Doomscrolling: How to Overcome Addictive Habits

2024 was a year of challenging events, from wars and political unrest to climate change. And for those sensitive to the energies around them, 2024 was a year of internal challenges and self-realizations.

While many of us wanted to stay informed, watching historical events unfold in real-time, it contributed to our anxiety and stress levels. Suddenly, we are managing more than our daily stressors. We feel the weight of the world and self-realizations on our shoulders. Amid hopelessness, there’s a desire to have control over the circumstances and understand why everything is happening.

This can lead to doomscrolling, where you consume every article and video on a topic, even if it derails your mental health.

Overconsumption of social media and doomscrolling

Doomscrolling is a compulsive behavior in which you scan through a social media feed, searching for answers to soothe your fear of a situation. Some individuals routinely scroll online to stay up-to-date with the news, while others may go down a rabbit hole to maintain self-control and find answers to their internal challenges.

However, doomscrolling can have adverse effects on your mental health, leaving you feeling helpless, frustrated, and worried. It can also contribute to:

• Poor sleep

• Low motivation

• Social isolation

• Existential dread

Despite having poor implications on mental health, doomscrolling may be prevalent because social media stimulates the brain and releases dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure.

In an analysis of social media in the U.S., Statista reveals that 40% of young adults between 18–22 years old and 37% of people between 23–38 years old feel addicted to social media. Participants ages 38–54 fall in the 26% category, while 21% of Americans between 55–64 believe they have a social media addiction.

Online content’s influence over our emotions

The internet has transformed how we navigate the world and our daily lives. There are more opportunities to absorb feelings from loved ones and strangers online. Whether the emotions are anger, sadness, or happiness, we may internalize them without realizing it.

In the process of gathering more details, we are also more susceptible to connecting with online communities that fuel our fire. Many people may feel obligated to participate, even when the context isn’t healthy or beneficial.

The more doom and gloom you witness, the more likely you will welcome it into your internal world. Fortunately, you have more power than you realize.

While you may not control job promotions or elections, you can control how you perceive, feel, and respond to new information.

The mind is a powerful tool. You are capable of managing your habits so you can build a life that supports how you want to be and feel.

Acknowledge the ways you numb yourself

Sometimes, when we experience information overload, we may turn to escapism for emotional relief over situations outside our control. Some forms of escapism include doomscrolling, alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, and eating.

If you engage in escapism, consider if the coping mechanism is numbing you. Are you drinking or taking drugs excessively? Are you spending a disproportionate amount of time on social media?

Notice how you feel after engaging in these behaviors. Do they bring you joy and satisfaction or immediate gratification and regret? Waking up the next day feeling depleted may indicate that you’re numbing yourself too much.

Take this opportunity to listen to your body and mind and respond with intention.

Take small steps towards positive change

You are the curator of your life experience. You can make small changes in your daily life to promote healthier choices. For instance, if you struggle with doomscrolling, you can:

• Reduce your screen time.

• Use Do Not Disturb and Downtime mode.

• Unfollow accounts that negatively impact your emotions.

• Limit your news consumption.

• Reflect on toxic content and behaviors that tear you down.

• Improve your mood with self-care activities.

• Take a social media detox.

You can also practice self-hypnosis, meditation, affirmations, and visualizations. As you shift your habits, consider how you want to be and feel and visualize positive events unfolding in your life.

Empower yourself through hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is a powerful practice that can help you assess the cause of addicting habits and uncover the reasons behind your behaviors, which typically stem from a limiting belief. Once the limiting belief is discovered, we can transform it into a new powerful belief to help you have a new program running in your mind allowing you to move away from your addicting habits and behaviors.

When we engage in numbing and overconsumption, it may be because we feel compelled to. Asking yourself why you think, feel, or act a specific way is the first step towards transforming your mind.

From there, you can use hypnotherapy to:

• Explore the root cause of an issue.

• Address and transform limiting beliefs and blocks.

• Adjust your perspective to align with your desired outcomes.

• Cultivate a positive and powerful mindset.

• Reprogram your mind to achieve your goals effectively.

If you have an addiction to social media, drugs, alcohol, or anything else, schedule a virtual hypnotherapy session to discover valuable tools that can help you take charge of your mind.

Group Hypnosis: A Collective Experience with Individual Transformations

Your limiting beliefs have the power to control the way you think, feel, and behave. Fortunately, you can learn how to take the driver’s seat and get back on track to the life you desire.

When we engage in hypnosis, we focus on breaking through emotional barriers and implementing new, positive belief systems. We embark on a healing journey to help you process your experiences, overcome past trauma, and take ownership of your life again.

But for many people, hypnotherapy seems out of reach because of financial constraints. If you’re curious about this healing practice but feel like it’s unrealistic for your current circumstances, you may consider group hypnosis.

So, what is group hypnosis, who may benefit from this practice, and what does the process look like? Keep reading to determine if it’s the right option for you!

What is group hypnosis?

Although group hypnosis is similar to individual sessions, it utilizes a universal approach to connect with all participants. For instance, group sessions topics may include:

• Past Life Regression

• Moving through grief

• Becoming a Confident Leader

• Stress Management

Group hypnosis sessions have an open format, ensuring topics speak to all participants rather than one. Each individual will have a vastly unique experience, navigating the sessions in their mind while a certified hypnotherapist guides them with broad prompts and questions.

Who may benefit from participating in group hypnosis?

Group hypnosis is open to individuals from different stages of life. It can be for a group of like-minded people with a collective goal, like a corporate team.

For example, managers who want to help their employees gain confidence or become strong leaders may engage in group hypnosis sessions oriented around these objectives.

During these sessions, I would encourage them to explore times when they lacked confidence and how these experiences shape how they navigate work today. I would also guide them to a state of forgiveness, acceptance, and self-compassion to take the first step toward self-assurance and shifting to a more confident self.

Group hypnosis can also benefit strangers in a community, like those involved with integrative medicine and yoga. While everyone has different perspectives, I would create an inclusive environment, focusing on relatable barriers humans face daily, like letting go of something preventing their happiness.

Finally, group hypnosis can be a healthy practice among friends. For example, some clients are interested to learn how they’re interconnected. With a certified hypnotherapist, you can discover new things about yourself and others, bringing you closer together.

What is the process of group hypnosis?

The first step is reaching a state of relaxation, getting into hypnosis, bypassing the conscious mind responsible for thoughts and feelings and tapping into the subconscious mind.

From there, we explore the problem through past life regression. This healing modality allows you to travel to a past life experience to retrieve insightful information for your present self. For example, a client may discover they were a victim of a crime in their past life, validating their feelings in their current life.

Past life regression pulls clients out of their present-day circumstances to help them understand what’s holding them back. During this time, we allow space for a dialogue between the past life self and the higher self.

Note: Believing in past lives and past life regression is not a requirement for group hypnosis. Beneath the surface-level issue is a real limiting belief that must be addressed and transformed.

Until you debunk a limiting belief, you will continue operating from your experiences and belief systems–many of which you learn at a young age. As a result, you end up repeating the same patterns throughout your life.

For instance, if you had to fend for yourself as a child, you may struggle to trust others as an adult in your personal and professional life.

Once we gain clarity about the limiting beliefs and emotions tied to an issue, we initiate the next phase in the healing process: acceptance and forgiveness.

The goal is to heal this aspect of the self, the story in your mind, and the lessons you learned.

The next phase: hypnotic programming

Like the beginning stages, I guide participants through an open format during hypnotic programming to allow each individual to have a unique experience in their mind.

Hypnotic programming includes implementing new and powerful beliefs to support how you want to be and feel. During this phase, we utilize visualizations and associate positive emotions with the new belief system.

For instance, if the group’s goal is to build confidence, I would lead them with the following visuals:

• See yourself as confident.

• Imagine yourself going through life in a new and powerful way.

• Visualize being and feeling confident in your appearance, communication, relationships, and work.

• What’s one area in your life where you’re not confident? Now, picture transforming into a new, confident version of yourself.

Group Hypnosis: Collective experience with individual transformations

Group hypnosis can be just as cathartic and healing as private hypnotherapy sessions with outcomes such as:

• Acceptance, forgiveness, and self-compassion

• A strong, new, positive belief system

• A new path forward towards future goals

• A cost-effective healing solution

If you want to get to the root of the limiting beliefs preventing you from achieving your goals or move towards a collective objective with your team, schedule your group hypnosis experience today! I offer group and private in-person and virtual sessions in the Washington, DC area.

Photo by Min An

Get Unstuck in Life With Resolution-Focused Hypnotherapy

Barriers are a normal part of our reality. Like a brick wall obstructing our path, it can paralyze us and hinder our progress. It can also challenge how we navigate everyday life.

A mental roadblock can manifest in many ways, like emotions, thoughts, behaviors, or habits. It typically comes from a limiting belief rooted in a traumatic memory from our childhood. While many people believe moving on is as simple as not dwelling on the past, there’s far more to unpack.

After enduring a challenging experience, your brain instills a belief system to protect you. Your mind will also try to draw parallels to other real-life situations to prevent you from getting hurt. For instance, a flying phobia may take you back to an incident where you felt out of control.

As a result, you may experience a range of symptoms, like anxiety, depression, fear, or resentment, any time you come across a scenario that triggers similar emotions from the traumatic event. Regardless of what you’re facing on the surface, there’s always something deeper underneath.

So, how do you bypass the brick wall and reclaim your life? You must be willing to tune inward and process what’s going on internally, and make peace with the past.

Deconstruct your mental barriers

Moving forward requires you to dismantle your barrier brick by brick, starting from the inciting incident. Before engaging in regression therapy, we relax the mind to tap into the subconscious level using hypnosis.

As we ease into this state, we can explore everything, from your emotions and habits to your dreams and memories. Your mental blocks and belief systems that also live here.

To find the memory tied to a limiting belief, we will tune into your body by asking where you feel the emotions within. This question acts as a compass, allowing you to trace your steps to the impactful moment.

