Sleep is vital to our health and well being. Yet millions of us, especially those of us in high-stress jobs, are not getting enough. Surveys conducted by the National Sleep Foundation reveal that 60 % of adults report having sleep problems a few nights a week or more.

Poor sleep has a price. Not only does it affect your mood, energy level and ability to concentrate, it can also take a serious toll on your health. Research shows chronic sleep deprivation contributes to significant health problems such as obesity and heart disease.

For most insomniacs, hypnosis is probably the last option that comes to mind. Insomniacs will try everything from sleeping pills to home remedies. The problem with sleeping pills is that they do not offer a permanent solution. Most insomniacs suffer from circular thinking. Instead of clearing her mind at bedtime, the insomniac uses bedtime as an opportunity to process unresolved issues that may have arisen during the day. After repeatedly engaging in this type of circular thinking, her mind becomes conditioned to viewing bedtime as “processing time.”

The only way to break the pattern of sleeplessness is by reprogramming the mind so that the insomniac begins to associate bedtime with rest and relaxation. That’s where hypnosis comes in.

Using Self Hypnosis To Get To Sleep:

If you have difficulty falling asleep, you can start reversing this condition by using self hypnosis. First, make sure that your body is completely relaxed. Release all tension from each part of the body, starting with your feet and working your way up to your head. Take a really deep breath, hold it for a moment, then slowly exhale.

Next, roll your eyes up (eyelids closed, looking up into the forehead). This causes the eyelids to "flutter," replicating the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) of sleep.

Next, visualize or imagine being in a very comfortable, relaxing spot (it could be a garden, beach, any type of relaxing setting). Use all of your senses to get in touch with the relaxing place that you have created in your mind. If unrelated thoughts enter your mind, allow them to keep on moving, like leaves falling off a tree. Increase the feelings of relaxation in your mind and body until you finally doze off into a nice, natural sleep.

For more on self hypnosis and hypnotherapy, please visit www.hypnoswitch.com.

Author's Bio: 

Melany Friedlander is a certified hypnotherapist with a private practice in Santa Monica. Melany takes great pleasure in serving her clients in a way that incorporates her diverse background and skills. She works with clients of all ages (including children as young as 6 years old). Her areas of expertise include: smoking cessation, insomnia, test anxiety, performance enhancement, confidence building, fears/phobias, habit elimination and eating disorders. In addition to being a certified hypnotherapist, Melany is also a California licensed attorney and a certified practitioner of NLP. She received her Juris Doctorate from USC and a BA degree from UC Berkeley.