DayLight Awakenings
Complimentary (free) Group Hypnosis Seminar:
Hypnosis
STRESS MANAGEMENT Wednesday, April 1st from 6pm to 7:30 pm. Advanced registration is requested - Call or Email: 425-760-2797 daylightawakenings@gmail.com
For Stress Management, Sleep & Anxiety: Improving the Quality of Life by Suzy Day, CCHt, CLC, Mind-Body Wellness Practitioner
The Toll of Stress
Stress has varying hues of intensity and is spectrum in nature. At one end, stress can serve our highest good by motivating us to better ourselves, make daring changes and take brave action. On the opposite of the spectrum, the dark and heavy side, it can ripple out with the impact of a seismic wave, diminishing the quality of lives and burdening physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. A staggering 75% to 90% of all doctor visits are for ailments directly related to stress. It is the most common cause of ill health in our society. Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety, and sleep disorders are brought on or made worse by stress. The list of ailments continues: headaches, asthma, arthritis, depression, digestive problems, memory and concentration impairment, and a weakened immune system. Chronic stress contributes to obesity as a result of attempts to self-soothe through overeating “comfort” foods.
The Anatomy of Stress When you perceive a threatening (stressful) situation, your hypothalamus, located at the base of your brain, sounds an alarm in your body. Through nerve and hormonal signals, your adrenal glands are instructed to release a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure, and boosts energy supplies. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, stops the bodily functions which are nonessential to survival in a fight-or-flight
48
situation, namely, your immune, digestive, and reproductive systems. There is no value in using energy toward healing a throat infection, digesting dinner, or perpetuating the species when you are in a situation which is perceived as threatening. Once the perceived threat is gone, your body’s stress response system usually self-regulates. Adrenaline and cortisol levels drop, heart rate and blood pressure return to baseline levels, and the other body systems resume regular activities. However, when stressors are always present and you constantly feel under attack, the internal switch for your survival alarm system never gets turned off. Your body is constantly in high-alert and influenced by a barrage of stress hormones and nerve impulses. Bottom line: you are overexposed to cortisol and other stress hormones disrupting almost all of your body’s processes and placing you at high risk for health problems. Stress has a cascading impact. Two of the most common venues in which it can diminish the quality of life are with anxiety and sleep deprivation.
stymies the ability to reach deep, restorative sleep and creates increased risks for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, obesity, poor work performance, motor vehicle accidents, relationship problems, depression, and mood extremes such as anger and rage.
Anxiety Issues
Commonly coupled with depression, anxiety affects an estimated 40 million adults in our country. Separate from the anxiety stemming from psychological or medical causes, general anxiety brings excessive worry about everyday problems. Struggling with anxiety, you may experience excessive tension, constant anticipation of disasters, being overly concerned about health issues, money, family problems, or difficulties at work. You may be easily startled, have difficulty concentrating, and have trouble falling or staying asleep, in spite of extreme fatigue. Headaches, trembling, twitching, muscle tension and aches, irritability, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness, and shortness of breath are examples of the physical sensations of anxiety. Connect the dots and witness
the perpetual cycle of ill health and mental turmoil which stress can create.
Hypnotherapy Can Help Hypnotherapy is a powerful, gentle, and effective way to rapidly overcome the challenges of stress, inadequate sleep, and anxiety. While you may not be able to change your current situation, you are able to manage your perceptions and emotions surrounding those situations with hypnosis. A client-centered, interactive, results-oriented modality, hypnotherapy encompasses a variety techniques in a safe and confidential environment and offers effective tools for your rapid personal transformation. A hypnosis session involves creating a deep state of relaxation, allowing your mind and body an opportunity to rest and rejuvenate. Utilizing positive and supportive imagery with your subconscious mind, uplifting ideas are used to create new perceptions and behaviors. This empowers you to overcome challenges, blocks, and unwanted behaviors, enhancing your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
Sleep Deprivation
An estimated 30 to 70 million adults experience some form of sleep deprivation, ranging from difficulty falling asleep to insomnia, night terrors, restlessness, and sleepwalking. Sleep involves a series of cycles in which your brain waves progressively slow down. The deepest and slowest is the Delta wave level; this is where your body regenerates and rejuvenates. Chronic stress
GOLDEN CORRID OR LI V ING SPRING 2015
THE TRAVEL EDITION