Most people know what it’s like to have a bad’s night sleep every now and again, and in fact one in three people in the UK have suffered from a bout of insomnia at some point in their lives. Poor sleep patterns can be related to so many other factors in your life, stress and anxiety, weight issues, poor diet, ill health, pain, your environment – the list goes on. Maybe you can’t sleep the night before an exam, or when you have an important meeting at work, or when you’re trying to make a big decision and your mind is racing. Maybe you have an ongoing pain issue which affects your sleep. Or maybe you’ve suffered from broken sleep for years and you just don’t know why.
Prolonged lack of sleep can have a severe effect on your physical health and mental wellbeing, as I've found with many of my hypnosis clients in Islington, Mayfair, Tunbridge Wells and online, before I helped them to sleep better. Too little sleep can make you irritable and impair your ability to function normally. It can slow down your reactions and everyday tasks can seem more difficult. You can’t think straight and feel more emotional. Not getting enough sleep can be very debilitating and confusing for your body. This in turn can make you more stressed, which then affects your sleep more, and it becomes an ongoing negative cycle.
Bruxism
Teeth-grinding and jaw clenching, known as bruxism, mostly happens during sleep, and research shows that bruxism more often happens when there is an existing sleep disorder such as snoring, breathing disruptions during sleep, or sleep apnoea. People who smoke, or drink a lot of alcohol or caffeine usually suffer more from bruxism, as their sleep patterns are usually more erratic. Nearly 70% of bruxism occurs as a result of stress or anxiety, as your body often tenses up when you’re anxious and stressed. It creates an exhausting physical and mental cycle, because while you’re grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw at night, it affects the quality of your sleep, which in turn makes you stressed and tense from lack of sleep. It can be physically uncomfortable too, with many bruxism sufferers complaining of an aching jaw, often without knowing why. You don’t always know that you are grinding your teeth in your sleep, so it can be a real relief physically and mentally when I help clients realise what they can be doing differently to manage the stress, stop the teeth-grinding, and enjoy the best night’s sleep they’ve had in a long time.
When I work with clients to help them sleep better, I take time to understand and uncover the underlying causes. By finding the root cause of what’s making your brain to stay switched on and go into overdrive, or the physical symptoms which are preventing you from sleeping better, I can help you change the patterns of behaviour. Using hypnotherapy and NLP I can give you the tools to help you relax and switch off and enjoy a full night’s sleep. Getting enough, good quality sleep, is important in managing weight and stress and having a positive and happy life, so let me show you how to sleep better and be happier.