Did you know that the average American sleeps 2 hours less on average today than they did in 1960? This statistic is probably true for the rest of the western world too.   We are staying away from our beds for longer than we used to and when we arrive in our beds we are often too stressed and stimulated to fall asleep.
 
Why does this matter?
 
Lack of sleep impairs our judgement, our ability to regulate our impulse control and creates attention deficit problems.  Sleep deprivation interferes with how our body and brain use energy and is thought to be a major contributor to the obesity epidemic.  Yes lack of sleep can make you fat!
 
Children’s sleep habits often replicate the habits of their parents in spite of the fact that children need a lot more sleep to grow and develop.  It is thought that lack of sleep may be a factor in the increase in diagnosis for ADHD. 
 
This lack of sleep  has been exacerbated in the past decade by access to smart phones and other hand held devices the use of which are now seeing children (and adults!) stay awake later than their parents ever did for fear of missing out on something critical wheter it be on social media or the wider news cycle resulting in the rise in popularity of anagram FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).  Scrolling mindlessly through newsfeeds and participating in inane conversations into the early hours is dumbing us down as a species.
 
Tired people with high stress levels are operating at a huge disadvantage to people who are relaxed and well rested.  This disadvantage is reflected in their work performance, academic results, the health of their relationships, their appearance and their physical health.
 
What most of us now consider adequate sleep is really more like just enough to enable us to scrape through the day at about 40% of our potential while amped up on coffee and any other stimulants we can lay our hands on.
 
When we go to bed it’s during the first third of our allocated sleeping time that we sleep most deeply, we move into deep sleep quickly when we are tired from the day (this is a good argument for avoiding long naps) and we are least likely to be woken up by a slight disturbance during this phase. This part of the sleep cycle also known as slow wave sleep (SWS)  is the most restorative part of our sleep. Our sympathetic nervous system activity is lessened (fight flight response readiness) and cortisol levels (stress hormone) are low.  Instead of 'fight and flight' go instead into ‘rest and digest’ mode during which we consolidate memories, and our brain is prepared for learning and alertness the next day.  SWS keeps us in optimal health and improves our overall functioning.

• If you wake up regularly feeling tired – avoid taking long naps, particularly late in the day. The length of slow wave sleep is proportionate to how long you’ve been awake, so if you take a long late afternoon nap your awake time will only be calculated from the time you woke up from your nap to the time you went to bed that night e.g. If you get up at 7am and go to bed at 11pm your SWS time will be proportionate to 16 waking ours, if you take a nap at 4pm to 4.30pm your SWS will only be proportionate to 6.5 hours of  being awake.  Nana naps have become fashionable however senior moments havne’t taken off with quite the same gusto, so perhaps consider how the two may be related before you give into the urge to go for that next nap ;0
• Avoid the stimulants.  Coffee, Nicotine, Coke, Redbull etc.  the stimulant is not intuitive , it won't know at what time you want it to stop working,  obligingly keep you awake during the day and then switch off it’s effects when your head hits the pillow.
• Avoid screens for at least an hour before bed.  What to do instead?  Read a book, meditate, craft, colour, chat, pat the dog/cat, take a bath, do your nails, face mask, hair mask, write a journal, think of 3 things to be grateful for, think of 3 things you’ve done well lately, think of 3 things you’ve seen that were beautiful, think of 3 examples of people being nice , 3 places you'd like to visit etc. 
• Enjoy a camomile tea before bed
• Practice 5 minutes of diaphragmatic  breathing – inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 2 and exhale for a count of 8.
• Give yourself 5 minutes to worry then close that s$$t off! Write down any thoughts or worries you think might require further consideration the next day then let them all go until morning.

 
Unresolved issues, emotions or vigilance that is being maintained in response to a long past threat still active in the subconscious can contribute to restless sleep with, sometimes the brain has learned the habit of wakefulness and needs to relearn the protocol for restful sleep.  Hypnotherapy can help with this, retraining your  brain through hypnosis, to slip into that beneficial slow wave sleep where restoration, replenishment, renewal and recharging occurs.
 
