Choices, mistakes and pain - what do you gain? A few minutes of your time :)

Forgiving yourself is something needing to be done before you can forgive others. That's something I once read and it always stuck with me! 

If you continue to carry a burden of guilt or hurt around it can make it a challenge to genuinely forgive other people when they have hurt or upset you. The time when you say 'I truly forgive myself' (and believe it) is when forgiveness becomes an open doorway to freedom. It opens up to all sorts of possiblity, colour and lightness, without the restricted vision of guilt, hurt or pain.  

If your path to forgiveness seems blocked, you can definitely start to clear it and move towards freedom. Take one small step a day or even once a week to learning about any guilt, fear or anger that you are holding. What did holding onto it do for you in the past? How does it serve you now? Was it a habit or a choice? Allow time to reflect on thoughts without over-analysing. This should be a brief process of a few minutes. The more you do it in small steps, the easier it can become to see clearer what works for you now, and perhaps what old ways of thinking are best left behind. Particularly if they leave you hurt, angry, guilty or sad.    

Angie

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angiegiles.co.uk
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About the Author: Angie works as a hypnotherapist, counsellor and coach at the Norfolk Clinic Complementary Healthcare Clinic, 38-40 Magdalen Road, Norwich. 

Call Norfolk Clinic reception on 01603 660792 or Angie directly on 07773 610816. She loves helping other people achieve their potential at work ,life and find greater happiness using a range of therapeutic techniques.

20% of population are not getting enough..... Sleep!

Around 20% of the adult population are said to be sleep-deprived at any one time. Experiencing mild to moderate sleep disturbance also causes problems in cognitive thinking and reaction times comparable to being drunk. Maybe you weren't expecting to hear that, but it has been shown to be true. Maybe you have felt drained when working to deadline or on a tough project and sleep has been the last thing on your mind.

So what if you are waking up several times during the night? what do you find yourself doing? Tell yourself you should stop thinking about something?

Do you turn over, plump up the pillow and fall asleep again or does your brain start to rev up and charge into action? Do you have to get up and make a drink or read a book to feel sleepy again? Can you sleep better in a chair than in your bed? Do you dread going back into bed? You are not alone. I've worked with people who suffered sleep deprivation and its' knock-on effects on their lives. It can be helped, it doesn't need to continue to have the impact it is.

If there are lots of things going on in your life, perhaps some things you have not tackled before, it can be difficult to drop off to sleep again. You see, I think of it like this, your brain is waking you up to help resolve the problem consciously. If our unconscious mind, the part that has all our previous experiences and values safely tucked away, cannot resolve a problem during REM sleep (the deepest part of sleep, when Rapid Eye Movement occurs), it requests the conscious mind get in on the act to help solve the problem. It's doing it's best to help in this situation. Perhaps this is not what we ideally want at 4am in the morning, so it can feel frustrating and tiring!

In the past, during difficult times in my life, I have found my normally regular sleep pattern destroyed temporarily. I found myself waking up in the wee small hours as if I was in an unpleasant dream. Then whatever had been playing on my mind earlier in the day came back to me. I was left considering what it was that I was being asked to solve. I was fortunate as sleep eventually descended after a while. Perhaps in part as I took a few simple steps to deal with the problem.

Writing my thoughts down was one way of tackling that shut-eye intrusion. Have you tried it? What did you find happened? Also making sure you switch off equipment like TV and phone at least 30-45 minutes before bedtime.

What else do you use to help with sleep disturbance/ insomnia? Or are you a master at super sleep habits? I look forward to hearing your own stories of sleep, how you get back to sleep or drop off to sleep in the first place? What do you think has helped you deal with sleeplessness?

I'd love to hear what experiences with sleep (or lack of) that you have had.

Suspending beliefs

Is 2012 your year for change? I can help you!
It could be wanting to stop an old habit, increasing confidence levels, dealing with anxiety or looking to make changes for a healthier, happier future. Making that decision is what matters, so well done if you've already started or decided to go for it! Sometimes having someone outside of your usual friends and family can make the process that much easier.  Of course the most important person to achieve what you want, is you, isn't it? I pay attention to that and give you the support you need to make the changes you want, at the pace you want.