Nine Things You Can Do To Help Yourself Sleep Better

Recently I worked with a client who was not sleeping well.  At his second appointment, he reported that he had had his first good night’s sleep in years. If you are one of the millions of people who don’t get the sleep you need, here are some of the things I shared with my client that he could do to lock in his better sleep habits.

1. Try and get to sleep by 10 pm every night.  Your body produces a very beneficial hormone for brain function and physical endurance.  The best hours for production of this hormone are between 10 pm and 12 am.

2. Sleep in a dark bedroom.  Melatonin is produced when the sun is down and it is dark where you are sleeping.  If necessary, invest in blackout curtains or shades.

3. No screen time 90 minutes before bed.  Blue light close to bedtime suppresses melatonin production.

4. Get as much sunshine as possible during the day. This helps your body’s circadian rhythm so that your body knows when to sleep and when to be awake.

5. A warm bath actually cools you and when you are cooler you get a better night’s sleep.  For sore muscles, Epsom salts can be helpful.  My favorite – Epson salt with lavender and bubbles.

6. The old fashioned remedy of a cup of warm milk actually works – even better with raw honey, saffron, nutmeg or poppy seeds.

7. Short naps are beneficial to your health – people who nap reduce their risk of heart disease death by 37%.  Take a couple a week, but not close to bedtime.

8. Take a tip from Indian feng shui expert Michael Mastro and sleep with your head in the south or east.  This can help with blood flow, circulation and digestion.

9. Try hypnotherapy – working with affirmations and gratefulness can help get you in a better place to sleep well every night.

I’d love to chat with you about how to help you sleep better

Give me a call (818-929-4944) or join us any Wednesday on my Hypnotherapy Q & A. Register here: 
 https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tdeGtqTkuGtZCVlhQCzVEeRkxbTigRbBW

Sincerely,

Cinda

HYPNONEWS AND RESOURCES

Here’s exactly what lack of sleep can do to your body.  Lack of Sleep.  Can It Make You Sick?  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/expert-answers/lack-of-sleep/faq-20057757

And another one:  What Not Enough Sleep Does to Your Body, Say Doctors

www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/not-enough-sleep-does-body-110204841.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFKM2S8GTeSSuULlKf7mTCl0V3WevsouyjalpHTEwAo4q7o1W1xMLven3CGT8jW4sgWWD

Pregnancy - Preeclampsia and White Coat Syndrome

It’s 10:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. You are pregnant and on your way to a 24 week checkup with your doctor. Your mood is excited, happy and confident as you muse about cute baby clothes, a name for the baby, shopping for a crib, and taking a healthy baby home from hospital.

One month ago, however, coming home from your 20 week checkup, your mood was much more anxious and distressed. The nurse practitioner had taken your blood pressure and other vitals. The doctor came to talk with you and shared her concern that your blood pressure was higher than normal and you might have preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia or toxemia is a potentially dangerous complication of pregnancy that is usually diagnosed by high blood pressure and water retention.  Your doctor talked about possibly prescribing oral or IV medications and monitoring you more frequently. There was even a possibility that the baby might have to be delivered early.

Back at home you began checking you own blood pressure readings on various days at various times. All your readings were within normal range. Hmmm! Could it be that you have White Coat Syndrome?

Google to the rescue! You learn that White Coat Syndrome means that your blood pressure reads high when taken in the stressful atmosphere of the doctor’s office but routinely reads normal when monitored in the calm environment at home. You also learn that Hypnotherapy can be very effective in training you to better control your blood pressure in anxious, stressful situations.

If you actually have preeclampsia, you should be appropriately treated by your physician. If White Coat Syndrome is triggering high blood pressure at your doctor’s office, hypnotherapy may help you to avoid unneeded medicine and medical interventions in your pregnancy.

In Hypnotherapy, you can gain skills to cope with your stress and anxiety.  You can learn how to anchor the calm and relaxed feeling that you feel in hypnosis to a physical trigger that you can use whenever you need. 

You will discover what you are telling yourself each day about your stress and replace that self-talk with a set of positive affirmations that are authentic and powerful for your particular situation. These affirmations will be embedded in your subconscious mind under hypnosis and you will learn how to reinforce them with daily practice. 

In my practice I have worked with many pregnant women whose doctors were concerned that they may be developing preeclampsia.  These women knew that they had “white coat syndrome.”  They wanted to have their blood pressure reading at the doctor’s office be as low as it was when they were at home.  Working together, we empowered them to approach their doctor visits with calm, relaxed confidence that they could keep their White Coat Syndrome blood pressure readings in the normal range. They did and they each delivered a healthy baby at term. 