If you’d like to find out how I can help you please feel free to call me on 0435 923 817.  My Hypnotherapy Clinic is located in Mentone South East Melbourne and I also see people online via Skype or Zoom.  Hypnotherapy for Insomnia is fast and effective.

​For more information on what causes insomnia visit our Hypnotherapy for Insomnia page at this link

As  a Hypnotherapist specialising in Anxiety Disorders I'm frequently asked for quick tips to help people manage anxiety.  There is no substitute for therapy if anxiety is negatively impacting the quality of your life, however having tools that you can use to manage anxiety will make life much easier. 

Here are 10 tips designed to help reduce the symptoms of anxiety:

1. Don’t believe your negative thoughts, thoughts are not facts - you can challenge them, if they’re not helpful let them go.Holding on to them doesn’t help anyone and will just waste your energy, let them go.
2. Don’t stay up too late - not getting enough sleep contributes to anxiety.Avoid stimulants, coffee, Redbull, Coke and Nicotine.
3. Limit alcohol, alcohol can lead to panic attacks for people prone to anxiety.
4. If your breathing becomes shallow,  slow your breathing down, try to exhale twice as slowly as you inhale. A good ratio for breathing is to inhale counting to 4, hold for 2 and exhale counting to 8.
5. Try to avoid avoiding.  The more you avoid something that makes you uncomfortable or frightened the more it will make you feel uncomfortable and frightened.
6. Stop holding yourself to a higher standard than everyone else.Talk to  yourself the way you’d talk to a friend, be supportive and encouraging and focus on your successes not your failures.
7. Exercise, get moving every day, just a 20 minute walk can vastly improve your mental health. Swimming is a very soothing, calming exercise worth considering.
8. Tell people how you’re feeling.Talking releases a lot of the build up uncomfortable feelings and thoughts that can accumulate for people with anxiety. If there’s nobody around in the moment, write down your feelings, name them and consider them.
9. Listen to music that you enjoy.
10. Chew gum - studies show it reduces stress, increases blood flow to the brain and improves mood.

If you'd like help dealing with anxiety or panic disorders please feel free to give me a call to discuss how I can help you.  My number is 0435 923 817.  You can find some further information on Hypnotherapy for Anxiety in Melbourne by clicking this link

My Hypnotherapy  practice is located in Mentone, South East Melbourne.

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Spring is almost upon us, nature is showing signs of renewal and change and many of us are inspired by this to contemplate what changes we'd like to make in our own lives.

It's always a good time to consider ways in which we can grow as human beings, even if for our personal journey that means shrinking physically by loosing some excess weight, or by eliminating an unwanted habit or behaviour.  Spring shows us that change is not only possible but constant.

Nature has a plan and therefore makes progress from one season to the next.  If we have a plan  we increase our own chances of progressing through the stages of the change we want to make. 

If you're setting out  somewhere it's good to know where it is you want to get to and why.  This is how motivation is created. Often we have vague ideas about dropping a few kilos but we don't really work out why that matters to us and how it will change our lives. Exploring what we are going to gain by making a change gives us a Goal to aim for.  It's much more effective to look at the big picture, the end goal rather than focus on losing that first kilo, similar to when you're driving if you focus on the bonnet of the car chances are you'll weave all over the road, if you focus further down the road you'll drive a straight course.

Once we have decided on the goal, then we can determine what it's going to take to get us there.  Sometimes the journey looks tough, maybe we've tried to set out before and ended up back where we started, there is no shame in getting help if you feel  there is something blocking your progress.

Many of our unwanted behaviours are driven by subconscious beliefs, and only when we clear the underlying limiting belief will our subconscious allow us to make the change we want.   If your subconscious believes that food is your best option when you require comfort then it's often unlikely that consciously deciding to stop comfort eating will work, because as far as you subconscious is concerned this is a valid and proven solution to a problem.  When we try to consciously change this our critical factor will often get in the way with protective excuses like "one more won't hurt" "I deserve a treat" etc.   The same applies to smoking.  
Anxious feelings stem from our survival mechanism, if there's a  subconscious perception of a threat then your brain will trigger symptoms of anxiety such as heart palpitations, chest pain, sweating, trembling, overthinking etc.  your brain is trying to protect you so it wont stand down it's defense's simply because you try to suppress the feelings, it will persist in trying to protect you until the perceived threat has been addressed, this can be done very effectively with Hypnosis and EFT.

