Sleep Issues

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Atkinson on March 11, 2010 at 5:59pm

I wonder what it is he is not thinking about right now?

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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on March 11, 2010 at 6:37pm

From QUANTUM FOCUS © - All rights reserved- Ellner/Jamison, PhD


A Sigh A Day

We like to think of this exercise as Groaning For Health, or, for the pun enthusiast, A Sigh A Day Keeps The Doctor Away. This simple exercise is unbeatable for unloading negative emotions. And within 30 nights of practice you will discover for yourself that a sigh a day truly keeps the doctor away, and is a gateway to a healing restful sleep.

Clearing The Way

This exercise is designed to utilize the natural healing powers of groaning and moaning. While we reject the notion that emotions cause particular diseases, we fully recognize that, in many cases, your emotions are a significant co-factor in the development of any stress-related disease you might be suffering from (see chapters 6, 8 and 29). Very few things can wear a person down more efficiently than their own negative emotions. What if you could detoxify those emotions before they harden and compromise your inner physician?

The good news is that, not only can you dump your toxic emotions — and toxic feelings about those emotions — in a very calming, relaxing and fun way in just five or six minutes before going to bed, but you can also initiate the deeper and more profound emotional healing which seems to occur with regular use of this exercise.

The Cleansing Sleep Exercise

Prepare for a restful, healing night’s (or day’s — if you’re on the night shift) sleep. Get as physically comfortable as you are able, close your eyes and just be with all the emotions and feelings that you had during the day. You could think about the different events that occurred, or you could just feel the sum total of the day’s emotional load. We recommend you try both ways, see which way works better for you and stick with it for the rest of the month.

Now take a deep breath and start groaning out loud. Just let those big deep groans flow from your diaphragm . . . and continue to groan until you feel a shift and notice that you are beginning to feel at ease.

Very good, now just start to moan (which is a far gentler type of groaning) and moan away any long- held emotional wounds which added to the day’s stress. In other words, just moan away the hurts and resentments that toxify you simply by intending to do so, without any need to identify or deal with the underlying experiences. Just moan away the lingering emotional toxins until you feel another shift from being at ease to feeling completely relaxed, at which time gently shift your attention to what you need to do tomorrow.

Think about everything planned, allow some room for the unplanned, and tell yourself that, as you sleep on it, you will clean out the old and prepare yourself for anything and everything that comes up. Now give yourself a long sigh of relief knowing that tomorrow will creatively take care of itself. So go to sleep . . . that’s right . . . it will all take care of itself while you enjoy . . . a good . . . restful . . . cleansing . . . sleep.

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Permalink Reply by Fiona McKeand on March 11, 2010 at 9:03pm

Dear Michael,

I love this, thank you! Had a shitty week/month, so going to use it myself for the next 30 days - and on, if necess, as you suggest. Great tool to give a client, too, of course.

Thanks so much.

Fiona

Michael Ellner said:

From QUANTUM FOCUS © - All rights reserved- Ellner/Jamison, PhD


A Sigh A Day

We like to think of this exercise as Groaning For Health, or, for the pun enthusiast, A Sigh A Day Keeps The Doctor Away. This simple exercise is unbeatable for unloading negative emotions. And within 30 nights of practice you will discover for yourself that a sigh a day truly keeps the doctor away, and is a gateway to a healing restful sleep.

Clearing The Way

This exercise is designed to utilize the natural healing powers of groaning and moaning. While we reject the notion that emotions cause particular diseases, we fully recognize that, in many cases, your emotions are a significant co-factor in the development of any stress-related disease you might be suffering from (see chapters 6, 8 and 29). Very few things can wear a person down more efficiently than their own negative emotions. What if you could detoxify those emotions before they harden and compromise your inner physician?

The good news is that, not only can you dump your toxic emotions — and toxic feelings about those emotions — in a very calming, relaxing and fun way in just five or six minutes before going to bed, but you can also initiate the deeper and more profound emotional healing which seems to occur with regular use of this exercise.

The Cleansing Sleep Exercise

Prepare for a restful, healing night’s (or day’s — if you’re on the night shift) sleep. Get as physically comfortable as you are able, close your eyes and just be with all the emotions and feelings that you had during the day. You could think about the different events that occurred, or you could just feel the sum total of the day’s emotional load. We recommend you try both ways, see which way works better for you and stick with it for the rest of the month.

Now take a deep breath and start groaning out loud. Just let those big deep groans flow from your diaphragm . . . and continue to groan until you feel a shift and notice that you are beginning to feel at ease.

