Tag: Stress

Anxiety & Stress, Depression, Free Gifts, Hypnotherapy, Interesting, Powerful Downloads, You Can Fix That

Anxiety and Sleep: How Hypnosis Can Improve Your Rest

Anxiety and Sleep: How Hypnosis Can Improve Your Rest

The relationship between anxiety and sleep is a vicious cycle – anxiety can lead to sleep issues, which then worsens anxiety, perpetuating a draining pattern. You lie awake at night, trapped in rumination about stressful events or worries about the future. Your mind races as you toss and turn, desperate for rest but unable to relax.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Anxiety disorders affect over 18% of American adults each year, with insomnia being one of the most common complaints. The impact on daily life and overall health from chronic sleep difficulties is substantial.

While medication is an option, many look for alternative therapies to avoid dependence and side effects. One increasingly popular approach is hypnotherapy. By tapping into the subconscious mind, hypnosis can reframe thought patterns and induce a deep state of focused relaxation to improve sleep quality.

What Is Hypnosis?

Contrary to common myths, hypnosis is simply a natural trance state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility. It doesn’t involve any loss of control. Participants remain aware throughout the experience.

During a hypnotherapy session, the practitioner uses relaxation techniques and embedded suggestions to guide the client into this calm, receptive mindset. While in trance, the hypnotherapist can then help the client reframe limiting beliefs, overcome fears, or visualize desired changes.

Hypnosis is considered safe when performed by a trained professional following proper techniques. Participants cannot be made to do anything against their will.

The Science Behind Hypnotherapy for Sleep

So how exactly does hypnosis improve sleep? The research is promising:

Reduces Anxiety and Stress

Core components of insomnia are excessive worry, racing thoughts, and hyper-arousal – all symptoms of anxiety. Multiple studies demonstrate hypnosis’s efficacy in reducing anxiety by reprogramming unconscious thought patterns.

As anxiety decreases, it becomes easier to enter the relaxed state necessary for quality sleep.

Promotes Relaxation

Hypnotherapists use breathing techniques, imagery, and direct suggestions to achieve profound mental and physical relaxation. Through conditioning, the client begins to associate specific cues with feeling calm.

Self-hypnosis allows recreating this deep relaxation independently as a nightly pre-sleep routine.

Extinguishes Negative Associations

Insomnia is often perpetuated by unhelpful thoughts like “I’ll never fall asleep” creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hypnotherapy can break learned negative associations, replacing them with positive thoughts conducive to sleep.

Habits like watching TV in bed may also be extinguished by highlighting how they disrupt sleep.

Improves Sleep Cycles

Recent neuroimaging studies show hypnotherapy can influence brainwave patterns. Skilled hypnotherapists can guide clients into the optimal brainwave state for healthy sleep cycles and facilitate more time in restorative deeper sleep stages.

Essentially, hypnosis enables voluntary control over processes typically regulated unconsciously.

Reader Reward -> Grab A POWERFUL Free Gift

Hypnotic Techniques for Better Sleep

A variety of hypnotherapy techniques may be used to improve sleep quality:

Suggestion Therapy

Positive statements given during trance can reprogram unconscious attitudes and habits impacting sleep. For instance, suggestions for rapid sleep onset and undisturbed rest throughout the night.

Ego Strengthening

Building confidence and self-efficacy helps reduce anxiety and the sense of lack of control around sleep difficulties.

Guided Imagery

Visualizations elicit the relaxation response in both body and mind. Common images include walking along a peaceful beach or lying in a sunny meadow.

Anchor Installation

Anchoring associates a specific physical stimulus (squeezing a thumb and finger together) with the desired relaxed mindset, transferring this state outside hypnosis.

In addition, hypnotherapists often teach clients self-hypnosis using recordings, allowing nightly reinforcement of suggestions and relaxation.

While more rigorous research is still needed, current evidence demonstrates hypnotherapy as a promising, side effect-free approach to overcoming insomnia rooted in anxiety, worry, and chronic stress.

