Managing stresses in your life will assist your health and wellbeing and result in a calmer life, with a greater of sense of balance and fun. Hypnotherapy can assist you to do this easily and quickly.

Some examples of stress commonly experience include being overloaded at work, job insecurity, relationship hassles, caring for a loved one, situations that place excessive demands on us, money worries, anxiety and feeling a lack of control. The most important thing to remember is that the things in your life are not stress themselves, they are stress triggers. It is how we respond to them that makes all the difference.

Anxiety has similar effects to stress, but usually develops after a stressful period and becomes a protective mechanism which the body adopts to overcome difficult circumstances. It can also be genetically inherited and learnt through repetitive and assimilated behaviours.

By using hypnosis we have the opportunity to present some new ideas about stress and anxiety, which may give them an opportunity of promotion.

Stress in our lives can provide a positive response, however, most of us tend to focus on the negative impact of stress. When stressed, our body responds by releasing hormones and other substances into the blood stream. These trigger the fight or flight response, where our body prepares itself to either escape from or confront a threat to our well being.  

There are three stages of excessive or chronic stress:

Firstly, there's the aforementioned fight or flight response, where the body releases adrenaline and noradrenaline, triggering physical and emotional changes within the body. Adrenaline gears the body into action by increasing heart rate and the production of sweat. This stress/anxiety response also switches off any systems in the body which are not essential for short term, immediate survival. This means that digestion, sex drive and the immune system, which are all to do with long term survival, get put on hold while the stress/anxiety response is operating. The body is responding to a perceived threat, be that a physical stressor such as a screaming toddler, or a mental/emotional stressor such as time pressures at work. 

Next is the resistance and adaptation stage. If the original stress trigger does not go away, the body begins to produce hormones that increase the body's blood sugars and blood pressure. These cause us to feel tired, overwhelmed, etc. If the stress/anxiety persists for a long time - this is, if we feel stressed/anxious day after day without let up - then digestion and immune function and even sex drive can be suppressed long term. This is why people become physically affected by stress and anxiety. Continuously raised levels of cortisol, which is a stress hormone, can make someone physically ill - causing stomach problems, immune system failure and the inability to think rationally. So the adaptive "switch off" of non essential functions which is necessary during a short term survival crisis becomes maladaptive if these functions are suppressed over the long term.

Finally there's exhaustion. The adrenal glands become worn out and are unable to produce the hormones that are needed to cope with the prolonged situation. We find ourselves with less tolerance of stress triggers, and gradual mental and physical exhaustion and more serious illness may occur.

Some associated symptoms of stress may include:

• Feeling anxious, irritable or nervous
• Feeling tired or worn out for no apparent reason
• Feeling sad, hopeless or depressed
• Feeling less creative and productive than usual
• Experiencing difficulty in concentrating or making decisions
• Relying on caffeine, alcohol or smoking as coping strategies
• Having a pounding heart and sweaty palms
• Having heartburn, wind or indigestion
• Having diarrhoea or constipation
• Having difficulty sleeping
• Feeling tension in the neck, shoulder and jaw areas
• Experiencing frequent headaches
• Getting colds more often than you used to

Dealing with stress triggers is incredibly important for your over-all health. There are some stresses that we can't control, but there is still a lot that we can do to either reduce our stress triggers or become more resilient to them. We can change the way we think about stress, recognising that over a short time it can be beneficial for productivity, but also recognising that if it persists we need to take steps to counteract it. Becoming more physically active, using relaxation exercises such as breathing techniques and listening to relaxation music will help. If you lead a busy life, then taking regular time out to relax will actually give you more time to be productive. Using natural medicines and therapies will support the body and allow it to learn new techniques to manage the stress, assisting in taking away the body's stresses and strains.

Managing stresses and anxiety in your life will assist your health and wellbeing and result in a calmer life with a greater of sense of balance and fun and even increase your sleep quality. Hypnotherapy can assist you in identifying and counteracting your stress triggers, helping you relax and become happier.