Mastering sleep problems with hypnosis
Problems falling asleep. Problems sleeping through. Problems with dreaming or nightmares. Grinding teeth, sleepwalking, bedwetting, eating while sleeping, confusion while waking up. Sleep problems are much more varied than you might initially think. It is already known that meditation can help you sleep better, let's deepen that with hypnosis and see what that can do to sleep problems.
In this article, I discuss hypnotherapy and its effect on sleep problems.
Trouble falling asleep
Lying awake for long periods of time worrying or, conversely, plotting all kinds of plans. This is a symptom suffered by many people with chronic insomnia.
In addition, you may also react to all sorts of environmental factors, such as that one little light on a device or a bird that won’t stop chirping. Scientists refer to this as “hyperarousal.” Insomnia is one of the symptoms of hyperarousal. Hyperarousal can result from a traumatic or stressful event, but you may also have a genetic predisposition to it.
This makes it harder for you to relax before falling asleep. If you’ve gone without sleep for a while after a stressful period, it can become even more difficult.
In the process, you can also assume that you won't fall asleep. This makes you nervous, and that nervousness then causes you not to be able to fall asleep. It's kind of a weird vicious cycle.
The sleep patterns of people who have trouble falling asleep are often characterized by brain overactivity and ingrained habits that are incompatible with sleep. On top of that, there are also unconscious fears that prevent you from falling asleep properly or that interrupt your sleep. If this sounds familiar to you, hypnotherapy can definitely help.
This is why it is important to treat the underlying cause in addition to insomnia to have a real effect on the patient's sleep rhythm.
Acute and chronic insomnia patients usually respond well to hypnotherapy and instructions for good sleep hygiene. Research shows that 50% of people with insomnia who undergo hypnotherapy 16 months later still have improved sleep patterns, after only two hypnosis sessions.
In addition, self-hypnosis can be used for falling asleep.
This may seem paradoxical, but self-hypnosis can make nervousness about falling asleep go away, making it easier to fall asleep.
One technique that can be used in self-hypnosis is to first relax and imagine yourself as if you were floating. Then thoughts can be projected onto a devised screen. By placing the thoughts "outside yourself," it is easier to avoid the physical reaction to the thoughts, making it easier to fall asleep. In doing so, you can turn off or pause the screen signaling to yourself that you can continue thinking about those problems and plans tomorrow.
Trouble sleeping through
A friend of mine with sleep problems has recently been going crazy over a woodpecker who finds a nearby tree perfect for making a nest, at six in the morning his partner sleeps right through it and doesn't even hear the woodpecker. In his case, sleeping through is made more difficult by reactions to the environment.
There is a theory that if you suffer from hyperarausal you have an excessive reaction to things that can make you feel stressed. For example, woodpecker knocking can be similar to someone knocking on your door. The natural reaction when someone knocks on your door is to open it, just as you answer a phone when it rings. This can be a small stress moment and, as a result, you react much more alertly than people who do not suffer from hyperarausal.
In this case, hypnotherapy for insomnia and hypnotherapy for stress are ways to help you sleep through the night better.
If you suffer from falling asleep or have trouble falling asleep, visualizations are often used. There are three types of visualizations that, according to research, have an 85% success rate (that is, almost 9 out of 10 people). These visualizations always take place with the guidance of a hypnotherapist.
- A visualization of a soft curtain with a warm feeling. During the hypnosis session, patients may project their thoughts onto the curtain after which they pass through it to the other side of the curtain. After which the person with insomnia may reflect on the curtain.
- A visualization where, as an insomniac, you imagine yourself standing on a porch or something similar of a beautiful house with ten steps down. With each step you take down the stairs you can let go more and more. At the bottom of the stairs you feel completely relaxed and you can enjoy the beautiful garden full of colors, flowers, birds and leaves making noise in a breeze.
- The final visualization is that of a special place for the person with insomnia. Under guidance, you go to a place you really like. Perhaps your favorite room or a place you once went on vacation.
Nightmares
Did you know that children between the ages of 7 and 12 are very receptive to hypnotic suggestions? Especially right before they fall asleep or when they’ve just woken up. If your child regularly has nightmares, you can stay with them for a while. When you see that they’re about to fall asleep, you can give a positive hypnotic suggestion, such as that you will always keep your child safe and protect them.
Self-hypnosis and relaxation techniques can help your child start enjoying going to sleep again. You can also hang a dreamcatcher above the bed. According to Native Americans, dreamcatchers block nightmares but let pleasant dreams pass through. If your child comes to believe this, it may actually help them stop having nightmares altogether.
For adults, the therapist can have the patient experience a dream of sorts with a therapeutic goal. Through this path, the hypnotherapist can find out what you care about, what conflicts there are and what problems you have. This can explain the nightmares. Then the underlying problem can be resolved.
In addition, the hypnotherapist can provide a hypnotic suggestion that when the nightmare begins it will have a different ending this time. For example, you can become the hero of your dream or just zap to another finer dream.
Adults also benefit from self-hypnosis to eliminate nightmares.
Parasomnia and hypnosis
Parasomnia involves exhibiting unusual behavior while sleeping, such as sleepwalking, bedwetting, and so on. In cases of parasomnia, hypnosis can be a way to improve self-control. No large-scale studies have yet been conducted on the effect of hypnosis on parasomnia symptoms, but there are smaller studies from which we can draw conclusions.
In a group of 27 people who suffered from parasomnia, during hypnosis they had to visualize viewing a screen in a pleasant place on which they could see themselves sleeping peacefully, as opposed to in reality. Then they were given a post-hypnotic suggestion that was supposed to reinforce their sense of security and remove that insecurity. They were also given the suggestion that they could sleep peacefully without moving too much. They had to repeat these suggetions to themselves during self-hypnosis at home. In total, the therapy lasted 20 minutes.
The induction that individuals received to get into hypnosis was recorded so that it could be taken home to use for self-hypnosis.
74 percent of participants reported sleeping much better than before hypnotherapy. Most people needed 1 to 6 hypnosis sessions for this result.
Also check out this video about hypnosis and sleep:
Tips for sleep hygiene
Since it appears that hypnotherapy with sleep hygiene tips works best for sleep problems, I have also listed some tips for good sleep hygiene.
Give yourself time to wind down
Falling asleep immediately after coming home from work is difficult for everyone. Therefore, give yourself time to relax before you fall asleep.
Don't exercise before bedtime
Exercise is fun and healthy, but it also energizes you. Therefore, it is best to exercise in the morning or before 8 p.m. at the latest.
The bedroom is not a study
If you have a desk in your bedroom to work on, my first tip is to give it another place in the house. That way your bedroom is a safe place that doesn't remind you of all the work you have to do tomorrow.
Dim the lights and darken your room
At night, it is best to dim the lights in your home. This is a signal to your body that it is time to get sleepy. In fact, keep your room completely dark. If necessary, order special curtains that can be attached in front of the window.
Would you like to learn more about the benefits of hypnosis? Then check out the events and training programs offered by the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands.
Source:
http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/37VolNo8Aug2008/V37N8p683.pdf