Adding Hypnosis to Your Sleep Toolbox

While hypnotherapy isn’t a magical cure-all, it can be an invaluable part of a holistic sleep regimen. Combined with proper sleep hygiene habits like:

– Maintaining a cool, dark, quiet sleep environment

– Avoiding screen time and caffeine before bed

– Regular exercise

– Relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing or yoga

…hypnosis can help calm the anxious mind and restore consistent, restorative sleep. However, it’s important to seek out a qualified professional with training and experience using hypnotherapy for sleep issues. Use the button below to set up a FREE, No Obligation 15 Minute Zoom consultation to learn how I can help you achieve your goal of better sleep.

Hey Marc - Let's Talk

 

No one should have to suffer the debilitating effects of ongoing sleep deprivation. If anxiety and insomnia are plaguing your life, consider adding hypnosis to your toolkit for overcoming this vicious cycle.

Anxiety & Stress, Depression, Free Gifts, Hypnotherapy, Interesting, Powerful Downloads, You Can Fix That

Rewiring the Brain: Neuroplasticity and Anxiety Hypnotherapy

Rewiring the Brain: Neuroplasticity and Anxiety Hypnotherapy

Let’s kick things off with a bit of humor: A person with anxiety disorders has a brain that works so hard, it deserves a personal massage therapist on standby at all times. All jokes aside, anxiety is no laughing matter for those who experience it regularly. The constant worry, the racing thoughts, the physical symptoms like a pounding heart or sweaty palms – it’s an exhausting way to live. But what if I told you there’s a way to rewire your brain and alleviate anxiety through hypnotherapy? Yeah, I know what you’re thinking – “hypnosis, really?” Bear with me here, because the science behind it is pretty fascinating.

You’ve probably heard of neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. It’s like your brain’s personal renovation team, tearing down old pathways and building new ones based on your experiences and behaviors. This allows the brain to compensate for injury or disease, but it also plays a crucial role in learning new skills, forming memories, and even managing emotions like anxiety.

Now, imagine your brain as a vast neural highway system, with different routes representing different thought patterns and behaviors. For someone with an anxiety disorder, certain routes might be like multi-lane freeways, heavily congested with worry, fear, and negative self-talk. The more you travel those routes, the more entrenched they become, making it increasingly difficult to find alternate paths.

Enter hypnotherapy, the roadwork crew of the mind. Through guided relaxation and focused attention, hypnotherapy can help you access the part of your brain responsible for neuroplasticity, allowing you to construct new, more positive neural pathways. It’s like creating a shiny new bypass around the congested anxiety routes, giving your brain an alternative route to travel.

Reader Reward -> Grab A POWERFUL Free Gift

But how does it work, exactly? Well, it’s a bit like a magic trick, but without the rabbits and top hats. During hypnotherapy, you enter a state of deep relaxation and heightened suggestibility, which allows the therapist to plant positive suggestions directly into your subconscious mind. These suggestions act like a set of mental blueprints, guiding your brain to build those new, anxiety-free neural highways.

Now, I know what you’re thinking – “But won’t I be clucking like a chicken or revealing my deepest, darkest secrets?” Fear not, my friends! Hypnotherapy is nothing like the stage hypnosis you see on TV. You remain in complete control throughout the process, and the therapist can’t make you do anything against your will. It’s more like a guided meditation, helping you tap into your brain’s natural ability to reshape itself.

But don’t just take my word for it; let’s look at the science. Studies have shown that hypnotherapy can effectively reduce anxiety symptoms by lowering the activity in the parts of the brain responsible for processing emotional responses and regulating stress. It’s like hitting the dimmer switch on those overactive neural circuits, allowing you to chill out and enjoy life without the constant buzz of anxiety.

Imagine being able to rewire your brain, cutting through the traffic jams of worry and fear, and cruising along a brand new, anxiety-free neural highway. Sounds pretty great, right? Of course, hypnotherapy isn’t a magic cure-all, and it may take several sessions to see significant results. But for many people, it can be a powerful tool in managing anxiety, helping them take back control of their thoughts and emotions.

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking – “But what if I’m not the ‘hypnotizable’ type?” Well, my friends, the good news is that virtually anyone can benefit from hypnotherapy, as long as they approach it with an open mind and a willingness to engage in the process. It’s not about being easily suggestible or having a particular personality type; it’s about tapping into the natural plasticity of your brain and allowing positive change to occur.