Hypnosis  fast tracks change by bypassing the critical factor and addressing the subconscious directly, Hypnotherapy resolves fears and habituated patterns by either resolving the root cause or simply redirecting the patterns to a more healthy and beneficial pattern of behaviour.

If you'd like to find out more please don't hesitate to contact me on 0435 923 817 or by using the contact form at the bottom of this page.

For Information on my Hypnotherapy Practice in Mentone Melbourne visit my home page and various other pages specific to Anxiety, Weight Loss, IBS, Quit Smoking  and more

One of the most common underlying  beliefs for people with Social Anxiety is that they don't fit in.

Sometimes this belief is developed in people that perhaps haven't had as much exposure and social skill development in their younger years e.g only children, people whose parents and families didn't socialise much, people who have moved around a lot etc.  Sometimes it springs from an uncomfortable experience where the person has felt embarrassed or humiliated, the belief that they are somehow 'different' slips past the keeper into the net that is the sub conscious mind.

When people believe they don't fit in, they seem to have an underlying expectation that people fit together socially like jig-saw pieces that have been cut to measure and slot together comfortably as soon as they're introduced to each other.  The reality of course is quite different.  It takes time for people to get to know each other, and during that time there may well be awkward lulls in conversation, boredom, or even annoyance and the end result may be that a bond is formed or that it's not.  That's the nature of human interaction for all of us.  Some people will, if we take the effort to get to know them and allow them to get to know us,  turn out to be our kind of people and become friends, some may never make it past acquaintance and some may be of no interest to us and visa versa.  If you consider all the people that we encounter in our lives, there is no way that we would have time to maintain relationships with all of them, and if we slotted together with the first of them or 'fitted in' we might find that it was to the exclusion of other potential friendships.  

Rather than slotting in, we adapt, we accommodate, we lay down boundaries, we seek to be accommodated and in a healthy relationship we give and receive respect. Most people feel a little wary of people they don't know, trust  and comfort develops over time.

An anxious person tends to believe that other people are more interesting, more worthy, more confident etc.  however the only thing that distinguishes a confident person from an unconfident person is belief and trust in self.  Confidence is just a subconscious belief that you can trust in yourself to get though a situation.  

Anxious people also tend to fear judgement and criticism,  the irony is that judgemental and critical  people are often anxious, and it is the internal critical voice that is driving the belief that other people are as critical and judgemental of them as they are of themselves.  The interesting aspect is that criticism and judgement are taken as important and fact while praise is often interpreted as false or fake by the anxious mindset.

In my practice I use Hypnotherapy to help people tackle these unhelpful beliefs and overcome their anxiety whether it's social anxiety or general anxiety or any anxiety disorder.  If you'd like to find out more give me a call on 0435 923 817 or use the contact form here .  You don't have to remain stuck in a state of Anxiety, with my help you can change your perspective and gain the confidence you need to move forward and live life fully.





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How does Hypnotherapy work is one of the questions I'm most frequently asked.  As a therapist I have often seen my clients transformed through the work we do together, which is why I chose the image of the caterpillar to butterfly to illustrate this post.  This transformation is not about superficial beauty but about them becoming open to achieving their full potential as their true authentic self.

Hypnotherapy has a number of variables, these include the therapist, the client, the techniques and training, the rapport established between the therapist and the client, the life experiences of the client, whether or not the client is analytical and the list goes on...

Each session of Hypnotherapy is different.  Successful Hypnotherapy takes place when the therapist and client establish good rapport and an understanding of the change the client is seeking.   Although people may present with what on the surface are similar issues, there is often a big difference in how they interpret the issue, how it effects them and how they would like it to change.  
A good therapist listens to the individual and therefore requires:

• Good counselling skills in order to put the client at ease
• Empathy
• The ability to ensure that the client  feels safe and are aware that they are not being judged
• Listening and analytical skils
• Psychotherapy skills so that they know how to help their client create change in their subconscious based on the information discussed.  