Very good, now just start to moan (which is a far gentler type of groaning) and moan away any long- held emotional wounds which added to the day’s stress. In other words, just moan away the hurts and resentments that toxify you simply by intending to do so, without any need to identify or deal with the underlying experiences. Just moan away the lingering emotional toxins until you feel another shift from being at ease to feeling completely relaxed, at which time gently shift your attention to what you need to do tomorrow.

Think about everything planned, allow some room for the unplanned, and tell yourself that, as you sleep on it, you will clean out the old and prepare yourself for anything and everything that comes up. Now give yourself a long sigh of relief knowing that tomorrow will creatively take care of itself. So go to sleep . . . that’s right . . . it will all take care of itself while you enjoy . . . a good . . . restful . . . cleansing . . . sleep.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Tyrrell on March 12, 2010 at 2:30am

Hi Gayle

Unfortunately the sleeping pills may be helping him sleep but the quality of sleep from sleepers (like the quality of sleep after alcohol) is impaired meaning to day time tiredness.

The light parts of sleep (and therefore the parts we are more likely to wake up from) are the REM episodes. So it might be that he is dreaming more than usual at the moment. The more people worry the more they tend to dream (depressed people dream about 3 times as much as non-depressed people) Over-dreaming is exhausting which is why depressed people will wake up tired (even if they've slept foe many hours). It seems that dreams are natures way of "flushing through" un-resolved expectations http://www.humangivens.com/joe-griffin/dreamcatcher.html

Of course you don't want to suggest to him that he's depressed as we know how labels can become self-fulfilling but it might be an idea to ask him if he worries much during the day-one day-time worries/concerns/negative ruminations are dealt with sleep quality tends to improve. Sometimes we need to focus on the fuse box to make the TV work.

So ask him what his biggest concerns are at the moment (other than the sleep issue) and start to help him either solve them practically or feel better about them (which is another way of solving them) once he starts to have more restorative slow wave sleep in proportion to lighter REM sleep he'll likely wake up much less often and feel better during the days also.

Cheers

Mark

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Permalink Reply by Gayle Angela on March 15, 2010 at 5:18am

Thanks Michael - I will try this with him

Fiona McKeand said:

Dear Michael,

I love this, thank you! Had a shitty week/month, so going to use it myself for the next 30 days - and on, if necess, as you suggest. Great tool to give a client, too, of course.

Thanks so much.

Fiona

Michael Ellner said:

From QUANTUM FOCUS © - All rights reserved- Ellner/Jamison, PhD


A Sigh A Day

We like to think of this exercise as Groaning For Health, or, for the pun enthusiast, A Sigh A Day Keeps The Doctor Away. This simple exercise is unbeatable for unloading negative emotions. And within 30 nights of practice you will discover for yourself that a sigh a day truly keeps the doctor away, and is a gateway to a healing restful sleep.

Clearing The Way

This exercise is designed to utilize the natural healing powers of groaning and moaning. While we reject the notion that emotions cause particular diseases, we fully recognize that, in many cases, your emotions are a significant co-factor in the development of any stress-related disease you might be suffering from (see chapters 6, 8 and 29). Very few things can wear a person down more efficiently than their own negative emotions. What if you could detoxify those emotions before they harden and compromise your inner physician?

The good news is that, not only can you dump your toxic emotions — and toxic feelings about those emotions — in a very calming, relaxing and fun way in just five or six minutes before going to bed, but you can also initiate the deeper and more profound emotional healing which seems to occur with regular use of this exercise.

The Cleansing Sleep Exercise

Prepare for a restful, healing night’s (or day’s — if you’re on the night shift) sleep. Get as physically comfortable as you are able, close your eyes and just be with all the emotions and feelings that you had during the day. You could think about the different events that occurred, or you could just feel the sum total of the day’s emotional load. We recommend you try both ways, see which way works better for you and stick with it for the rest of the month.

Now take a deep breath and start groaning out loud. Just let those big deep groans flow from your diaphragm . . . and continue to groan until you feel a shift and notice that you are beginning to feel at ease.

Very good, now just start to moan (which is a far gentler type of groaning) and moan away any long- held emotional wounds which added to the day’s stress. In other words, just moan away the hurts and resentments that toxify you simply by intending to do so, without any need to identify or deal with the underlying experiences. Just moan away the lingering emotional toxins until you feel another shift from being at ease to feeling completely relaxed, at which time gently shift your attention to what you need to do tomorrow.

Think about everything planned, allow some room for the unplanned, and tell yourself that, as you sleep on it, you will clean out the old and prepare yourself for anything and everything that comes up. Now give yourself a long sigh of relief knowing that tomorrow will creatively take care of itself. So go to sleep . . . that’s right . . . it will all take care of itself while you enjoy . . . a good . . . restful . . . cleansing . . . sleep.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Cooper on October 23, 2010 at 8:27am

Hey Gayle,
I've worked with some success with Insomnia,,,

I've found the following are effective ways to help a client.