So, if you’re tired of living in the constant state of worry and anxiety, why not give hypnotherapy a try? Imagine being able to rewire your brain, cutting through the traffic jams of worry and fear, and cruising along a brand new, anxiety-free neural highway. It might just be the mental roadwork your brain has been waiting for.

Reader Reward -> Grab A POWERFUL Free Gift

And who knows, maybe after a few sessions, you’ll even be able to teach that personal massage therapist a thing or two about relaxation techniques. Just don’t hypnotize them into giving you free massages – that’s probably frowned upon in the hypnotherapy community.

Interesting, You Can Fix That

Experts Discover Potentially Dangerous Problem Caused by Covid-19

 

Pictures of Covid19 cells
Electron micrographs of isolated 2019-nCoV particles (left), and in cells from human airways (right), marked with arrows.
THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE

Coronavirus is Killing Your Libido

A couple of weeks into the Coronavirus pandemic, I began to get calls from old and new clients with what was an expected problem. The stress, anxiety and uncertainty surrounding the disease and the loss of millions of jobs, stress of standing in lines and finding empty shelves where there was once essential items, and the orders to stay away from people and stay in your homes was really weighing on us.  Clients were having difficulty sleeping, they were overeating, and this forced vacation from school and work was quickly becoming old.

The experts were telling us to wash our hands, social distance ourselves, and to the extent possible maintain a sense of normalcy. Well, this new normal was clearly changing the way we interact with our spouses and partners. In our pre-pandemic lives, couples/partners would go about their typical routines of being out of the home and away from each other for eight to ten hours a day. Perhaps you would return and have a date night, or share dinner and recount your day, or perhaps you would share a 2 people kissing in streetconversation you had with a friend or colleague about something interesting. There would be a reconnecting between you and your partner. However, we now find ourselves looking for ways to create our own space within the confinement of our homes.

Slowly, and almost imperceptibly, many people began to feel closed in;  closed in by the space; closed in by the situation; closed in by their partner. And the impact of this constant bombardment of stress combined with the inability to find space is having its toll on how people feel.

Hey Marc - Let's Talk

As I began to search more deeply into what they were saying and not saying, I was hearing things that began to raise red flags. I found that I was hearing a common theme starting to surface. Now before I get into what I was hearing, I want to share something that I also was seeing.

In an interesting marketing twist, the online porn sites such as PornHub and YouPorn began to advertise free service to help people through the stress of the pandemic. And while toilet paper was becoming a scarce resource, online retailers are seeing a serious surge in the sale sex toys. And these toys are not just for those who are isolated due to social distancing. No,  let’s put it on the line, sex feels good and it breaks up the boredom and routine. I will come back to the benefits in a bit. For now, let me leave that hanging there.

The red flags that my clients talked about outwardly dealt with their sleeplessness, anxiety, and fear. As we spoke more, they also shared that they were noticing that they weren’t feeling “IT”. They were feeling that their drive was on life-support. And when questioned further, both the men and women who were reaching out to me shared that they would find some personal space to slip away and masturbate. This too makes sense since it is “me time”, feels good, and relieves the boredom

Now, I am sure that like me, none of this is news or a surprise. Perhaps you find that I could well be describing the situation you are finding yourself in at the present. We know that libido is often the first victim of stress. The thing is that most people mistakenly equate libido to sex drive when it is truly much more than that. One of the most highly respected in the area of helping people overcome sexual issues through hypnosis is a woman in the U.K., Kaz Riley. Riley who is one of the most sought-after speakers and trainers in the world of hypnosis and the founder of Sexual Freedom Hypnosis , teaches therapists and clinicians how to improve the psycho-sexual functioning of consenting adults. Kaz’s definition of libido is far more comprehensive than simply sex-drive. According to Kaz, “ libido is a desire to connect. It is a sensual feeling and a desire to move forward. It is not just about having sex.”    This “life-force” as Riley calls it, is a primary driver that is there to help us succeed and achieve and to feel good.