For more information about these topics please see: 

Preeclampsia defined:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/preeclampsia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355745

White-Coat Hypertension and Masked Hypertension:

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/w/white-coat-hypertension-and-masked-hypertension.html

For a free hypnotherapy consultation you are invited to call 818-929-4944 or join us any Wednesday on my Hypnotherapy Q & A. Register here: 
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tdeGtqTkuGtZCVlhQCzVEeRkxbTigRbBW 

Sincerely,

Cinda

Extinguish Negative Habits with Help from Hypnotherapy

As we approach the end of 2020, it can be a time to reflect on what you did right this year and what changes you might want to make for 2021.  With the COVID crisis, I think everyone has staying healthy on their mind.  I have had several clients during COVID decide that it was time to quit smoking.  One of them was a 66 year old female client who had been smoking for over 40 years. She was a caregiver for her 2 young grandsons and wanted to stay healthy to be able to keep up with them.  Her husband was having some health issues and she wanted to support him as he worked to stay healthy also.  This is what she wrote: 

“After years of smoking cigarettes and attempting to quit on my own, I turned to Cinda Roffman. After three sessions, I conquered this horrible habit with Cinda guiding the way, instilling positive affirmations and insights. Cinda figuratively took me by the hand, and helped me realize I could do this. She is an amazing therapist!”

Do you have an addiction or habit that you would like to say goodbye to as 2020 ends?

Whether it is smoking, nail biting, hair pulling or other negative habits, exploring why can be a first step to extinguishing these habits. Stress and anxiety can be a contributing factor in these negative habits.  Once we figure out why you are doing them, we can come up with behaviors that will not harm you and provide the same level of comfort.  For example, a warm cup of tea or a brisk walk can do a lot towards relieving the stress that can lead to these behaviors.

Negative habits may have originated as a response to stress or anxiety that you did not know how to cope with. Looking back on their beginnings can be enlightening. Maybe you began to smoke when it was cool and the hip thing to do.  Now we know more about smoking and the many medical problems associated with it.  Knowing that in our conscious mind, however, does not always translate to a change in behavior.  That’s where the subconscious mind comes in. When we convince the subconscious mind that smoking is bad for us also, it makes changing the behavior so much easier.  

We will also write affirmations that you can use to remind yourself of the changes you are making.  “I am a permanent non-smoker.”  “I have beautiful, long nails.”  “My hair is healthy and full.”   These affirmations will reinforce the suggestions made in hypnosis.

We will find your “happy place,” and anchor it to the calm, relaxed feeling you feel in hypnosis.  When you find yourself beginning to do the behavior you are trying to extinguish, you instead focus on feeling calm and relaxed.  Eventually, the behavior will be completely replaced by a feeling of calm.

Wishing you and your family and friends a happy, healthy holiday season!

Sincerely,

Cinda

HypnoNews and Resources

For more ideas about extinguishing negative habits with hypnotherapy, check out these articles:

https://www.hypnotherapists.org.uk/hypnotherapy/problem-behaviours/

https://www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk/articles/smoking.html#whystopsmoking

Help! I'm muted and no one hears me. [Hypnotherapy and At Home Learning]

My granddaughters recently stayed with us for 2 weeks.  I had an up close and real lesson in how hard it is for students, parents and teachers right now. 

My younger granddaughter, who is 7, didn’t really understand the keyboard and each day was a hunt and peck challenge.  One morning, in her first class of the day, she called out three times to respond to her teacher’s question. However, she was on mute and the teacher did not acknowledge her in any way. So she quit and sat through the rest of the lesson, frustrated and alone. Lesson learned? When no one hears you, just give up?

Another morning, when she finally did get online for school, the class session was filled with distractions. The teacher’s kids and dogs would randomly walk through the class, interrupting whatever concentration she might have mustered.

At the same time, her older sister was in another room working on a different schedule. Mom was teaching her classes in yet another room. Grandma and Grandpa were trying to help while maintaining some schedule of their own.  Sis, who is 10, fared a little better with the technology but was still easily distracted by YouTube videos and other things she could stream on a different device. And we had a ratio of 3 adults to 2 kids!  Anyone else feeling our pain? 

So what does this have to do with hypnotherapy?  Hypnotherapy can help you and your home student focus on the task at hand.  As you begin a task, take a deep breath and center yourself:  “Right now, I will only focus on the next 45 minute task or class.”  You will find that you will avoid distractions and work more easily.  Suggest that phrase to your student as well. 

It can be frustrating to be put in the role of teacher while you may be working from home.  This would be a good time to use your anchor, breathing in on a word that describes a positive time or place and breathing out on a word that describes the positive feeling associated with that time or place.  Shallow breathing and unconsciously holding your breath can contribute to stress. Focusing on your breathing can counteract that.

If you find yourself studying or working and teaching from home, you may want support in this crazy time. I am offering a free, online group hypnosis session every other Wednesday at 10 am.  Our next session will be on November 4th.  You can register here:
 https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkcuCtrjsuEtbno4yNAHMDb7ZbSJRbVOpN

Sincerely, Cinda