Once we arrive at the memory, we let all the emotions pour out:

• Anger

• Frustration

• Disappointment

• Fear

• Loneliness

• Hurt

• Confusion

And whatever else you have on your heart.

For example, you may feel anxious, out of control, incapable, or unloveable. We bring everything that’s resided within you from over the years back to the surface. Getting back into this state allows us to do the deep work to help move through it and heal.

Explore your blocks with resolution-focused hypnotherapy

A significant part of the healing process is a willingness to do the deep work, even when it’s challenging. Some therapeutic methods we may incorporate include:

• Past life regression: Recovering vital information from past lives that apply to the present self -making connections to limiting beliefs and emotions.

• Regression (age) therapy: Visiting a distressing experience from childhood and tap into the limiting beliefs that were set into the mind during that time.

• Parts therapy: Touching base with an aspect of the self that promotes limiting beliefs and shifting its stance to a positive belief system.

While many mental roadblocks are due to past traumas, other factors may be at play. We will engage in one or more of the previously mentioned techniques depending on what we uncover during our sessions.

If the core issue stems from a past event, we enter the inner parenting phase, where you assert what you wished had happened at the time and be there for your inner child. For instance, if a parent neglected you during a vulnerable moment, your inner child may seek validation and comfort.

Then, we have you step into the parent/guardian role and have a dialogue with yourself as if you’re the adult and the child in the situation. Here, you can share everything you wanted to say to the adult in the memory and what you wished they had said or done.

By coming to terms with the past (acceptance), you can open the door to the next stage of your healing: forgiveness.

Let go of self-resentment and reprogram the mind

Many people believe they must forgive another person to move on. But more often than not, they need to learn how to forgive themselves for holding onto a painful experience and allowing it to interrupt their lives.

When you accept the past for what it was and forgive the other party and yourself, you can finally break through your barriers. From there, you can recondition your mind, emotions, thoughts, and beliefs through hypnotic programming.

During this healing step, we implement new and powerful mindsets that will support how you want to be and feel. We also reinforce the new belief system with positive feelings, like joy, peace, love, worthiness, and self-assurance.

Think of it as planting seeds in a garden after removing the weeds. What was once an unkempt backyard of self-doubt and fear has become a new thriving chapter.

Learn to surrender and accept with hypnotherapy

Moving on isn’t about obtaining complete control, nor is it about avoiding barriers at all costs. It’s about learning to accept that much of life is out of our control, and that’s okay. Everyone is capable of reflecting on the past and pushing through their blocks. Still, it can be challenging to reach this point of freedom.

That’s why many clients seek support through hypnotherapy. Hypnosis is a resolution-focused therapy that can help you:

• Get unstuck on your life’s journey

• Process and come to terms with your experiences

• Release past ties, emotions, thoughts, and limiting beliefs that no longer serve you

• Take ownership of your life and live in alignment with how you want to be and feel

• Move through barriers to achieve happiness, peace, and stability

If you’ve been feeling stuck, I invite you to schedule a hypnotherapy session to break through your barriers and welcome closure.

Photo by: Tiago Bandeira

Resolution-Driven Hypnotherapy

Breaking through limiting beliefs, emotional barriers, and blocks

What comes to mind when you think of hypnotherapy? Maybe it’s an image of someone dangling a pocket watch or engaging in mind control. Many people don’t understand hypnotherapy because of how the media depicts it. For instance, some believe they will get stuck in a state of hypnosis or do things beyond their control.

These fictional portrayals may be entertaining for audiences, but they don’t carry any foundational basis to the practice of hypnotherapy, a therapeutic form of hypnosis. They also create misconceptions that may prevent individuals from using hypnosis for their healing journeys.

Unlearning myths about hypnotherapy can be challenging because the ideas may be deeply embedded in your mind. However, you can still redefine hypnosis and learn how it can help you overcome barriers in your life.

Common misconceptions about hypnotherapy

Myth #1: You’ll get stuck in hypnosis and won’t be able to wake up.

Some of my clients have shared this fear with me since I lead virtual sessions. What happens if we get disconnected? Will I be able to wake up?

Rest assured, you’ll never be stuck in an in-between place. When you transition back to your conscious awareness, you may experience some time distortion or a slight delay, similar to refocusing after a daydream or waking up after hitting the snooze button.

Myth #2: Isn’t hypnosis just sleeping?

Unlike resting at night, you’re fully aware of everything happening during a session, from the hypnotherapist’s voice to sounds in your environment. As we ease into meditation, your mind will relax, and you can dive deeper into your subconscious.

Myth #3: Hypnosis is nothing more than relaxation.

Calming the mind is only the beginning of your transformational healing journey. Once we achieve relaxation, we can assess your limiting beliefs, emotions, and issues and move towards your goal. Think of hypnotherapy as goal-oriented meditation.

Myth #4: Hypnotherapists are psychics with mystical powers.

A hypnotherapist has a specialized background and education in hypnosis. Of course, not all hypnotherapists are trained in the same manner. I recommend working with a trained hypnotherapist who has more than just a weekend of training.

Myth #5: Hypnosis can magically cure you in 1–2 sessions.

While some clients may yield these results, everyone’s healing experience is unique. For a desirable outcome, it’s best to release this belief and allow yourself to heal in your own timing.

Myth #6: Hypnosis controls you.

This concept leads many people to believe that hypnotherapy will disempower them. On the contrary, the practice can empower you to break through limiting beliefs, blocks, and emotional barriers to achieve your goals.

Understanding the basics of hypnosis

Hypnotherapy is resolution-driven therapy, where a certified hypnotherapist guides an individual into a state of relaxation and tunes into the subconscious mind to achieve a specific goal.

During the process, you quiet your conscious mind, known for critical and logical thinking. From there, you drop down to the subconscious level, where your beliefs, emotions, dreams, past lives, habits, and memories reside. Here, you can explore your emotional barriers and blocks as well as modify belief systems contributing to behaviors that don’t support how you want to be and feel.

Psychotherapists often refer their clients to me because I help their clients, even clients who have been blocked for years, get to the root of their issues. The issue could be an emotional block from a past event or limiting belief which is preventing growth and healing for that client. The hypnotherapy process I take a client on gets the client to resolution often within a few sessions.

The process of deep work

Once you’re in hypnosis, we assess your beliefs, typically tied to a surface-level issue, like a feeling, thought, emotion, issue, or behavior. For example, if you experience anxiety in social settings, anxiety is only one part of the problem. Examining this emotion deeper in the subconscious mind may uncover a limiting belief associated with a traumatic event.

Note: It doesn’t matter how big or small an incident may be from your childhood. It can still affect you in your adulthood. The stuff holding us back stays with us until we heal it.

The process of deep work may include the following:

• Past life regression: Visiting lives you lived once before to retrieve essential information for your present self. It’s all about tapping into your knowing that resides within you to help you in your life today.

• Regression (Age) therapy: Regressing to childhood and desensitizing a connection to a traumatic memory so it doesn’t trigger your symptoms anymore. It’s also how we break through limiting beliefs and emotional barriers in order to heal the past.

• Parts therapy: Talking to an aspect of the self that perpetuates harmful messages, like “I’m not good enough” or “I’m unlovable.” Parts therapy aims to understand the part and shift its belief system so it better supports you.

Remember that every client’s healing journey is different, so while some may work through parts therapy, others may require regression therapy or past life regression, too. It all depends on what we discover when we tune inward to your issues, symptoms, emotions, and beliefs.

As we continue with the deeper work, the next part of the healing process brings us to forgiveness and self-compassion which are critical pillars of this transformation. For example, if you resent yourself for holding onto a past event or allowing it to have power over you, this is the time to let it go.

Then, we shift the limiting beliefs to affirmative ones so they align with you. We also focus on the positive emotions related to it, like peace, love, worthy, enough, capable, and confident.

Some new beliefs may include:

• I’m capable.

• I’m enough.

• I’m worthy.

• I’m important.

• I’m lovable.

After the deeper work is completed, we transition into hypnotic programming. From there, we expand upon the new belief systems and emotions with visualizations to show the mind what your life could look like when you feel peace, love, worthy, enough, capable, and confident.

Hypnotherapy: Goal-oriented meditation

Hypnotherapy is a powerful tool that goes beyond a relaxing meditation and empowers you to break through limiting beliefs, emotional barriers, and blocks to achieve a desired outcome. Whether you want to gain confidence, overcome a fear, establish healthier habits, or gain peace of mind, you can receive guidance from a trained hypnotherapist to get you from point A to point B.

Hypnotherapy offers many benefits, allowing you to move through:

• Blocks or emotional barriers

• Trauma

• Limiting beliefs

• Fears

• Phobias

• Anxiety

• Depression

• PTSD

• Death

• Illness

• Poor habits / behaviors

It can also guide you toward a happier and more fulfilling life where you can live on your own terms.

If you’re ready to begin your transformational healing journey, schedule a virtual hypnotherapy session with me today!

Let’s navigate through the deep work together.

Photo by: Mariana Montrazi

Healing Past Trauma with Regression Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is not for me. I don’t want to rehash the past! For many people, hypnotherapy challenges them to press the rewind button and reflect on an experience that shaped them and triggered specific issues, emotions, feelings, behaviors, thoughts, and belief systems that have followed them into adulthood.

Exploring the past can be uncomfortable and terrifying. As a result, some would prefer to forget about the memory altogether and close that chapter.

What’s the point of revisiting the past? Isn’t it going to reopen old wounds and re-traumatize you?

You’re ready to move on and cut ties to the memory. But to do this, you must address the past first. This is the first step on your transformational healing journey.

The necessity of revisiting a past traumatic event

Ignoring your pain doesn’t numb a memory. Instead, it creates a belief system that triggers symptoms which lead to emotions that attempt to push the pain away, like anxiety, depression, or fear. An example could be if a child is involved in a car accident, they may become anxious anytime they sit behind the wheel as an adult.

To dive further into what may occur inside someone who faces trauma, in the example above, the individual may have anxiety stemming from a limiting belief that they’re not safe in a car. That same individual may feel helplessness, lack of control, or develop a fear of driving in fearing that something terrible could happen while driving on a freeway or stopping at a red light.

