cabin.

And there will certainly be the anxiety once the plane doors close and the crew start going through the safety regulations. It may be the take off that bothers you most or being way up in the air. You may feel anxious during landing, or maybe even more relaxed at the end of the flight because you know you are only minutes away from being back on the ground. And a combination of sounds, movements and turbulence can all contribute to your fearful anxiety and worry.

And as if the flight and flying itself wasn’t enough to already ramp up your anxiety about being on a plane, there can also be other things that contribute. You may worry about passing out or having a panic attack on the plane. You may feel anxious about whether you will even be able to get onto the plane or whether you will have to abandon your plans, let people down and head back home. And, naturally, your anxious imagination can conjure up all sorts of disaster scenarios and catastrophes that add to your uncomfortable feelings.

Logically you know that flying is the safest mode of transport and you may even be fed up with being told this repeatedly. Yet flight anxiety will always win over logic and reason and so the dread, avoidance and discomfort continue to run and run.

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