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Ever felt so stressed that you wanted to strangle everyone who crossed your path? I know that I have been caught in that feeling. I would like to share with you how I learned to relieve my reaction to the daily stress in my life. As I am sure you know, life is filled with stress. We can't always alter the outside events that cause stress but we can change how we respond to those events. For me, relief came when I learned self hypnosis. I took a self hypnosis class in 1981 and found that the process created an incredible feeling of deep mental and physical relaxation. It was unlike anything that I had experienced before. The first few years I used the technique sporadically. Initially I used it to improve my self-esteem, but once I had accomplished that goal I let my daily practice slide. Then I was hospitalized for two weeks with a serious illness. Out came the only (at the time) self help tool I had -- self hypnosis. The doctors had some very unpleasant procedures to perform to aid my recovery. I would ask for a reprieve of 20 minutes and put myself into a hypnotic trance. Once I was deeply relaxed I felt much better about the necessary medical treatments. I reduced my anxiety, raised my pain threshold and made the process more tolerable for myself. I am certain that I was also an easier patient to deal with in this state.
After my recovery I still did not incorporate self hypnosis as a daily tool. However, life has a way of bringing certain ideas back into our awareness. At a time when my life had become incredibly stressful, both personally and professionally. I was guided to attend hypnotherapy school. Suddenly I was working full time, managing the home, children and marriage and going to school out of town on the weekends. I could no longer avoid using some sort of stress relief daily. As a test, I got up a bit earlier than usual every day and spent 15 minutes in hypnosis before I got ready for work. That short time equals an hour of deep, restful sleep so 1 never felt the effect of getting up earlier. In fact, I would awaken and think "Oh yeah, once I'm up I can go into trance!" Once I had discovered the peace and tranquillity that comes with hypnosis, I wanted to repeat it often. The rewards of making this one small lifestyle change were enormous. I had more energy to start my day and I stayed calm and relaxed even when those around me were busy reacting to their stressful jobs. It really hit home when I missed practicing self hypnosis for several days in a row. That is when I realized the impact it had made in my life because suddenly I wanted to choke everyone who crossed my path! It was an excellent reminder that I needed to continue daily forever. It is really a small amount of time to devote to making a positive difference in our lives. If we keep doing what we have always done, we will continue to get what we have always gotten. I would encourage you to make this one small change in your life and reap the benefits!
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