Note: Two people in the same situation can have drastically different issues, emotions, and beliefs associated with an event. (This is an example from a client session).

With limiting beliefs triggering you, it can feel impossible to leave the past behind. But you can empower yourself to release and process through the pain in order to move forward.

The goal of exploring a traumatic event is to heal. It’s about understanding the role it’s played in your life, shifting your current beliefs to new powerful beliefs, forgiving the whole self, and putting a memory to rest so you can live in peace, love, and joy.

Healing with Regression Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapists use regression to help clients move through issues, emotions, and beliefs related to a past event. As we ease into a regression session, sometimes referred to as age regression, your mind will take you on a journey back to the most impactful memory from your past.

Once we arrive in the memory, we explore your experience, emotions, and beliefs. As we enter this memory and look at it through the eyes of your younger self, we do some inner child work. Often one’s higher self is also brought in to support your inner child.

During hypnosis, we also have you speak with the parental figure and share what the child needed at the moment but didn’t receive. For instance, if a parent ignored you, we offer attention and love to the child.

From there, we engage in a back-and-forth conversation with the adult in the memory to allow the client to get everything off their chest and gain some closure from the situation.

Regression aims to desensitize a traumatic experience so it won’t carry the same intensity and weight anymore. The raw emotions will slowly fade as we continue on the road to healing.

Creating a new belief system with forgiveness

Regression goes beyond altering your perception of a traumatic event and allows you to forgive yourself and others. Forgiveness is not about pardoning the involved party but rather letting go of the feelings of being wronged and moving towards a place of compassion as well as separating the antagonist from one’s behavior.

You don’t need to hold onto the old, stagnant energy anymore because it doesn’t serve you. Instead, it’s time to welcome new energy that meets you where you are today.

As we move into hypnotic programming, we reframe limiting beliefs once associated with the memory. We replace them with a new, positive, powerful belief system that supports how you want to be and feel:

Some examples may be:

• I am safe, and I’m in control.

• I’m capable of creating a happy life.

• I know I’m enough.

The results: How will I feel after a regression session?

Following a regression session, the experience will still exist in your memory bank, but its impact on you will be different. The intense emotions linked to it will fade, and you will no longer fully embrace them with the support of hypnotic programming and beginning the healing process.

For example, an individual diagnosed with cancer won’t experience the same emotional rollercoaster if the topic comes up in conversation. Revisiting the memory, processing through emotions/beliefs, as well as practicing forgiveness will provide a new perspective, where the client won’t carry the weight of the past on their shoulders anymore. Instead, they’ll experience a sense of peace and self-acceptance, allowing them to move forward.

While the memory may still be present, it won’t have the same power over you. After planting and reinforcing a new belief system, you can close that chapter and embrace the future.

Beginning your healing journey today

No matter where you are in life or what symptoms, emotions, and beliefs you may live by in your daily life, you can take the first step towards healing. It doesn’t matter how big or small the initial sensitizing incident may be. You can achieve peace in your life.

Hypnotherapy is a powerful method for moving through trauma, understanding your experiences, and empowering yourself to move forward with love, peace, and joy. However, it’s not an overnight process. True healing requires time, self-compassion, patience, and understanding.

While you may prefer to avoid rehashing a traumatic event, revisiting the past can help you gain the closure you need to heal and move on.

You can break free from the chains of the past and begin carving a path for yourself today. Because ultimately, the past doesn’t need to dictate how you want to be and feel.

If you need a guide on your healing voyage and are ready to put your past to rest, schedule a virtual hypnotherapy session with me today!

I look forward to helping you attain peace, joy, and love.

Photo by: Rodolfo Clix

Grounding: A Calming Compass for Life’s Transitions

Transitions are a natural part of life, allowing you to gain new experiences and grow as a person. Although humans can adapt to various circumstances, change can still be difficult. With every new beginning comes a steep learning curve, challenging your mindset and perspective of the world.

A transition can appear in many forms, like ending a relationship, losing a loved one, getting laid off, or starting a family. While some changes may be exciting, others can devastate you, pulling the rug from under your feet.

Although change is natural and never-ending, our brains try to make direct connections between our past situations and our beliefs.

For example, someone who loses their job may feed into their inner critic’s voice and trigger a series of limiting beliefs:

• I’m not smart enough for this job.

• I’m not good enough to keep this position.

• I’m not capable of doing this job.

However, our limiting beliefs are pointing back to something that happened to us from our past. Regardless if it was a big traumatic or small event, that is where a belief was set into our mind and our mind found supporting data from that incident to make that belief now true for us. Our minds then rally behind that new belief as fact in order to protect us and keep us safe.

Our brains then cling to what is known from our past. Using that information and applying it to the current unknown situation. We tend to experience heightened anxiety, stress, and fear, reminding us of that past situation as well as re-experiencing what we felt during that time.

Exploring our relationship to transitions

When encountering a change, it’s best to quiet the mind and offer self-assurance. Providing words of comfort, kindness, and compassion for yourself is essential. It’s important to remember that perfection is an unfair expectation and in times of high stress, finding compassion for oneself is key.

Be present during the transition and acknowledge any feelings coming to the surface. Rather than attempting to fast forward through the experience, allow yourself to sit in it before taking action and notice what’s coming up for you emotionally.

Although this is an ideal approach, your mind will likely give you a hard time and generate endless lists of -what is going wrong that needs fixing. This rapid creation of these lists is your brain’s way of finding stability. However, it can also contribute to your stress. You may experience ruminating thoughts, cycling through what-if scenarios, and toxic beliefs.

We can’t control every random thought popping into our minds, but we can prioritize what’s essential at this moment. Don’t miss out on the exciting or challenging transitions happening in your life. The door of new beginnings is opening, and it’s vital to recognize this transitory time, so you can place stepping stones towards how you want to be and feel.

Work through transitions with grounding

When your mind is overloaded, it can’t retain all the information you want. This is a sign of stress. Be aware of how your body and mind respond to your current circumstances.

To start this process, reflect on your feelings. Are you nervous, excited, or frustrated? Is this experience triggering emotions from a past event? Do you have ruminating thoughts invading your mind? Check in with your body. Are you noticing fluctuations in your health?

Take this opportunity to pause and turn inward. You can use the following guide to work through any changes — whether they’re big or small:

• Ground yourself: Practice grounding through meditation, journaling, going on walks, or engaging in a relaxing activity. The purpose of grounding is to approach your transition from a calm and peaceful place rather than an anxiety-fueled state. Here, you can think more clearly and move forward with intention.

• Validate your feelings: The emotions you’re experiencing are valid. But they likely stem from a limiting belief. For instance, I lost my job, so I’m not good enough. There is no direct connection between the job outcome and your self-worth. However, as humans, we tend to personalize anything that affects us. Notice your feelings without attacking yourself. Hypnotherapy can help you move through limiting beliefs and align your mind to be in sync with your goals.

• Separate fact from limiting belief: Sever the connection your brain is trying to make and question the validity of your thoughts. In many cases, toxic beliefs don’t derive from the change itself; instead, they already exist within you. When you endure a challenging transition, your brain will search for living examples from your past experiences to support your (limiting) beliefs. You can tap into these limiting beliefs by using hypnotherapy as a tool to help you reframe the beliefs to be more in alignment with your goals.

• Explore the facts: Determine what is true. A layoff could be due to downsizing, economic downturn, or cutting costs. Your termination may have nothing to do with your work performance, even if it affects you on a personal level. Consider other true aspects. I was laid off, and I need to land a new job. Viewing your circumstances from an objective perspective allows you to see reality for what it is versus what your inner critic tells you.

• Shift your beliefs: Imagine how far you could go if you believe in yourself. Beliefs play a significant role in how you maneuver changes. But it can be challenging to transform your belief systems alone. Hypnotherapy can help you shift your limiting beliefs to powerful statements about yourself. You can empower yourself to achieve anything when you dismantle old, toxic beliefs and replace them with new, positive ideas.

The initial shock of a transition can send you reeling and question your self-worth. It can also trigger your mind to spiral with distressing thoughts. For instance, I won’t be able to pay my bills and I’ll become homeless, or I’ll never find the right person for me and will be alone forever.

When these thoughts occur, it’s vital to catch yourself and realize they are not an authentic reflection of you. A business or partner’s needs may not depend on you alone. So, be careful not to personalize every change in your life. Sometimes when a door closes, a window opens.

Accept the imperfections

Many people gravitate to plans and routines because they offer a foundation for daily life. There’s comfort in knowing how things will play out, even though unpredictable factors in life typically occur. Expecting a seamless transition from one chapter to the next is unrealistic, and standing firm in this belief can lead to disappointment and frustration.

Learn to accept that change will not be perfect, and it doesn’t need to be. It’s all about tapping into the groundedness within. You can still create goals and feel optimistic about the future while understanding there may be some bumps along the road.

Life is like a rollercoaster with twists and turns, but that’s a natural part of the journey of life. The best way to get from point A to point B is to be present and keep moving towards how you want to be and feel.

However, you don’t need to endure transitions by yourself. You can connect with loved ones for support, journal your experiences, and shift your beliefs with hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapy is a powerful tool for helping you adjust your limiting beliefs into positive affirmations about yourself. With the support of a hypnotherapist, you can learn to turn inward and empower yourself to make intentional changes for a fulfilling life.

Do you need assistance breaking through limiting beliefs? Are you experiencing a demanding transition at the moment?

If so, schedule a virtual hypnotherapy session with Mindful Hypnotherapy today! I look forward to guiding you through life’s unpredictable changes!

Photo by: Natalie Bond

Gain Peace of Mind With Boundary Setting

Ruminating thoughts can trigger feelings of fear and anxiety. For many people, rumination feels like drowning during a heavy storm — you’re trying to stay afloat while the waves wash over you. A stream of thoughts competing for your attention can make it impossible to focus or find solid ground. With hypothetical situations filling your mind, you may panic and visualize the worst-case scenarios.

