An experiment…
Concentrate…
Imagine a lemon tree hung with ripe yellow fruit. Pick the fattest and juiciest lemon and cut it into quarters. Now - bite into your quarter and suck the juice. Are you salivating? Can you even feel the sides of your jaw aching? Most people will answer, definitively, yes. This is a demonstration to yourself of the direct link between what you think and how your body behaves; the mind/body relationship. Everyone knows that a positive attitude of someone who is ill or wounded will add to and complement any treatments they are receiving and aid their body's healing. However, apart from this clearly beneficial frame of mind, we may find that some, less conscious, thoughts and feelings impact negatively on physical well being. The effects of stress on anything from heart conditions to IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), to high blood pressure are well documented and acknowledged. In fact there is no separation between mind and body since there is only one of you!
WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR MIND ALSO HAPPENS IN YOUR BODY
WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR BODY ALSO HAPPENS IN YOUR MIND
An important note: this is not to say that illness is your fault. This is not about blame. It is, however, an extremely useful extra way to find a way in for you to help yourself and so add to anything else you may be doing to help yourself.
When it comes to pain management, it is easy to see how you could learn to deliberately produce and harness feelings of comfort and relaxation. Clearly, this would also be invaluable with stress related physical conditions.
Added to this, visualisation, as you have already seen in the experiment above, can produce real and very powerful mind/body changes. Out of a huge range of conditions, people with cancer and its sometimes difficult treatments as well as all the psychological aspects have benefited hugely.
When it comes to fertility issues, such as going through IVF treatment, techniques in all of the above areas have proved invaluable.
Here are some tools and suggestions:
- Buy Suzanne's double relaxation CD, Adventures in Relaxation, and listen daily to one or other of the half hour relaxation adventures every day with the aim of relaxing both mind, body and spirit.
- When relaxed, perhaps with the help of Suzanne's CDs, use your imagination to move that relaxation in your body to the place that needs it most.
- While relaxed, imagine going on a journey inside your body. Go to the area that seems to most need help. Take a look around - see how it looks. Listen to the sounds in there - hear how it sounds. Reach out and touch - feel textures and temperatures. You may want to travel to a healthy, happy place in your body to compare. Then return to the place that needs help and, however irrational it seems, do what you decide needs to happen to that area. Eg: If it looks or feels rough, it may occur to you that you need to sandpaper it to smooth it. If it sounds discordant or the wrong volume, find the audio controls and tune it. If it is dry, investigate. Find out what has been stopping moisture getting there and fix it. It does not matter how illogical or perhaps over logical it seems on any other level, follow your instincts.
- Talk to someone. Talk to a friend but, if it has been going on for a while or seems particularly distressing or is effecting your life, consider seeking professional help. If you have not already seen a doctor, see your GP. You can come to see Suzanne. You will find contact details right here on this website. If you live too far away to consult Suzanne, go to the National Council for Hypnotherapy or the General Hypnotherapy Register websites to find a well qualified hypnotherapist in your area.