How Hypnosis can help you during and beyond the COVID crisis

• bey0ndM@gz!ne
• October 27, 2020
• Default, Health-Wellness
• 0 Comments

Since the start of the COVID crisis, we have all experienced huge shifts in how we work, connect with others, or lead our lives. Some parents took on additional responsibilities in addition to their jobs overnight. School closures and work-from-home arrangements upended their routine, leaving little space for parents to deal with the increased stress and workload. These upheavals and the tsunami of data on the pandemic have only highlighted the need to find new ways to care about our health with effective methods. This is where hypnosis and hypnotherapy come into play.

What is hypnosis or hypnotherapy?
Hypnosis is one of the oldest forms of psychotherapy in the West. While it was previously misunderstood, it is now used by many surgeons, or dentists in addition to hypnotherapists. These practitioners use the same methods to help individuals leverage the power of their brain to manage pain, release stress, and speed up recovery. Thanks to the recent developments in brain imaging, researchers have proved that hypnosis is real. Since then, thousands of people have benefited from it to achieve better health, balance, and access peak performance.

Hypnosis is a natural state of focused awareness. For instance, when engrossed in the story of a book you enjoyed, you were actually in a hypnotic state such that you lost track of time. Because you can create this state, we will commonly refer to it as hypnosis and self-hypnosis. Many high achievers leverage it to be better at what they do.

Athletes engage in selfhypnosis regularly through deep visualization. Whenever they experience the state of flow, they are back into that state of self-hypnosis.

Hypnotherapy also refers to a form of therapy using hypnosis techniques. The COVID crisis has accelerated the delivery of online mental health tools. If you are not comfortable seeing a hypnotherapist inperson, you have many ways to get the help you need. You can either consult a specialist remotely through an online hypnosis session or you can download a self-hypnosis app. Hypnosis has been shown to provide benefits for a series of ailments: stress management, anxiety, depression, pain management, skin disorders, gastrointestinal disorders (like irritable bowel syndrome), phobias, lack of selfconfidence and much more.

How can hypnosis help me during COVID?
The COVID crisis has just shown us the tip of the iceberg. We have neglected our mental wellbeing for too long. Stress statistics have been going up over the last few years from already unsustainable levels.

The speed of change that the virus unleashed took us all aback. In extraordinary times, you need to use very effective and safe methods. Here is how hypnotherapy can help you in trying times.

Let go of stress
The negative news and the continuous flow of information did not make it easy to adapt to the new normal. Picture yourself only a few months ago and think about the ways you could have managed the situation if you had been more serene and peaceful. If you could have let go of that ‘irrational thinking’ typical of stressful moments, your health and your relationships with others could have improved as a result.

Research shows that hypnosis helps people reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Still many seem to accept stress as a fact of life. But stress is an insidious phenomenon. It moulds your brain and makes you more sensitive to innocuous stimuli, reinforcing  a vicious circle. The only solution lies in reversing that process and hypnotherapy can be your ally of choice to do just that. Once you learn to stay calm and react rationally, you can make better decisions and enjoy a better quality of life. Parents can better role model the appropriate behaviours.

Protect your immune system
We all know that negative emotions can depress our immune system. The coronavirus has brought with it fear, grief, anger, and many more negative feelings, which could dampen our immune responses. In other words, at a time where we need to be stronger, we might become more vulnerable. Until there is a cure or a vaccine, protecting our immunity is paramount. In a recent study, medical students facing intense stress during the exam period benefited from the practice of self-hypnosis. Their immune responses were stronger compared to the control group who did not use it. With a self-hypnosis routine, you can achieve the same gain.

Become more resilient
If there is only one lesson to learn from this crisis, it is the importance of resilience. We must nurture the ability to bounce back and start afresh. Resilience cannot be the product of a one-off activity. It is the result of a continuous practice of self-care, where we learn to reframe events and situations in an empowering way. The lack of selfconfidence and self-esteem can weigh you down. In those moments, many focus on the idea of coping with change and adversity. But they forget that these trying times are precisely what spurs growth. Challenges help you develop new perspectives and build new frames. They equip you with more confidence and a sense of control that will come handy the next time a crisis will hit.

In the past, you might have suffered from excess stress and felt overwhelmed by uncertainty. Your health and relationships might have deteriorated because of the perceived chaos. With hypnotherapy, you can learn to find balance and regain control over your emotions and indirectly your body. Safely and without any drugs.

CHRISTINE DESCHEMIN
Christine Deschemin is a certified hypnotherapist and the founder of the Renewed Edge Hypnotherapy Centre. She offers in-person and online sessions. In addition to advising CEOs on the topic of mental health, she is regularly featured in leading publications. Her quest to make effective self-care tools accessible to everyone led her to launch the UpNow self-hypnosis app, available at UpNow.com. Find the help you need and read about the latest research on hypnosis here:
https://renewed-edge.com,
https://www.facebook.com/RenewedEdge
https://www.instagram.com/renewed_edge/