For instance, if you are working at a company with pending layoffs, you may experience ruminations when you consider finances, job security, and the uncertainty of the market. If you lose your position, there’s a lot at stake, so naturally, your mind goes on a frantic search for the answers.

What happens if I get laid off?

How will I handle my finances and support my family?

Do I have enough set aside to pay for rent?

Can I find another job?

As your mind spirals, it becomes harder to find a solution. You may even feel paralyzed from trying to put the pieces together. Attempting to look at the whole picture is overwhelming, especially with distressing thoughts weighing on you. Before you fall deeper into the abyss, you must set boundaries with yourself.

Your inner critic is the primary source of your ruminating

The guiding voice trying to protect you from harm is your inner critic. Its purpose is to keep you safe, yet it contributes to the noise in your brain. Your inner voice may wave red flags and caution you from taking action. In some cases, it may point out your insecurities, causing mental barriers on your journey. Instead of defining solutions and making progress toward them, you may experience hesitance and self-doubt.

While your inner critic is meant to be a compass, sometimes it doesn’t lead you in the right direction. That’s why reflecting on your thoughts and questioning their validity is essential. Is this belief true? Does this thought accurately reflect me and my past experiences?

Most times, our ruminations are based on fear rather than reality.

Feeding into toxic thoughts from your inner voice is not beneficial. The longer you sit in the ruminating space, the more likely it will develop into a belief system. Stopping the ruminating prevents the belief system from taking root, allowing you to plant another ideology that will help you navigate your circumstances better.

Working through rumination and cultivating real change

When you’re lying in bed thinking about your job situation or the uncertainty of the future, breaking your chain of thoughts is hard, but it’s not impossible. You can set boundaries with yourself and reclaim control over your mind with the following steps:

• Give yourself a break: Step away from your thoughts and take notice of what’s going on inside. If an anxious idea pops up, acknowledge it and let it go. You don’t need to explore it right now. While your feelings are completely valid, dwelling in the ruminating space won’t provide clarity or a sense of calm. Make the choice to pause.

• Comfort your inner child: Imagine talking with your inner child. How would you console a child after losing a game? What would you say to help them overcome feelings of defeat and disappointment? How can you show this child within compassion? Engaging in an internal conversation may inspire some realizations related to your current circumstance.

• Apply your conversation to the present: After opening up and dialing into your inner child, try talking to your present self in the same manner. Connect the messages you shared with your inner child to your current situation. Doing so will allow you to perceive your reality with compassion rather than criticism. Some ways to show self-compassion are acknowledging your concerns and offering encouragement.

• Take action to address the problem: Ruminating will not change your circumstances, but putting down stepping stones will. You will gain relief and peace of mind when you take actionable steps to address your issues. For instance, if you’re struggling with finances, consider solutions to relieve your financial stress, like budgeting, spending intentionally, and searching for affordable rent.

Taking charge of your ruminating thoughts is the first step to returning to how you want to be and feel. Set aside time to practice mindfulness and honor your boundaries with intention.

Setting boundaries with yourself

We live in an uncertain world, and the unpredictability feels like we have no control over our lives. This lack of control often reveals itself in many ways, like not establishing clear boundaries with others or ourselves because we don’t realize we can. However, that’s not true.

The one thing we do have control over is our minds.

We decide whether or not we are going to ruminate.

We determine if our thoughts will influence our actions.

We can call out our inner critic and question the validity of the chatter.

But to gain control over our minds, we must begin with boundaries. Setting your own boundaries allows you to turn inward and listen to your inner wisdom.

Telling your mind to stop ruminating is an excellent example of boundary setting. It’s choosing to honor yourself and care for your mental health rather than entertain hypothetical situations.

If you experience anxious thoughts, follow the steps listed above. Mantras are also helpful for dismantling toxic ideas before they take root and planting positive beliefs in their place. Here are some mantras you can recite:

• I am in control of my mind.

• I have the power to take steps toward a solution.

• I am safe, and I am capable.

In addition, visualization is a powerful practice to shift your attention towards what you want for your life. Visualization helps you imagine how you want to be and feel as you progress towards your goals. For example, maybe you feel helpless after a layoff, using the power of visualization to create the best-case scenario can get you moving towards a better future. Notice how that feels. What steps can you see yourself taking to get there? Whether you update your LinkedIn or network with other professionals, envisioning yourself taking these steps can inspire you to do them in real life.

Finally, consider removing the emotion from the scenario and viewing it objectively. A company’s decision to downsize is not your fault, even if it affects you on a personal level. A random thought is just a momentary idea, and worrying about the future is a common concern.

When you perceive reality as it stands, you can be mindful of the thoughts running through your brain and dismiss them if they don’t serve you.

You have the power to overcome rumination

When it comes to unforeseeable circumstances affecting you, like getting laid off or being forced to commute to the office again, it’s important to realize that you don’t need a solution on day 1. As long as you’re taking baby steps toward your goal, you will experience less anxiety building up within you as you take control over your mind from ruminating out of control.

You have everything within you to reclaim your power. All you need to do is clarify those boundaries, quiet the rumination, and listen to your inner wisdom. When you trust your valuable insight, you can overcome any internal noise that tells you otherwise.

Do you struggle with ruminating thoughts? Hypnotherapy is an excellent tool that can assist you with navigating your inner critic and guiding your introspection. Schedule a virtual session with Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco today to get started!

Photo by: Liza Summer

Exploring Boundary Setting and Connections to Past Trauma

Humans are skilled at adapting to their environments and circumstances. Although it’s considered a strength, many individuals experience ripples in their lives because of it. For instance, people pleasers constantly accommodate those around them, and workaholics always say “yes” to the next challenge, project, and meeting. A common thread between people pleasers and workaholics is a lack of boundaries.

You’re not supporting yourself when you put everyone else’s needs above yours. Instead, you’re neglecting your rest and care. And before you know it, you forget about your needs entirely.

That is, until something triggers you, like an uncomfortable situation or a disagreement. Often these experiences bring out emotional turmoil, igniting your frustration and dissatisfaction. Without boundaries, you fall into a never-ending cycle of compromises. If you notice discomfort here, it’s likely tied to a deeper issue.

Exploring your discomfort

Your uneasiness with a current situation may stem from past trauma, such as an experience you avoided, an event you haven’t come to terms with, or an issue you thought you healed from but didn’t fully resolve. When reflecting on your past, it’s common for emotions to intensify, like guilt and shame.

However, assessing your emotions is helpful because they illuminate an internal problem. They point you toward something that needs to be addressed.

If you’re struggling to establish boundaries in your life, it indicates that you need to heal from something. Once you put in the work, you can create the necessary boundaries for better alignment and balance.

The vital role of boundaries

Boundaries are healthy parameters you create to honor, protect, and care for yourself. Although some people believe it’s a sign of selfishness, it’s the opposite. When you put your needs first, you’re taking the time to understand what you want and require to cultivate a happy life. As a result, you can show up as your most authentic self.

Having healthy boundaries means asking what you’re willing to tolerate. What are you willing to do for others? Are there factors you won’t compromise on? What are your values? Do you have a core belief (or multiple) that you want to maintain?

For example, if you want to refrain from drinking alcohol, this is a boundary worth protecting. Communicating this value with colleagues and friends is essential since you want to maintain it.

The beauty in discerning your wants, needs, and desires is forming a relationship with yourself. Here, you can implement a foundation of support, which you can extend to others if it makes sense. But you have to start with you. You need to learn how to care for yourself first. Otherwise, you’ll have an unsustainable life, filling other people’s cups while yours runs dry.

How to set boundaries in your life

If constructing boundaries is overwhelming, take a deep breath and acknowledge your feelings. It’s important to realize that everyone chooses what they’re willing to tolerate. And you’re no exception. You have the right to decide how you want to be and feel.

Here are four steps to defining your limits:

• Tune into yourself: What do you want, need, and desire? Set aside time to have an honest conversation with yourself. This practice will allow you to gain clarity on what best serves you.

• Consider your non-negotiables: What values do you want to uphold? These include beliefs that you don’t want to compromise on. For instance, if you’re a vegetarian, you value a plant-based diet. This would be a non-negotiable factor to protect.

• Stay firm but flexible: Once you determine your non-negotiables, stand your ground and stay true to yourself. But remember, there may be other parties who don’t share your values. You will likely encounter situations where you’re making decisions with another party. In this case, practice flexibility. For example, if you’re a vegetarian and you’re going out to lunch with someone, you’ll want to select a restaurant that meets both of your dietary needs.

• Articulate your wants, needs, and desires to others: After clarifying your boundaries, make sure to communicate them. Let your family and friends know where you stand so that you can maintain a healthier balance in your life and authenticity in your relationships.

This approach begins with an honest conversation and continues with transparency with others. So if you are in a conflicting situation, take a step back and ask yourself why. Then, express your feelings to whoever is involved. The last thing you want is to damage a relationship by lashing out. Instead, share your truth, set the boundary, and rest easy knowing you’re doing the right thing for yourself.

It’s time to honor yourself

It’s challenging to adjust a habit, such as accommodating others. But, like all habits, it takes time and practice. In addition, reflecting on your emotional turmoil and pinpointing the root cause may help you move forward. You can start this process by asking the following questions:

• Is there work I’m avoiding?

• Am I compromising my values by trying to be a good friend, a stellar worker, or something I’m not?

• Am I staying true to myself?

• Is accommodating someone else’s needs causing internal conflict?

Recognizing unhealthy habits, like prioritizing others, is one of the first steps to change. Once you determine the factors keeping you from the life you want to live and how you want to be, you can empower yourself to make the necessary adjustments for a healthier and more intentional life. Remember, boundaries are healthy, and everyone is setting them. So give yourself permission to take steps toward establishing alignment.

Are you noticing patterns that allow others to overstep your boundaries? Are you engaging in habits that could be linked to past trauma or learning from your childhood?

If the answer is yes, consider working through them with hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is a beneficial tool for identifying past patterns and trauma responses and discovering how to tune into your needs so that you can live a more fulfilling life.

Schedule a virtual session with Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco today! I look forward to guiding and supporting you on your journey.