The issue at hand (no pun intended), is that stress and anxiety become a loop which feed on themselves and create disruptions in our desire to share intimacy. It is well known that humans thrive with touch. For too many people who are shut-in away from others, they are failing to thrive. In fact, they are actually unintentionally harming themselves because they cannot engage in their normal routines of exercising, grooming and gaining the energy that we get from connecting with others and by overeating or eating the wrong foods, and masturbating to attempt to make themselves feel better.  I wrote the following in an earlier blog article: “We are, as humans, hardwired to seek connection. Study after study shows that people, especially, infants fail to thrive when they are deprived of human touch. Social touch is a powerful force in human development, shaping social reward, attachment, cognitive, communication, and emotional regulation from infancy and throughout life[i]. Yet, the social isolation, imposed loss of identity through job loss, unrelenting stress triggers, and continual uncertainty by politicians and fear mongers who continually move the “cheese” as we run through the maze, just exacerbates the deleterious effects on each of us.”

The death of our libido’s is serious. It is not just the loss of our sex drive; it is the loss of our feeling of intimacy and the long-term damage it is doing to us. And it isn’t going to be fixed with a little blue pill, or a new toy, or another video. No, right now, the only way that you are going to juice up your libido is by following these really important steps. Otherwise, you very well may find that it too is one of the casualties of the pandemic.

MOUTH TO MOUTH FOR YOUR LIBIDO

Reviving your drooping libido is going to take some elbow grease. You are going to have to take matters into your hands and really start a regimen of self-care. Start by losing the porn. PLEASE! I am not against porn. In fact, porn can be a great tool for spicing things up, if you remember that it is not real. I am, however, against using porn, or drugs or alcohol or food as an island of refuge from your pain, fear, and anxiety. That pain, fear, and anxiety that many are feeling is one of the biggest things you are facing. If you are struggling with the impact that any of these are having on your life, then reach out to me and see how hypnosis can help you break the cycle.

So, the first step to self-care is learning to become mindful. It means getting back to eating right, drinking plenty of water, taking time to practice mindfulness or other meditation. Mindfulness practice is not just about sitting quietly and clearing one’s mind. It is about learning to be present and focused in this moment. You can practice mindfulness when you are outside, socially distant from others, and walking. And as you walk mindfully, things begin to change. Perhaps, you become aware of the absence of airplane or car noises now. Maybe, you begin to notice the wonderful smells around and the colors of nature. I am amazed at how many people who tell me that they discover things that they have passed hundreds of times once they begin to do things mindfully.

One of the most amazing gifts of mindfulness is learning to eat mindfully. How much of the time do you eat a meal and before you know it, it is gone, and you have no idea what it tasted like. What if, you stopped and looked at your food? What if you smelled the smells and savored the tastes? What if instead of the usual bedroom routine of lips, t*ts and below the hips, you and your partner sensuously shared a piece of fruit or a glass of wine with the only goal being that of being able to experience this moment with them.  Imagine how much better you and your partner’s experience will be when you are both present and focused on each other.

Libido is about the journey, not the destination. Instead of becoming another victim of this pandemic, you have the most unique opportunity to spend time and put real effort into your relationship. It is not about achieving orgasm, though they feel great and release a host of endorphins and feel good hormones. Libido is far more than that. Now, maybe more than ever before, we need purposeful, loving, connection. The connection that comes from long hugs or sitting close to each other looking deeply into the windows of their being or with your hand on their hearts synchronizing your breathing and heartbeat. Now, more than ever before, we need to connect by shutting out the world, the noise and insanity, and allow the energy that attracted us to that other person to flow. And when you do that, when you mindfully engage in connecting and meet their needs, you will be amazed at how the desire to move forward and again be real with each other will break through.