1. Have them keep a pad and pencil or recorder by their bed. If they wake up during the night, have them write down what the subconscious is still working on. During the day, perhaps solve or work towards completing that issues.. If it's a guilt, shame, blame, have your client feel and forgive that issues as it's truly in the past and the past does not equal the future.

2. Just before going to sleep,, make sure your client is not watching T.V.,, working on the laptop,, not stimulated by something exterior to them.. The energy from T.V., other devices can keep them awake for awhile.

3. Scott Sandland's reply is excellient and mention's an audio device to help promote relaxation and sleep. Personally, I use Dick Sutphen's "The Zapper" just by playing it lower than I can hear it" and it works,, helps myself and several clients relaxa nd recharge.

4. Just before sleep have your client address their maker in prayer,, thought,, or meditation.. Mine goes like this,,, "Thank you for the great day, the great people that you provided me.. It is now time for me to rest and recharge. I know I'm safe, please keep my boys safe, my healing dog Enzo safe,, my loving wife Mo safe,, my mom safe and all of my friends and others safe as I enjoy some restful deep sleep. I am grateful for all you have provided myself, my family and friends today. And I ask for a beautiful dream about,, blah,, blah,, How can I help you my Universal source?" This works for me and many of my clients..

5. I've had clientts research their dreams, online,, through book's. It gives us a new place, next session to discuss the meaning of the dream. And the client can change their perspective towards that issues

6. Eating habits,, if they are eating sugar products, drinking alcohol late at night, they are stimulating their body and mind,, perhaps make a commitment to sticking to water and eliminating that late night snack.. I had a client that was stressed, on the road selling his product,, or better, trying to sell his products in our challenged enonomy.. In our interview he told me "I always put in a tobacco chew and have a mountian dew before my last appointment,, roughly at 8PM..... Wow,, once he changed that to having an icewater,, he slept like a baby..

7. Exercise habits,, I worked with a very nice man,, said it was insomnia,, After our interview I believe we found the issues. He played Ice hockey very late at night,, and than expected to go home to sleep,.... The issue was clear,, his body was still playing going a million miles an hour,, He comprimised,, stayed with playing hockey with his buddies,,, stayed up a little later, just found a time in the day that he could have a nap,, and rest and recharge..

Sometimes the answer is very obvious to us,,, yet the client has to have their own Apapheny,, hope I spelled that right,, and trance can be a great place for them to put it all together,, and trance teaching them self hypnosis,, meditation can also provide the same amount of sleep energy.. Perhaps teach your client self hypnosis,, and have them give themselves permission to break away from work,, their kids,, what ever consumes them and take a break.. Tell them to go to the bathroom,, somewhere they will not be interupted for five minutes, or more time.. "Now breath yourself down,, imagine being asleep,, imagine your gas tank getting fuller and fuller,, affirm that you are totally rested,, imagine how great that feels"

Hope this helps..

Have a great day,

Scott Cooper
Hypnotherapyforheathandhappiness.com

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Permalink Reply by John Owens on October 23, 2010 at 9:42pm

Hello Gayle,

I am with Mark on this one. There are a host of reasons people don’t sleep. Here are some of the reasons clients have brought to me for insomnia.

1. The new business hasn’t gotten off the ground inspite of their hard work
2. Relationship issues
3. Overload from helping the family which may consist of 10 people or more
4. Physical pains – headaches, arthritis, backaches
5. Worrying about a son or daughter
6. Worrying about a parent
7. Worrying about mortgages or the repossession of a car
8. A battered wife who was beaten if she slept before her night owl husband
9. Neighbors that made too much noise in an apartment complex a floor above
10. A person’s modus operandi was too limiting and drove them insane
11. The loss of a job or job loss was on the horizon
12. The client had a difficult personality and she didn’t get alone with colleagues.
13. Guilt, shame and embaressment

And there are many, many more reasons why people don’t sleep. Gayle, with these issues, hypnosis, alone cannot do it. I have to coach these clients through their issues first. Oftentimes people just cannot cope with life! For example, I helped a mother sleep after I got her daughter back in university – she had dropped out. I helped the one with a difficult personality sleep after I advised her to post for a different position – one where she could manage projects and not people. I have helped others sleep when I worked them through their relationship issues.

Gayle, this is the idea – I use advice, coaching, and behavior modification with many clients. Once some of these problems are solved or they have at least a workable solution to their issue, hypnosis would do wonders for sleep!

I hope this helps.

John

John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist/Life Counselor
www.hypnotizeanybody.com
9917 7405

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