Photo by: Alex Green

How To Empower Yourself When You Experience Fear

Fear is a dominating force for many people, looming over their heads like a dark cloud. It can trigger survival mode and make you jump to conclusions, becoming a more significant issue than it really is. Fear can also create emotional barriers that prevent you from taking vital risks on your journey.

Finding your power amid fear may seem impossible, especially when hypothetical situations make you question your ability to survive the unknown. For instance, if you’re afraid of losing your job, your mind may conjure up worse-case scenarios, like the following:

• What if I lose my job? Then I won’t be able to pay the rent.

• What if I can’t pay rent? Then I may end up on the streets.

• What if I run out of money? Then I won’t have enough food to eat.

Those thoughts are from the brain’s natural inclination to protect you. However, more often than not, fear blows things out of proportion. There will undoubtedly be challenges as you navigate life, but as long as you regain power over your mind, you can change your circumstances.

When you stop fear in its tracks and work through them, you can take powerful steps toward how you want to be and feel.

It all starts in the mind.

Where does fear come from?

The amygdala is responsible for processing fear. When exposed to something threatening, your brain releases stress hormones to cope with it. You may have experienced this sensation with fight or flight mode, which kicks in to support your survival.

For example, a diagnosis can threaten your survival, making you more susceptible to panic and overwhelm. But what if there was an approach to work through irrational fear — a way to pivot before you reach the point of fight or flight mode? That’s when pausing and reframing comes into play.

How to work through fear

Step 1: Stop. Before the ruminating thoughts begin, stop everything in motion. You may verbalize this or take a moment to recognize what you’re experiencing. If a related idea appears, dismiss it for the time being until you create a safe space to explore it.

Step 2: Breathe. Take some deep breaths to calm your nervous system and reduce tension in your body. Attending to your breath, will allow you to focus on the present and bring peace to your mind.

Step 3: Sit in the fear. Acknowledge your fear and allow any other feelings to come to the surface. You may reflect on what the fear is and what’s causing it. As you experience a flash of emotions, remember your feelings are valid. Whether you’re experiencing anxiety or tension, embrace the bad story and sit with it. The feelings will eventually dissipate and take the charge out of the feelings you are experiencing.

Step 4: Question the validity. Often fear is based on hypothetical situations inspired by real factors in your life. For example, believing a diagnosis is the end of life as you know it. When fear cascades into negative thoughts, reframe the belief and ask if it’s true.

• Is it true that I can’t heal from this sickness?

• Is it true that I can’t enjoy each moment with my family and friends?

• Is it true that I can’t find joy when a disease challenges me?

When you ground yourself in truth, you gain clarity for the fear — uncertainty of the unknown. Then, you can call it out, recognize the reality of the circumstances, and choose how to navigate the next chapter.

Step 5: Provide assurance. Once you’ve reached a state of calm, share words of reassurance. Just like consoling a friend, you can soothe your mind by remembering you’re okay and safe. Remind yourself you’re capable of moving through any situation. Positive affirmations are an excellent exercise for boosting your confidence. It’s also beneficial to give you mind proof of prior success in navigating through a challenging situation.

Step 6: Take action. Determine how you want to manage the situation. How can you reprogram your mind to have a powerful mindset to survive this fear? Here, you can implement a plan for moving forward and how to handle anxiety when it occurs in the future. Setting down concrete steps will also give you the confidence to conquer uncertainty and achieve the life you deserve.

My experience with fear

Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with cancer. For many people, a diagnosis like this can plant seeds of anxiety and stress. So naturally, I experienced fear and concern for the future. I couldn’t predict what would happen next or what direction my recovery would go in. However, I knew exactly what I wanted — to heal.

Before I created a plan, I had to accept my feelings and make peace with the fear. Ignoring a feeling with a powerful presence would only cause barriers on my journey. So I acknowledged my feelings and sat with the fear. From there, I sought peace by turning inward. I practiced meditation and positive affirmations during this time. I often used the following affirmation:

I’m creating powerful, positive, and rapid healing.

After several months, my recovery and good health became evident to doctors. My diagnosis didn’t last forever, and I felt a new sense of reassurance wash over me. My mind played such a significant role in my recovery. As I’ve said to my clients before and something I also live by, we have everything we need within us to heal.

You have power over your mind

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by fear and let it shake you until you spiral. But if you pause, sit in the discomfort, and allow yourself to feel the emotions, they will pass through you.

There are plenty of uncontrollable factors in life. For instance, you can’t control if your doctor shows up promptly or late or how your boss perceives you. But you do have control over your mind. Your ability to think rationally and make decisions is a testament to this. So empower yourself to live the way you want to be and feel.

Fear isn’t a feeling you dismiss once and never expect to see again. It will appear in the future, but when it does, know you have the power to navigate and move through it in a healthy manner.

Is fear causing barriers in your life? Do you require guidance managing it? If so, consider exploring hypnotherapy, a valuable tool for letting go of limiting beliefs and overcoming fears and phobias.

Schedule a virtual session with Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco today! Let’s work through your challenging experiences together.

Photo By: Pixabay

Prioritizing Your Needs and Desires With Inner Work

Have you ever felt like you could barely keep your head above water? Almost as if everything in your life is happening simultaneously — your car is due for maintenance, you have to carpool your kids to summer activities, your work projects are overflowing, and you still have to figure out what to cook for dinner. Sometimes life is overwhelming, and all you can do is react. But, when balancing responsibilities, there’s no time for a pause.

It’s common to put you and your needs on the back burner, especially if you have more pressing priorities. Unfortunately, when this occurs, you’re less likely to take time to meditate, work out, or self-reflect. As a result, you neglect yourself while getting lost in daily activities.

Although many people believe they’re present and take breaks, more often than not, they seek comfort in external factors like TV, social media, food, and drugs, numbing them even more.

It’s human nature to want to avoid the feeling of pain and find comfort as soon as possible. However, this comfort can manifest in unhealthy coping mechanisms that don’t serve you or your journey.

You may experience short-lived satisfaction, but ultimately, you won’t feel nourishment or a sense of progression. Instead, spending hours scrolling on social media or watching the news distracts you from reflecting and finding the fulfillment you truly seek.

When you numb yourself with TV shows or endless to-do lists, you become oblivious to your purpose and what makes you feel joyful. Many individuals believe that being productive will bring fulfillment. However, have you ever taken a step back to ask yourself if any of these tasks, chores, or projects are important?

How essential is it to rearrange the silverware drawer? Is pulling weeds from your yard vital right now? Is it crucial to dust your shelves?

There’s nothing wrong with taking on projects or watching your favorite shows, but when you fill your life with noise, you get distracted from doing the inner work.

Consider if the outside world is distracting you from yourself and your priorities:

• Are you spending more time on social media versus focusing inward?

• Are you happy with your life?

• Do you gauge your own happiness on what’s happening in the world?

• Do you feel you can’t be happy because of current events, relationships, or circumstances?

Distractions are often used as coping mechanisms to avoid doing inner work, digging deep, and healing. The truth is doing the work is challenging. Sometimes it requires facing deep-rooted trauma or transforming belief systems. But it’s a necessary step to breaking through your monotonous routine and tapping into your authentic self.

The Issue With Numbing Yourself and Avoiding the Inner Work

You don’t make room for yourself when you fill your journey with activities. Suddenly, you’re living a life that isn’t meant for you, and you’re just trying to get through each day. There is a lack of purpose and authenticity, which can lead to depression and apathy.

That’s not how you should be living! Instead, you deserve to experience fulfillment and progression on your life’s journey.

Turning inward allows you to understand your wants, needs, and desires. When you do the work, you can finally open the door to the next chapter.

What Does It Mean to “Do the Work”

“Doing the work” focuses on self-reflection, allowing you to process the barriers preventing you from being happy. You may ask yourself challenging questions like how you want to travel through your life or what’s preventing you from living as your authentic self.

Inner work goes beyond checking off your to-do list and directs your attention to your feelings. As a result, you may unearth powerful revelations like trauma or limiting beliefs as you reflect.

But the work doesn’t stop with acknowledging your feelings. It requires time and consistent practice to learn how to sit with yourself. Self-reflection is an ongoing process of recognizing what’s happening in your life and what changes you need to make to be content.

Activities for Working on Yourself

• Meditate for five minutes a day: Life gets busy, but there is always time to spare. Whether it’s an hour, thirty minutes, or less, meditation is a powerful way to silence the noise and focus on you. You can find short guided meditations online.

• Journal your thoughts: Writing down what’s on your mind allows you to clear mental clutter and discover ruminating ideas.

• Check-in with yourself weekly: Notice any patterns coming to the surface. What are you meditating on? What are you journaling about? If you see a trend, this can guide you to look even deeper into your blocks.

From there, consider what support you may need. Maybe you require a friend, family member, a therapist, or a hypnotherapist? Perhaps, you need to shift a belief or heal from past trauma. Engaging with a support network and modifying your belief system can help you get to the root of change.

Autumn: A Good Time for Self-Reflection

As we move from summer to fall, we’re entering a quieter season before hibernation, winter. Summer activities are dying down, the days are becoming shorter, and the kids are returning to school. Autumn is a great time to align with the natural seasonal cycle and establish routines and goals following the busyness of summer.

Allow yourself to pause and reflect.

You can continue to walk through your life with constant distractions, preventing you from living as your true self, or you can choose to reflect on what matters most to you.

As you tune into yourself, consider how you’re feeling, what matters to you, and how you can reprioritize your desires and needs in life. What you want now may differ from what you wanted three months ago. So carve out time to focus on your current desires and do the work.

Break Through the Distractions with Hypnotherapy

Life can be hectic, complicated, and loud. But it doesn’t mean it has to remain that way. You don’t have to stay stuck in a hustle cycle or numb yourself with external things. You have the power to create a life on how you want to be and feel.

Start doing the inner work by creating space to sit with your feelings and navigating your wants, needs, and desires. Then, with the assistance of a support network and a hypnotherapist, you can gain peace of mind and direction.

Hypnotherapy is a healing modality, enabling you to transform your belief system, let go of limiting beliefs and guide you on your path.