Hey Marc - Let's Talk

[i] Social touch and human development

Carissa J.Cascioac DavidMooreb FrancisMcGlonebd

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2018.04.009

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hypnotist, Author & Motivational Speaker, Marc Marshall

Marc Marshall is a certified clinical and stage hypnotist, medical hypnotist and certified mind-body specialist, author and motivational speaker at the New Jersey Hypnosis Center in Summit NJ.  He specializes in dealing with trauma, sexual trauma, pain, medical hypnosis and works with clients to empower and teach them how to improve their lives through hypnosis and mindfulness practice.  For more information or to schedule an appointment or interview, email info@hypnomarc.com or visit his website – www.hypnomarc.com

#hypnotherapy, @kazriley, @sexualfreedomhypnosis, #covid19, #Coronavirus, #pandemic, #anxiety, #NLP, #hypnosis, #marcmarshall, #quarantine, #hypnotherapy, #covid19, #coronavirus, #hypnosis, #masshypnosis, #fear, #stress, #anxiety, #obesity, #marcmarshall, #newjerseyhypnosis, #newjerseyhypnosiscenter, #njhypnosis, #hypnomarc, #health, #stress, #hypnotherapy, #hypnotize, #covid19hypnosis, #erotichypnosis, #sexualdysfunction, #libidio, #coupleshypnosis, #lossofsexdrive #relationships, newjerseyhypnosiscenter, #mindfulness, #summitnj, #westfieldnj, #sexpositive, #nofear, #sextherapy, #anorgasmia, #ed, #prematureejaculation, #vaginisumus, #performance, #performanceanxiety, #sex, #pleasure, #arousal, #porn, #pornaddiction, #masturbation #youporn, #pornhub, #sextoys #huffpo #refinery29 #buzzfeed #drresa #cosmo, #covid19update, #important covid19 information

Interesting

WHO ARE YOU?

STOP reading this Right Now!  And answer this question . . . WHO ARE YOU?   Say your answer out loud  and then just close your eyes for a few moments and feel what those words mean.   Where do you feel that in your body?  Is there a sound associated with that feeling?  Why are you that and not something else?

If you have ever been to one of my corporate motivational talks, or my group personal improvement sessions you will recognize this question as something that I often open with.  The first response that I frequently get often refers to the person’s job or role in society.  And there is  a very strong reason for this.  It is the reason when asked about their job that people will answer – I am a… doctor, baker, teacher, pizza delivery person.  We are defined, or better stated, we define ourselves by what we do.  It shapes how we see ourselves and how we project ourselves to others we meet.  People don’t say I fix cars or I bake cookies, or I cut grass.  They say what they are.

The problem is that when our job disappears because we are fired, or furloughed or as in the case of the COVID19 pandemic, the government shuts it down and we can no longer have that job and don’t know if we ever will again, we lose our identity.  We no longer know who we are.  We lose our self-esteem, we stop being us and the fallout from that loss of identity is devastating.  It initiates the most basic of survival mechanisms, fight/flight/freeze.  It creates stress, fear and anxiety that cannot be resolved by the means that we have used and learned from our prior experience.  The social isolation, the constant bombardment of negative information and reports of higher death tolls places stressors on us that weaken us physically, spiritually and emotionally.  I recently wrote about that dynamic and how we as a country, perhaps even as a world community, are witnessing the greatest mass hypnosis of all time (https://www.hypnomarc.com/2020/04/08/we-are-witnessing-the-greatest-mass-hypnosis-of-all-time/).  The response I got from that article continues to validate my observations and concerns that the end result of this coronavirus pandemic has forever reshaped our society and in many instances, not for the better.

Hey Marc - Let's Talk

This past weekend (April 12, 2020) Chris Bryant (@chrismbryant) wrote an opinion piece for Bloomberg that appeared in the Star Ledger, made some points that those of us in the entertainment and gig industry better sit up and take notice of.  Bryant writes: “…Instead of visiting far-flung places and seeking out mass entertainment, I’m sure there will be a bias toward more modest, local activities.”  He goes on to opine: “ Looming above all of this is the damage that the lockdowns are inflicting on people’s incomes.  The longer the economic shutdown lasts, the more reluctant the world’s consumers will be to spend, period.”   The hospitality industries- travel and leisure, cruise lines, hotels and casinos are being reshaped as this continues.  Bryant speaks of the changes he sees already happening in fitness and education industries as well as pointing out there will be new opportunities for those who have a vision to look outside the box. (My words, not his.)

