Guest blog #3

This month, it’s my friend Julia’s turn to take on the guest blog spot. Julia and I met when working in education consultancy and have also run well-being retreats together. 

"I was absolutely delighted to be invited as a Clean Well-Being guest blogger this month. I was poised to write a gentle blog about autumn and daylight. Naturally, after Saturday night’s announcement, cruelly impinging on our Strictly escapism, any blog about mental health takes on a more urgent tone. Protecting our mental health at this time is an absolute necessity in order for any other part of our life to work effectively. 

As a Solution-Focused Hypnotherapist, I use deep relaxation, visualisation and positive language patterns to help clients banish anxiety and develop strong self-esteem. Unlike a talking therapy such as counselling, Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy is fast-acting and forward-thinking, encouraging clients to move into the life they want, without dredging through past experiences to get there. 

I have central tenets to my work, which I’ll share here. They appear painfully obvious, but, as Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy is grounded in neuroscientific understanding of the brain, they really do work! 

1) Get good sleep. Ensure that you are asleep before 11pm in order to benefit from the optimum amount of R.E.M. as your brain processes the days events. Hypnotherapy creates the same effects in the brain as R.E.M. sleep. 

2) Think positively. An anxious brain automatically looks for danger, but there is always good to be found. A daily practice of gratitude also releases feel-good hormones and aids sleep. 

3) Interact with people you like and make you feel good. While many of us are supporting family and friends who are struggling, ensure that you seek out the ‘radiators’ in your life: the people who lift you up. 

4) Make small steps forward in things that matter to you. Priorities have changed and our worlds have been brought into sharper focus. Suddenly, the play you always wanted to write, or finally learning an instrument is a burning necessity. Whatever your commitments, take tiny steps towards achievable goals. These ‘fripperies’ are the things that make life worth living and bring expansive joy into our lives as our world gets physically smaller for the time being.  

Schedule these essentials into your life as you would exercise, nutrition or medication, knowing that they really are the difference between merely surviving and emotionally thriving."

For more from Julia, visit www.oxfordfamilyhypnotherapy.co.uk.