If you need assistance breaking through life’s distractions and turning inward, schedule a virtual session with Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco today!

Photo By: Anastasia Shuraeva

Navigating Your Inner Critic to Find Your Authentic Voice

The inner critic is often considered your worst enemy, the voice that criticizes every move you make. It may fill your mind with limiting beliefs, which are toxic ideas that create barriers in your personal and professional life. The inner critic may affect how you perceive yourself, making you question your capabilities and intelligence. While the voice has a negative reputation for planting seeds of self-doubt, it’s not inherently bad.

The inner critic’s purpose is to protect you and keep you safe.

However, the guidance may manifest itself in negative ruminating thoughts. When you’re feeling down or insecure, your inner critic will remind you of past failures. It may say:

• You’re not good enough

• You don’t have what it takes to be successful

• You’re going to fail

If these thoughts sound familiar, chances are your inner voice was attempting to break your confidence down and shield you from failure or humiliation. Although these thoughts may seem fleeting, they can turn into a constant cycle, cementing them into firm beliefs.

Many people don’t realize they’re experiencing a flood of negativity from their inner critic because they hear it every day. This normalizes statements and makes it challenging to decipher your truth.

Is the Inner Critic All Bad?

The simple answer: no. When it senses danger, it acts as a fire alarm to protect you from harm. However, at times, it goes overboard with negativity. That’s why turning inward and reflecting on your truths is vital.

The inner critic also doesn’t work alone. As humans, we have a negatively biased brain, our reptilian (survival) brain, which means that positivity doesn’t come naturally to us. Fortunately, positive psychology is attainable with the support of a coach and/or hypnotherapist who can guide you towards the life you want to live and how you want to feel.

The Origin of the Inner Critic

Although we have a negatively biased brain, the inner critic may originate from past trauma, which can trace as far back as childhood. Trauma is an emotional response to an event that occurred in your life and can cause depression, anxiety, and limiting beliefs.

For instance, if a parent told you that you weren’t good enough or you weren’t worthy, you may accept this insult and believe it to be true throughout your life’s journey. The inner critic is a reflection of this trauma.

As you grow older, the voices of your past may interweave with your voice. It may be difficult for you to perceive if a thought is sincere, even when it comes from a place of toxicity.

Revisiting trauma with regression therapy can be a beneficial approach for assessing the voice, recognizing the harm it caused you, and reprogramming your subconscious mind. When you take time to heal, you can separate their voice from yours and tap into your authentic-self.

How Your Inner Critic Affects You in the Present

Your inner critic is meant to act as a compass, but sometimes it creates hindrances on your journey, making it challenging for you to grow and flourish in your life.

For example, if you have an upcoming client meeting, your inner critic may say you’re not experienced enough or warn you of repeating past mistakes. These toxic thoughts impose insecurities.

As hypothetical situations fill your mind, you may experience stress and anxiety. This is the inner critic’s way of protecting you through self-sabotage. However, contemplating internal attacks can lead you to spiral, give up, and not believe in yourself.

Instead, you need to take your power back and break free from the inner critic.

What’s the Solution to the Inner Critic?

If you’re experiencing obsessive ruminating thoughts, you can address the inner critic by:

• Stopping the ruminating by saying “stop” or “go away”

• Taking a breath

• Shifting to self-talk

Tell the inner critic to “stop” or “go away.” This is not a request, but rather a demand, allowing you to take charge of your thoughts. Just like you would to an intruder in your personal space, do not allow the thought to move in and take over.

Next, ground yourself. You want to be in a calm and controlled state because engaging in self-talk while your mind is spiraling is ineffective. Find a safe space and take several deep breaths. A tool that is used in hypnosis is to give the mind a suggestion to become “calm, relaxed, and in control”. The goal is to shift to a better feeling and as you do, your mind and body begin to be and feel this. Know that the mind cannot experience two conflicting emotions at the same time. Once you feel centered and focused, you can begin self-talk.

Self-talk allows you to reflect on your success and failures. Here, you can challenge the inner critic and question the validity of the toxic statements. You can ask if there is truthfulness in what’s being said. For example, is it true that you never had a sale, achieved a goal, or had a successful presentation? Is it true that you don’t have what it takes to succeed?

After reflecting on these questions, you may realize that the inner voice exaggerated your insecurities. Perhaps you didn’t fail as much as you believed. Maybe you know what you’re doing and you’ve been doing a great job.

Challenge the inner critic with proof of your past wins and successes!

Now replace those negative thoughts with positive beliefs. List examples of what you are truly capable of and reflect on past accomplishments. As you are reflecting on your past wins, tap into how you felt and allow those feelings and emotions to flow through you.

Here are some affirmations to try out:

• I know what I’m doing.

• I have this job for a reason.

• I got accepted into this school for a reason.

• I’m up for this challenge.

• I have what it takes.

When you’re transparent with yourself, you’ll find that most of what the inner critic says is untrue. If you failed in the past, that’s okay. Failure is a part of life. It’s how we learn and grow. Reframe your past mistakes as learning opportunities and allow it to propel you forward.

Keeping the Inner Critic in Check

When it comes to your inner critic, self-talk is not a one-and-done practice. You have to constantly remind yourself that you’re good enough and you’re confident in your abilities. One way to conquer the inner critic and keep it in check is by citing proof of your past wins again and again. Keep the wins top of mind.

If you spoke well at a conference or received a high score on your finals, reflect on how you felt with those wins. Acknowledging your accomplishments is a great reminder that you have what it takes to be successful. It also allows you to silence any pessimistic whispers from your inner critic.

While the inner voice is associated with negative conceptions, its main purpose is to guide you on your life’s journey and keep you safe and protected. However, protection may evolve into barriers, sheltering you from facing tough challenges as well as discovering your true potential.

Although you can use your inner critic as a compass, it doesn’t mean you have to follow and accept everything it tells you. Trust your inner knowing and intuition. When your inner critic states something harmful, challenge it.

As you continue your journey, remember that you are enough. Tap into your power and set your mind to achieve your goals.

If you need guidance with your inner voice, schedule a virtual session with Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco today!

Let’s work towards your transformation.

Photo By: Andrew Neel | @andrewtneel

How to Overcome Past Trauma With Regression Work

Have you ever wondered how your past experiences affect you now? Most people don’t believe they’re victims of trauma, but the truth is everyone has experienced an incident or stressful situation that has influenced how they navigate through their lives. For some people, trauma may manifest itself in anxiety, depression, or panic attacks, but often, it appears in subtle ways like limiting beliefs.

Limiting beliefs are based on fear and self-doubt, creating barriers for your personal and professional growth. They don’t magically appear out of thin air. Rather, they stem from an incident or past wound. Everyone has varying degrees of trauma that look different from one another. While yours may not seem extreme, it can still hold you back from pursuing the life you want and deserve to live. It’s time for you to look back, heal the trauma, believe you’re worthy, and move forward.

So how can you take steps to overcome your past? Regression work.

Regression work is a deep and transformational process, where the hypnotherapist guides the client to a past trauma and allows them to revisit their past experience with a new perspective and come out renewed and on the path to healing.

While the idea of revisiting a distressing experience may seem daunting, it’s an opportunity to take your power back and use your present perspective to convey comfort to your past self. It’s common for clients to travel back to their childhood, a time when they didn’t have much control in their lives. However, it’s not limited to adolescence. The experience may have occurred recently. Regression work allows people to go back and give themselves something meaningful they didn’t have at the time.

What a Regression Session Looks Like

A regression session entails guiding a client back to an incident and looking at it with a different set of eyes, the adult eyes of today. Here, you will see your younger self responding in the memory that’s unfolding while you are in hypnosis. Rather than embodying the memory of your past self, you are observing it from afar. Think of it as watching a movie on a screen. You are an audience member.

You may see the reaction of a parent, guardian, or caregiver who was there. For instance, being told to be quiet by your parents or being shunned in class by a substitute teacher. It’s common to re-experience the deep emotions you felt as a child like shame, discomfort, or anxiety after watching the events unfold, however you will be able to view the incident with a new perspective.

With your newfound insight, you can better understand what transpired, how it affected you, and the lasting imprint the experience has had on your life. Focusing on the inner child, the hypnotherapist will ask, “What does that little child need to know, hear, or feel in this moment?” This is the perfect opportunity to give that child comfort, something you needed, but didn’t receive at the time. It could be a hug, words of comfort, letting them know that this isn’t their fault. If you were told to be quiet, let the child know that they deserve to be heard and seen. Console your younger self in a way that’s most comfortable for you. You know your needs best.

Aftermath of the Regression Session

Following the regression work, this is when discoveries are made. You can take the traumatic experience and apply it to the present. If you were embarrassed for talking in class or told to be quiet frequently, that may explain why it’s challenging for you to speak your mind and/or stand up for yourself. Experiencing any form of physical, verbal, or mental abuse can affect your ability to assert yourself and feel confident within. For example, you may want a promotion, but struggle to let your boss know. The trauma has put barriers around you, making it impossible to progress and grow in the ways you want to be and feel.

After the regression session, it’s time to reprogram the mind with new ideas to help you move towards your goals. The healing begins when you forgive the child who experienced the trauma. Follow up sessions will support you in the next steps in the reprogramming process. This will help you push past the trauma and move forward in your life, so you will no longer be held back by limiting beliefs.

Traumatic experiences reinforce the idea that you’re incapable or not enough. In order to transform this limiting mindset, we find a way to heal the trauma, so you can stand strong in knowing you are capable, enough, and worthy of being and feel the way you want.

By revisiting the past trauma, you fully recognize that it shouldn’t have transpired in the first place. Being told to be quiet, hold your tongue, or keep to yourself wasn’t right. This new awareness begins to deconstruct the old programming. After acknowledging this truth, you will find self-validation and believe you deserve more. You will see yourself as enough and worthy. This sense of assurance acts as the foundation for moving towards your goals.

