Self Hypnosis, Relaxation and Meditation Are Similar All Reduce Stress

This week I am clarifying the concepts of self hypnosis, relaxation and meditation in reducing stress and in helping with falling asleep.  These are natural cures for chronic stress we all have access to, free of charge.  I will also be taking you step by step through such an experience.

Reaching The Unconscious As Our Great Resource To Reduce Stress

We often refer to the unconscious as the place we push our bad memories in attempts to forget and avoid.  This belief is limiting and disregards the huge potential of the unconscious as a resource.  The realm of the unconscious is where inspiration comes from.

Have you noticed when you forget something the more you try the less you can remember?  When you relax and allow your unconscious to remind you, you remember.  When we are taking an important decision or when we are searching for a solution to a problem we say ‘I am going to sleep on it’.  This is because in our sleep our conscious mind is resting and our unconscious can communicate with us more directly.

Relaxation reduces stress and helps with having a healthier heart

Relaxation reduces stress and helps with making healthy eating choices more easily.

Chronic Stress

Relaxation often labelled as laziness. However research evidence shows us that relaxation has wonderful effects on the physical health.

Chronic stress is a health hazard.  It reduces the body-mind’s natural ability to protect itself by weakening the immune system. A lot of us suffer from immune system illnesses, often this is simply a body-mind split working against itself.

Stress increases the risk for heart attacks and blood pressure problems.  The brain’s ability to process and keep information suffers.  Cortisol is the stress hormone and increases the appetite to the point of craving for junk food.

Relaxation helps with:

  • having a healthier heart
  • clear mindset
  • ease in learning
  • improved memory
  • better judgment
  • making healthy eating choices more easily.

Self Hypnosis, Relaxation and Meditation

It took me long time in my career before I realised that different jargon is used for the same phenomena.  This is because people from different fields and orientations come up with the same thing separately and accordingly each give a name specific to their context.

Hypnosis has a medical background as it is gained respectability by researchers like James Braid .  Thanks to their efforts, by the end of 19th century hypnosis was accepted as a valid clinical technique, studied and applied in the great universities and hospitals of the day.  Meditation has the spiritual connotation of the Far East.  From documentaries we watched, images of young kids being thought in temples the scriptures and sitting meditations come to our minds. Relaxation is the term known best by the lay people amongst the three.  It is used in a variety of contexts, such as sports, massage, psychology, etc.

These methods are the same and they can be referred as altered states of consciousness. It is like driving two horses both conscious and the unconscious.  You hold the reins and stay in touch with both of them for reciprocal learning and guidance. This enhances the powers you possess consciously.

Steps of Self Hypnosis, Relaxation and Meditation In Reducing Stress

During a car race the cars need to stop few minutes and change tyres in order to complete the race.  Similarly we need to take time to recharge our body-mind for an optimum performance.

This sequence is only an example.  As you practice you will discover the style that suits you best:

  1. Sit in a comfortable chair with the sole of your feet on the floor or you can lie down.
  2. Look up and imagine focusing your eyes between your eyebrows. You can look at a point in front of you.
  3. Take few deep breaths, breathe in in 4 counts, hold 2 counts and breathe out in 6 counts.
  4. With each breath a beautiful white light grows in and around your body-mind.
  5. Slowly allow your eyes to close as you breathe out.
  6. With each breath imagine you experience tension leaving your body.
  7. Notice your breathing to slow, experience the calmness and regularity of your breath.
  8. Tense your toes and hold few counts and release. Your heels.., ankles…,shins..,knees….tighs…,hips…,,nternal organs…., arms,,, hands… neck…,f ace…, ears…, head….
  9. Let go of any trying. Allow thoughts and feelings to pass.
  10. Enjoy the non doingness of this moment.
  11. Store this calmness of your body-mind and the light in a way you can remember.
  12. Notice if there is any pain, tension or unease at any parts of your body-mind.
  13. Say ‘I love you’ and ‘thank you for serving me’ to this part.
  14. Bring the white light to this part and give a healing light bath.
  15. Say ‘I am sorry and I apologise’ to this part.
  16. Refocus on your breathing, enjoy this state of bliss as long as you need, may be 5, 10 minutes maybe half an hour.
  17. You can allow yourself to drift into a peaceful sleep.
  18. Or you can count from 10 to 1 and open your eyes slowly. Sit few minutes and contemplate your experience.
  19. When you are ready get up and start a productive and fulfilling day.

Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) image:Spirit-Fire

Irem Bray

İrem Bray is a graduate of Bosphorus University Department of Psychology and London University Institute Of Psychiatry. She sees life as a journey of reciprocal discovery and opportunity to share gifts. She develops projects which, starting from the uniqueness of the individual, transform the society in a circular way. She works with her team, using the latest technologies, to train family therapists, and conduct sessions with people throughout the world, especially with Turks and those associated with Turks, to improve systems such as individuals, couples, families and companies. You can now contact İrem and her team at [email protected] or 0090 538 912 33 36, 0044 738 7763244 Contact her at http://irembray.com

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