Once the therapist has gathered the information they require, this information is utilised during the hypnosis component.  Simply relaxing someone and reading a hypnosis script is not enough, the therapy must be tailored to the client as they've presented that day. The words must resonate and be congruent with the values and desired change of the client.  The skilled therapist will use various techniques to help the client create the internal insight required to resolve whatever has been keeping them stuck and move forward in their lives.

Hypnosis creates a deep state of focus and absorption during which the mind becomes more open to change.   Entrenched habits, beliefs and behaviours are hard to shift at a conscious level because they are protected by our critical factor,  this is because once the brain establishes a belief or behaviour it tends to want to protect it because at one time our beliefs and behaviours were critical to our survival e.g. "don't trust red plants they may be poisonous" may not have been universally true but it was certainly useful in helping our ancestors avoid some natural toxins. This protective system is maintained in our reptilian brain, it's a legacy of our evolution which although still critical to our survival hasn't quite evolved in line with our lifestyles.  In Hypnosis this critical factor is lowered so that alternative beliefs or behaviours can be considered and even swapped out for existing unhelpful or unhealthy ones.  The key to this is that the alternatives suggested must be congruent with the clients values and objectives.

Some issues that a client presents with may have several triggers and factors contributing to them and these are dealt with similar to peeling the layers of an onion, which is why more than one session is required for deep lasting change.

For some clients unconscious  shame, anger, and fear are often underpinning the beliefs that are  keeping them stuck and triggering self soothing behaviours (eating, nail biting, hair pulling, avoidance, alcohol, smoking etc.)  and these emotions can be resolved in hypnosis.  Often the root cause of the shame may have occurred in childhood, and even if the incident when recalled consciously now doesn't seem so bad, at the time in the child minds it impacted enough to trigger the  hard coding of  a subconscious belief into the survival system.
 Hypnosis empowers a person to resolve emotions experienced as negative  and rewire their belief system in relation to it to one that is more appropriate for them as an adult.
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If you'd like more information on how you can be transformed through Hypnosis please give me a call on 0435 923 817.
I'm located in Mentone, South East Melbourne.  You can also contact me via the contact form at the bottom of this page or at this link

I also see clients via Skype and Zoom so if you are not in Melbourne don't let that be a barrier to you working with me to achieve the change you want in your life. Contact me to find out more.

If you've been struggling with Anxiety you may have found that therapies like CBT just seem to go quit far enough in resolving the issue for you.  The physical feeling remains even though you've learned how to observe and correct unhelpful thoughts. Hypnotherapy provides a more holistic solution to Anxiety, because as well as dealing with the unhelpful thinking styles, hypnosis addresses the physical experience ​of excessive anxiety.   Hypnosis taps into the limbic system,  creating a state of profound focus during which the brain is given an opportunity to reset it's processes.  

In my practice I use a combination of Counselling (including CBT techniques), Hypnosis and EFT (Emotional freedom technique or tapping) to create this reset while also increasing the Vagus Nerve Activity and thus generating the parasympathetic relaxation response.

Have you heard of the Vagus Nerve? 
 
It’s the longest cranial nerve in the body and it connects your brain to many critical organs including the gut, heart and lungs. The word Vagus comes from the Latin word wanderer, which is apt because the nerve does wander all over the body to reach organs.
 
The Vagus nerve is intrinsic to the Parasympathetic 'rest and digest’ nervous system and so has an influence on breathing, digestive function and heart rate, all of which are linked to mental health.
 
According to Dr Mladin Golubic, Medical Cirector at the Cleveland Clinic the Vagus response reduces stress, heart rate, blood pressure, changes the function of certain parts of the brain as well as stimulating digestion; changes which all happen while we’re relaxed.
 
By stimulating the Vagus Nerve we increase Vagal tone and this has been shown to help with a wide variety of brain and mental health conditions including Anxiety, Depression, Migraine, Alzheimer's disease, Alcohol Addiction, personality disorders, poor memory, MS, OCD, chronic fatigue and autism. 
 