Purpose of Regression Work

Regression work cultivates healing and allows you to enter the next chapter of your life without anything holding you back. It dives into the experience and trauma with a mission to heal and help you discover a new way to be and feel. This is similar to inner child work, but goes one step further to apply new insight to the problem as well as a path forward.

After the child gets what they need and you see, hear, and feel that the situation was wrong, you begin the healing process. It’s not just about healing the inner child. It’s also about healing the whole self.

Regression work taps into the past and uses your present knowledge to change the trajectory of your future. It empowers you to rebuild and get on track to the life you deserve to live.

Are you looking to heal past trauma and transform how you navigate life?

Schedule a virtual hypnotherapy session with Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco today!

I look forward to guiding you on your healing journey.

Photo By: Anita Jankovic | @dslr_newb

The Power of Past Life Regression

Past life regression is a practice that allows you to tap into your subconscious and journey into a dreamlike state of your past life to retrieve vital information for your present self. When you tiptoe into the recesses of your mind, you can open the door to relive experiences that you’ve lived before. Regardless if you’re a little skeptical of the benefits of past life regression, this practice can still assist you with gathering useful information that exists in your subconscious.

Many people are interested in trying this therapy as a way of gaining clarity of their present lives, experiences, limiting beliefs, relationships, fears, and phobias. Past life regression is meant to give insight and healing and it all begins with being open to the subconscious journey.

You can start by planting a seed of what you want to re-examine which will allow you to bring you back to a life you once lived.

Although many clients believe that it’s the hypnotherapist that tells the past life regression narrative, the journey comes from the person that’s traveling back. Be open to feeling sensations in your body, seeing images in your mind, and feeling deep emotions.

For instance, you may feel a sense of anger within you in one moment and then feel other sensations in your fingers or your feet. You may not fully understand what you’re experiencing immediately, recognize how you’re feeling and record it in your mind. This is your opportunity to gather data that may answer some of your many questions as you start to go back into your past life.

Past Life Regression Process

You start in a relaxed and trance-like state. This is your time to tune into your surroundings and tap into your subconscious. Once you plant the seed to bring you back to a life you’ve lived once before, you will focus on why you’re going back. You may ask yourself questions like where you had a fear or phobia or you may delve into a relationship or patterns you’ve noticed in your present life.

Remember to allow yourself to feel and see what you need to. You have the power to turn inward and find the answers you seek.

Your guide may ask you key questions that are connected to your why, but ultimately you are the one that is experiencing everything for yourself. Your guide will not tell you anything, but merely provide prompts to guide you to where you need to go.

You will be led to major milestones in your past life. Going back to a past life doesn’t necessarily mean starting at the beginning of that life when you were born. Instead, you will travel back to moments that were crucial for you.

When you reach your first milestones, take the opportunity to ask the following questions:

· What do I need to know, relive, or feel again?

· What information can I gather from this experience to apply to the here and now?

· How can I grow from this experience?

Reflecting on these questions during your past life regression may open the door to many insights. Spend time here to gather information and tune into the sensations of your body, emotions, and visuals. Remember, the best way you can benefit from this experience is to trust yourself! Your subconscious knows exactly what you’re searching for, so trust your ability to find your answers.

To benefit from the session, you may practice past life regression quietly in your mind and trusting your powerful mind. Your guide is merely here to support you and remind you to trust yourself and be open and tune into what you are experiencing.

As your first milestone unfolds, you may be ready to jump to the next milestones in that life. From there, you will repeat the same process of collecting data and experiencing vital feelings. You will continue this until you reach the end of that past life. Here, you can reflect on your entire life from your last moments, fears, regrets, and enjoyments to what you learned and what you experienced. Everyone’s past life regression experiences are different, so only reflect on what you learned from your experience.

After Your Past Life Regression Session

At the end of your session, you will come back to the present and wake up from your trance. This is where you may make connections to the purpose of your journey and the place where your subconscious mind joins back with your logical mind.

Your mind may get flooded with a lot of valuable information, so make sure to retain this data by writing it down or recording it. You will want to sit with the information as more details may emerge later on.

For the next couple of weeks, be open to more insight coming to you. Something in your present life may trigger information from your past. The fact that past life regression can last beyond the session with your guide makes it a powerful tool for healing and gaining insight.

What You Can Gain from Past Life Regression

Past life regression can help you gain answers, insight, and clarity for your life’s journey. It’s significant to recognize that these answers aren’t coming from an external source, they are coming from within you. Everything you’re searching for; you can find from your intuition.

The best part of this experience is that you can apply it to your present life. If you’ve been lacking direction or trying to understand why you have certain experiences, past life regression can assist in leading you where you want to go. The secret to this therapy is in what you learn and uncover comes from within you.

Consider what you are taking away from this experience and what your intuition is telling you. When you gain answers to your questions, you can apply them to the here and now. Your current life. This allows you to tap into your answers and gives you peace of mind. Past life regression is meaningful because you are finding the answers yourself and in turn, healing yourself.

If you’re looking for a way to view your life in a new light, hypnosis is a powerful tool that can help guide you to find better clarity and understanding.

Are you ready to experience past life regression?

To get started, schedule a virtual hypnotherapy session at Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco.

Photo by: William Farlow | @frozen_warmth from Unsplash

Realign Your Goals with Where You Want to Go Next

The world is beginning to open up as the time of the pandemic comes to an end. The pandemic may have been a time of change, growth, the start of new chapters, and the end of old chapters. As we adapt to a new stage of normal, let’s take this as an opportunity to return with our goals realigned to how we feel and where we are now. We can practice realignment by having a purposeful re-entry and what better time to do that than now.

A purposeful re-entry means getting in tune with what you’re looking for in life in the present moment. Does this mean returning to your old schedule of commuting to work everyday, getting together with friends regularly, starting a new relationship? Think about what your re-entry will look like.

Take a moment to reflect

While reflecting, consider how you feel, if you’re moving towards your goals, what steps you’re taking to get to where you want to be, and if any goals or ambitions have changed. If you do notice a shift in how you feel, then that’s the perfect place to start with realigning yourself.

While it can be nerve-wracking to take steps towards change, it is worth considering what makes you happy. Change can happen for a variety of reasons: lack of fulfillment, exhaustion, and a desire to pursue a new dream. It’s also completely valid. We, as humans, transform every day, so why wouldn’t our values and goals also change?

Start the process of realigning yourself with your goals by asking purposeful questions. By asking questions about how you feel and checking in with yourself, you are opening the door to growth, discovery, and direction.

Meaningful Questions to Ask Yourself

The following are some goal-directed questions you can ask yourself as you start your transformative journey. You can add specific questions to the list that pertain to your current circumstances.

• What is best for me right now?

• What do I want to address?

• Am I looking for the same things in life now as I was before the pandemic?

• What will serve my needs?

• What do I want for the next chapter of my life?

• Where do I see myself going?

• What feels right for my future?

• How do I see myself growing?

Take a moment to ask yourself these powerful questions. Some of the answers may come easy to you and others may take further reflection. Remember, priorities shift. It’s okay to switch direction in life if what you once wanted does not serve what you want now. To follow up the questions, you can reflect on the common themes that come up.

Contemplate the Themes in Your Life

After asking yourself the previous questions, you can survey all of the themes that came to your mind. Maybe you thought about a relationship and whether or not it’s serving you. Perhaps you contemplated a job and what role it plays in your life currently. When you take your themes into account, you are allowing yourself to pinpoint major factors that affect you everyday. Upon everything opening up again and schedules being resumed, you can highlight the following purposeful question. Am I still looking for the same things in my life now as before the pandemic?

When you acknowledge what you want most in life, you better solidify your new goals by putting down the stepping stones to what’s best for you and your needs. As you turn inward, you can reassess where you are now and adapt your goals accordingly.

Taking Time for Inward Reflection

Diving deeper into contemplation through inward reflection can assist you through many avenues. During this stage, you can ask yourself if you have a plan and if you do have a plan, you can check to see if that method falls in alignment with where you want to go in life. For instance, if you have a fitness goal, consider if your exercise and/or meal plan assist you on your fitness journey. By creating a plan that connects well with your goals, you are setting yourself up to succeed in whatever you set your mind on.

Sometimes, however, it may take more than a plan to motivate you to reach your new goals. To put yourself in a positive mindset to attain your ambitions and goals, you can state mantras. You can take emotional themes that you tell yourself and apply them to this exercise. For instance, if you’re seeking more confidence or self-love, you can create mantras that match those themes.

Using Mantras that Serve You

The following are some examples of mantras that you can use in your day-to-day life.

• I deserve love.

• I love myself fully and completely.

• I am confident in myself, my abilities, and my journey.

• I have the power within to tap into my inner confidence.

• I am taking steps towards what I want in life.

• I’m becoming more and more confident.

Hypnotherapy Can Help Realign You with Your Goals

If you’ve gone through the stages of reflection and reached into your intuition to gain insight, you can take it a step deeper and use hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapy is a guiding tool that’s meant to serve you in anything you choose to move towards. If you’re looking for self-confidence, clarity for your next chapter, fulfillment in a new job, or internal joy, hypnosis can help you realign yourself with your goals.

As we re-enter a new normal following the pandemic, let this be an opportunity for you to gain clarity for your path forward.

Are you ready to get realigned with your aspirations?

You can contact me at Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco for an online hypnotherapy session. I look forward to assisting you on your aspirational journey.

Photo by Ryan Holloway | @hollowaykryan from Unsplash

It’s All About You: Discover How Confidence Comes From Within

Doesn’t it feel good when someone tells you how awesome you are for a job well done? Sure, it makes sense that you would get a pep in your step and feel a boost of confidence when you receive accolades like this. However, even though it’s nice to get praise from others, you don’t need someone else to lift you up. That’s because confidence comes from within!

For example, have you ever waited to hear your supervisor compliment your work? If you never got the acknowledgement you deserved for a job well-done, did it rattle your confidence? Now, what if you took notice of all you have achieved at your job? By reframing or looking at things differently, you are able to own your internal power instead of going outside yourself to feel validated.

By depending on yourself, you are able to embrace your strength and trust your intuition while believing in your abilities. And by listening to your gut, you can also gain clarity that will guide you towards what you want out of life.