In his closing statement, Bryant makes the following statement: Faced with uncertainty or disaster, humans respond by trying to strengthen their communities.”  While that is a statement which many may agree with, I believe there is a strong caveat that needs to be added.  Humans can only respond with efforts to strengthen their own communities when they are not facing the fundamental imperative of survival.  And as Bryant states, the longer it lasts the more reluctant we become.  The constant barrage of negativity from the media, the bombardment of the death toll, the inability of state governments to respond to jobless claims and the heavy burdens the restrictions place in the “name of the public good” and to break the back of the virus, are just burying the survivors.

We are, as humans, hardwired to seek connection.  Study after study shows that people, especially, infants fail to thrive when they are deprived of human touch.  Social touch is a powerful force in human development, shaping social reward, attachment, cognitive, communication, and emotional regulation from infancy and throughout life[i].  Yet, the social isolation, imposed loss of identity through job loss, unrelenting stress triggers, and continual uncertainty by politicians and fear mongers who continually move the “cheese” as we run through the maze, just exacerbates the deleterious effects on each of us.

As a clinical and stage hypnotist and motivational speaker,  I make my living by changing peoples’ focus.  Sometimes I am helping them move past a debilitating trauma, other times helping them to forget the pressures of life as they immerse themselves in the insanity of a comedy hypnosis show, but in all cases, what I am doing is simply changing their present focus.  I am taking them out of their “head” and moving them into a present moment or experience.  David Snyder (@davidsnyder) a respected authority on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) defines hypnosis as moving from one state of mind to another with a change of absorption and focus.  The more absorbed you are, the more focused you are, the deeper the trance you are in.

And it is this deep trance that has been created by the constant beat of the drums, the actions of the media and politicians, to keep us hypnotized so that we cannot take those important steps of clearing the fog from our minds and begin the process of rebuilding our lives, our community and nation.  I saw a meme recently that spoke more truth that most are oblivious to – “Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people … Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people.”  

Sadly, people will die from this virus.  How many more are going to die or be destroyed by the trauma, isolation, stress and anxiety that is unrelentingly heaped upon them as this continues without end?  How many will die from alcoholism or drug abuse or depression and suicide brought on by the impact of hastily imposed actions in what was originally an honest effort to protect society?  This is not about right or left, about Democrat or Republican.  No, it is far more important than that.  It is a recognition that in order to recover, we must wake up now and be able to answer the fundamental question that I asked at the beginning of this article  WHO ARE YOU?

If you would like to know what it would be like to move past the stress, anxiety or fear and can imagine what it would like to live in the present and learn more about how I can help you move past these feelings, I invite you to reach out to me and see how hypnosis can help you or to schedule an interview by using the link below.   It is time to start moving forward and rebuilding our lives … Isn’t It?

Hey Marc - Let's Talk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hypnotist, Author & Motivational Speaker, Marc Marshall

Marc Marshall is a certified clinical and stage hypnotist, medical hypnotist and certified mind-body specialist, author and motivational speaker at the New Jersey Hypnosis Center in Summit NJ.  He specializes in dealing with trauma, sexual trauma, pain, medical hypnosis and works with clients to empower and teach them how to improve their lives through hypnosis and mindfulness practice.  For more information or to schedule an appointment or interview, email info@hypnomarc.com or visit his website – www.hypnomarc.com

[i] Social touch and human development

Carissa J.Cascioac DavidMooreb FrancisMcGlonebd

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2018.04.009

#hypnotherapy, @chrismbryant, @davidsnyder, #covid19, #Coronavirus, #pandemic, #anxiety, #NLP, #hypnosis, #marcmarshall, #quarantine, #hypnotherapy, #democrat, #republican, @govmurphy, @jonbramnick, @ReopenNJ,@tomkean, @njdotcom, #americaworkstogether, #americastrong, #godblessamerica, @realdonaldtrump, @stevehiltonx, @lauraingraham, @seanhannity, @judgejeanine, @jessiebwatters, #covid19, #coronavirus, #hypnosis, #masshypnosis, #fear, #stress, #anxiety, #obesity, #marcmarshall, #newjerseyhypnosis, #newjerseyhypnosiscenter, #njhypnosis, #hypnomarc, #health, #stress, #hypnotherapy, #hypnotize, #covid19hypnosis