Some ways to stimulate the Vagus Nerve and improve Vagal Tone are:

1. Exposure to extreme cold. Research has shown this lowers the fight and flight response and increases parasympathetic activity by the Vagus Nerve.  Try turning the cold water on for 30 seconds at the end of every show increasing the time as you get used to it.  You can start by allowing the cold water to run over your wrists.
2. Breathe slowly and deeply all the way down to your diaphragm, slow your breathing race down by about half so instead of the usual 10 to 14 breaths each minute, aim to take about six breaths in a minute, exhaling very slowly.
3. As the Vagus Nerve is connected to the vocal cords and the muscles at the rear of the throat so it can be stimulated by singing, humming, chanting and even gargling. This is been shown to improve vagal tone.  Simply gargling water when you brush your teeth will help, extending it for as long as you can.
4. EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique or Tapping) and acupuncture are both effective at stimulating the Vagus Neve, by tapping or needling on points where there are nerve endings close to the surface. 
5. Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong are all wonderful ways of increasing parasympathetic activity through movement, stimulation and stretching.
6. Probiotics improve the gut bacteria and improve brain function having been transported via the Vagus Nerve system
7. Exercise also stimulates the Vagus Nerve, increases the brain’s growth hormone and helps reverse cognitive decline.

If you'd like to find out how I can help you overcome Anxiety please give me a call on 0435 923 817 or use the contact me using this Hypfocus Hypnotherapy Melbourne form on my Hypnotherapy for Anxiety page.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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This long weekend why not take some time to introduce mindfulness into your life and really relax.  It doesn't have to be a lot of time but it does need to be dedicated time; time that you're going to use purely for relaxation. You may have lots of plans and it may seem like a waste of precious time to sit and do nothing for a few minutes of the day and yet did you know that by sitting and doing nothing for a few minutes you’re being incredibly productive?
 
Mindfulness triggers a lot of activity in the brain, while the body relaxes the brain rebalances.  During this rebalancing process, the body's relaxation protocol begins to slowly shrink the Amygdala, which is the area of the brain associated with fear and emotion.  It is from this area that our Stress response is triggered. While the amygdala shrinks the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain responsible for executive function (e.g.  concentration ,decision-making, and motivation) becomes thicker, and the connectivity between the Amygdala and the rest of the brain becomes weaker while the connections between the areas associated with focused attention, concentration, motivation and emotional regulation become stronger. 

Research has shown that the rate of change that occurs in the brain is related to the number of hours a person spends practising mindfulness  or meditation. It has been established that mindfulness enables us to redistribute our brains resources away from the stress centre and towards the centre of emotional regulation, yes regular practice of mindfulness helps us become better at regulating our emotions.  Studies have shown changes in brain structure after just 8 weeks of practicing for 10 minutes a day.
 
By disconnecting from the brain stress centre we create a range of physical as well as mental health benefits, reducing stress and inflammation in the mind and body leads to lower anxiety levels, reduces the likelihood of developing depression and helps us avoid gut issues.  There’s a strong school of thought that says reducing stress reduces our risk of chronic disease and cancer.  Our immune system functions better when our body is not inflamed, and we are also better able to absorb vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
 
All things considered that represents a great return on an investment of 10 minutes a day.
 

Tips for practising mindfulness

1. Sit with your back straight
   
2. Feet flat on the ground
   
3. Hands resting on your lap (not crossed).
   
4. Breathe deeply in through your nose all the way down to your abdomen and maintain that breathing pattern throughout your mindfulness session.
   
5. Before you begin scan over your body and let go of any physical tension you become aware of
   
6. Remember thoughts will come and go, that’s perfectly natural your mind will never be blank or clear, however you don’t have to engage with the thoughts you can simply let them fade into the background.

If you are struggling to begin your practice of mindfulness Hypnotherapy will help clear the emotions and stressors that are blocking your progress.  If you would like help overcoming Anxiety please give me a call at Hypfocus Hypnotherapy Melbourne 0435 923 817 .  I specialise in anxiety and panic disorders as well as compulsive habits.  
Hypnotherapy is extremely effective in the treatment of Anxiety Disorders.