How you think about yourself and how you live your life matters most.

Each step of the way towards claiming your confidence is progress. It proves that you are able to do what you are set on doing, move through it, and overcome it. Also, when you take notice of the difficult things you have done in your past, it reminds and teaches you about your resilience.

Every stride you take is a step towards achieving your goals. The size of each step does not matter because you are still moving. Even if you feel stuck at the moment, recognize what you have achieved to get where you are at that point. This is proof that you are capable of getting where you want to be.

You do not need to know how to do something immediately, or in the future, in order to tap into your confidence now. By putting trust in the unfolding of the process as well as trust in yourself, you will reach and achieve your goals.

Hypnotherapy can give you a boost that will remind you of your confidence.

Hypnotherapy is a powerful tool that trains the brain to dismantle limiting beliefs such as feeling a lack of confidence. While addressing your intention to become more confident in a hypnotherapy session, you will learn to unblock what is preventing you from embracing the true you. Soon, you will start to notice that things that bothered you in the past no longer matter. This includes worrying about what people think of you — which is really none of your business because it’s all about you!

If you are ready to rock the confidence that is already within you and say, “I got this!” and “I can do this!”, give hypnotherapy a try!

Photo by Jordan Donaldson | @jordi.d from Unsplash

Why Taking Time to Reflect Supports Achieving Your Goals

It’s the start of 2021 and an ideal time to reflect on 2020. Now’s an opportunity to think about what’s worked and what hasn’t worked for you during the past year. It’s an opportunity to take notice of how and why your goals might have changed. And it’s also the perfect time to learn from decisions, actions, and what’s been on your mind throughout the previous 12 months.

So, take time to reflect.

When you give yourself space to think about your accomplishments, teachable moments, behaviors, emotions, and challenges from 2020, you’ll then be able to identify if you need to course correct so that you stay on track or decide to pivot.

Reflecting upon the past year to help you consider if you’re moving in the right direction, isn’t a new concept. Life strategists and business leaders Tony Robbins, Marie Forleo, and Tim Ferriss also promote goal setting and doing a past year review as a strategy for creating a roadmap to achieve success.

Things to Think About When You Reflect

First things, first. Pay attention to your patterns and see if you notice any trends or hotspots. For instance:

• Did you avoid focusing on goals, relationships, and practicing self-care?

• Did the time you spend on your goals push you further, fuel you, and improve your life in some way?

• Are you happy with the direction you’re moving in?

Your responses to these questions may determine if you need (or want) to change your path. They’re not a measure of good vs. bad or success vs. failure — they’re just thoughts to ponder as you reflect on 2020 and what you’d like to focus on now and in the future.

Why Didn’t You Achieve Your 2020 Goals

Due to the turn 2020 took, it’s understandable if your priorities shifted. Maybe this change in direction helped you reevaluate what matters most to you. Perhaps you got distracted and spent a lot of time on things that didn’t feed you — like, scrolling on social media and getting sucked into too much news about the state of the world. Perhaps you also faced fear about unknowns like the virus and job security.

Even in a non-pandemic year, priorities can still shift. When you reflect, consider all the factors involved in why you didn’t achieve some of the goals you set in the beginning of the year. Your revelations will serve as baselines to support you seeing clearer. This will then help you set future goals to ensure you’re on track to living life on your terms.

Celebrate Your Achievements

By taking a look back and acknowledging your wins, you get to see what works and what serves you. This reflection process includes honoring huge achievements, such as starting a business or processing emotions that you had been previously ignoring. It also includes recognizing smaller successes, like learning a new skill or completing a task, to help you achieve your goals.

How Hypnotherapy Can Help You Stay on Course and Meet Your Goals

In order to move forward, you need to look back, be present, and tap into your inner world.

Hypnotherapy is a perfect complement to yearly goal reflections because it provides tools to quiet your mind so that you can take notice and see things clearer.

Your subconscious mind is a powerful tool. With hypnotherapy, you can use the power of your mind to further address these changes. Along with hypnotherapy, this could entail keeping a journal, tracking your wins in a performance plan or chart, meditating, or just intentionally taking time to reflect.

To learn more about how virtual/online hypnotherapy can help achieve your goals, visit Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco.

Photo by Keegan Houser from Pexels

Take a Pause: Why Listening to Your Body and Emotions Can Help You Through the Dark Days

Have you ever gone through a challenging time in your life that led you to ask when you’d see light at the end of the tunnel? Asking yourself this question is a sign telling you to take notice of the emotions you are feeling. It’s also a signal for you to pay attention to what any aches and pains in your body might be trying to say.

To address the emotional turmoil or distraught feelings in your head, heart, and body, you need to give yourself space to truly listen to them. This isn’t easy. It’s much easier to numb your emotions with a quick and temporary fix like food, alcohol, online shopping, or other distractions. However, just like anxiety — sitting still during a dark period in your life is the first step to unraveling your emotions. Then, by listening and tapping into the knowledge it’s showing you, you can navigate through the darkness and get to a better feeling place.

When you give yourself permission to be quiet, you look to your intuition to guide you.

This is a gift that will help you embrace how you are feeling by tapping into your insight. You’ll then be able to understand the heavy emotions you’re experiencing. And, within time, the darkness will fade and/or introduce you to other feelings that need to be felt.

The outcome isn’t always about what you need to do or what action needs to take place — it could simply be to notice and feel. This can then allow an internal shift to happen.

Some signs that you’re shifting and moving through the dark days include:

• Your breathing stabilizes and you feel less intense.

• Body pain subsides; especially in your stomach and chest.

• You’re eager to start your day.

• You smile more and find yourself dancing or singing.

• You feel lighter.

• You feel less isolated and more open to connect with others.

Hypnotherapy Can Help You Get the Pep Back in Your Step

Feeling the feels is essential for dealing with dark days. And, hypnotherapy can help you find the calm within by listening to your emotions and body.

In a hypnotherapy session, you’ll be guided to a still space. You’ll also learn breathing exercises and self-talk coping skills that will help quiet your mind so that you can then listen to your emotions and feelings. Hypnosis suggestions will also be given to help you process and do this deep work.

For instance:

I have a client who’s experienced a lot of death in her family. Initially, she didn’t give herself space to process her feelings and distracted herself by creating bad habits like overeating. But, after she allowed herself to quiet her mind and tune in to her emotions, she was able to fully feel her sadness. Along with listening to her emotions, she was able to use self-talk tools, and guided hypnotherapy suggestions, to look at her emotions differently. This helped her process and move through this difficult time.

Rather than feeling defeated about the loss in her family, she’s able to redirect her emotions and look at every moment in life as an opportunity to live fully and in the now.

Getting through the dark days is an uplifting and hopeful process because it’s a beautiful reminder that nothing in life is permanent. It’s also a reminder that this too shall pass. Again, our intuitive self is pointing us to go within. Perhaps it could be something we have ignored, something that needs to be processed, or something we simply need to feel.

So, look at your dark days as a sign. A sign to take notice, address your emotions, and remember that even with the darkest clouds, there’s still light at the end of the tunnel!

Are you ready to work through the dark days and see clearer?

To learn more about how virtual/online hypnotherapy can help you through the dark days, contact me at Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco. I look forward to being a part of your transformative healing journey.

Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels

These four benefits will convince you to try virtual / online hypnotherapy today!

Hypnotherapy is so much more than hearing a hypnotherapist say you’re getting sleepy. It’s a powerful form of healing where a client is guided into a relaxed and meditative state.

I commonly treat clients dealing with stress, anxiety, fear, weight loss, lack of confidence, and limiting beliefs. Once I bring my clients into a hypnotic state, I then focus the brain to achieve an intended goal. I do this by asking them the following questions:

• How do you want to feel?

• What do you want to experience?

• How do you visualize your life moving forward?

By using the answers to these questions as a baseline, I guide my clients on their transformative healing journey.

And, did you know that online/virtual and in-person hypnotherapy produce the same results?

In a study led by Dr. Peter Whorwell from The University of Manchester, patients suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) received hypnotherapy. Dr. Whorwell found patients had similar success rates in managing their IBS: regardless if they were treated in person or online.

Like the study, I found clients achieved the same results in person and virtually.

Online/virtual hypnotherapy is designed to fit your life. With so many changes happening in the world, the benefits of a remote session might be perfect for you too!

If you’re curious to learn more, check out the following perks of online hypnotherapy.

Benefit 1 — Take Me On Your Trip!

Meeting virtually offers flexibility to schedule a session from anywhere in the world! If you want to address an issue before a big presentation or while visiting family, all you need is a quiet space for your appointment. Just grab a headset and you’re good to go!

Benefit 2 — No One Needs to Know

Another plus about online hypnotherapy is that you have the option to be in a private and familiar space. This is a great perk if you’re from a small town and don’t want people to know your business. So, now you can say good-bye to any uncomfortable feeling you might’ve had when you headed to the office marked Hypnotherapist.

Benefit 3 — Create a Relaxed Space

I’ve heard from clients that a relaxed and familiar space helps them feel less self-conscious because they’re the only person in the room.

This is your time to feel comfortable and get into a relaxed state. So, go on and grab a pillow, chill out on your bed, and set-up a conducive environment to help you get the most out of your session. If you want, feel free to wear your pajamas too!

Benefit 4 — Enjoy the Quiet After a Transformative Session

Online sessions save time and take the stress out of rushing to an in-person appointment. This means you no longer need to deal with traffic, late trains, or blaring horns.

At the end of a session, you can continue to quietly process the a-ha moments and insights from your transformative sessions thanks to not having to commute home.

Are You Ready?

Now is the time to practice self-care.

Online/virtual hypnotherapy is a great tool to support you amid the uncertainty in the world. It’s a tool to help guide you in finding a solution. It’s also a tool that will help you find you find the happiness you deserve. And, the benefits of online hypnotherapy will also support you in achieving your goals.

To get started on your transformative healing journey, contact me at Mindful Hypnotherapy of San Francisco to learn more and make an appointment.

Photo by Matilda Wormwood, Pexels