​It is essential that you find the right therapist, with appropriate training and their credentials verified through membership of an association such as the AHA.  I am a member of the AHA and the ACA.

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Here's a short video I made discussing how our Anxiety can be fuelled by our inner critic and explaining how speaking to ourselves with compassion will actually benefit ourselves far more and produce better performance.

 If you'd like to come and see me for help overcoming Anxiety please don't hesitate to give me a call on 0435 923 817 or use the contact form here I look forward to helping you make the positive changes you want to see in your life.

There is no wrong time to go to Hypnotherapy, it's helpful at any time to talk to someone objective; a professional with no emotional involvement in the issue you want to discuss.

There are however times when Hypnotherapy can be particularly beneficial, these include:

• when you're suffering the effects of Anxiety
• when you have attempted to make changes but have been unable to e.g. to lose weight, stop smoking, stop a damaging habit, leave a toxic relationship
• when you're feeling Stressed and not yourself
• when life is overwhelming or confusing,
• when you need help in developing practical tools to help you cope and move forward.  
• when you're at a crossroads and are doing some soul searching
• when you lack confidence
• when you're not able to function properly either socially or professionally 
• when your performance has declined and you can't seem to lift it back up
• when you're not living up to your potential
• when your quality of life has been impacted by thoughts, feelings or behaviours
• when you repeat negative patterns in works or relationships
• when you want to understand yourself better
• when you lack motivation
• when you want to enhance your ability to learn, builds new skills and receive feedback
• when you struggle to make decisions
• when you have a psychiatric illness (1 I 4 people will have a diagnosable psychiatric illness their lifetime)
• when you're experiencing grief or loss
• when you need to perform at your best e.g. in exams, sport, job interviews, public speaking etc.

At Hypfocus I combine psychotherapy and counselling skills with hypnosis to deliver the most effective and up to date treatment available.  I help my clients create incredible change through our collaborative work which enables them to create improvements at a deep subconscious level.  Our subconscious is the most powerful force in our life, when we use Hypnosis to align our subconscious processes with our conscious goals and desires we can live to our highest potential.

If you'd like to learn more about how I can help you give me a call on 0435 923 817 or use he contact form here
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Menopausal women the world over may experience a range of symptoms but one of the most debilitating is insomnia.

Until you experience chronic insomnia it is hard to conceptualise the extent to which it impacts ever aspect of your life.  Your ability to function, reason, retain information, focus, articulate, motivate yourself, tolerate and even gather enough energy to put one foot in front of the other  is severely impaired.

The kicker is that this may be the first tell tale symptom of menopause, long before you even realise that you are entering menopause - during the peri-menopausal phase.  Your estrogen and progesterone levels go out of balance and your brain goes into overdrive trying to regain balance. This article contains some really useful information about what may be going on in your body to lead to such incredible fatigue.

The brain works 24/7 regulating and balancing.  The additional resources that are directed into trying to get the bodies system back into sync leave you feeling drained.  Anxiety and Depression can result from months and years of chronic lack of sleep.

Hypnotherapy helps to reduce the effects of menopause by reducing stress and anxiety and creating an opportunity for the brain to reset through deep focused absorption and internal stillness. Numerous studies have proven the effectiveness of Hypnotherapy  for the reduction of menopause symptoms, my interpretation of the changes that take place is that  this reset enables the brain to update some of the settings to allow for the new hormone levels rather than trying to run obsolete programs based on pre-menopause levels.

The American Menoapause Association has recommended Hypnotherapy as an effective treatment because it helps in such a holistic way.  

Keep in mind that these days when women are going through menopause they are often contending with challenging jobs, dependent children (often hormonal teenagers just to add another layer of complexity), relationships and aging parents.  It is the most demanding time in most women's lives. Hypnotherapy provides respite from the mental overload.  A reboot that free's up all resources to be directed where they'll do the most good.

If you'd like to learn more please give me a call on 0435 923 817 or use the contact form on my menopause page.
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