Have you ever truly felt stress?
A clear, distinct, very unsettling feeling, mentally and physically. Constant nervousness, anxiety, hypersensitivity, easily angered, sweating, rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure.
Real stress can mimic a panic attack, which also brings an accelerated heart rate, perspiration, jangled nerves and irritability.
Panic attacks, however, are created by a low blood sugar level. Stress is caused by circumstances.
For example: You awaken to find an identity thief has stolen all of your money. You are broke. Any stress? How would you react?
A recent client came in to see me in incredibly stressed condition.
His story:
Married 20 years to a lady who runs her own business and has done so for 30 years, it was clear they never would be in the same income bracket.
They agreed his finances were so different that she would pay for her own house and would include him under her medical plan. He contributed by buying groceries, meals out, electricity, water and gas as well as the television subscription. Under the lopsided circumstances it was clear this was the way it would be.
Everything was going well until January. They discovered they owed the IRS over $30,000 in taxes for last year. Stunned, they reached a solution that left both critically stressed.
Now the Real Problems Begin
Problems began with arguments over who was chiefly to blame. After the finger-pointing, they figured out what they had to do to resolve the debt. Yet every morning he woke up with an unsettling nervousness in his stomach.
My client dwelled on the issues affecting them. Instead of pursuing answers, he wallowed in negativity.
We are what we see ourselves as being.
My client’s stress was caused by wallowing.
He saw himself on the streets with his wife.
Besides pressure from his wife, he began to feel he wanted to leave the relationship.
He was trapped. He could not afford to live on his own. He did not have enough income for a first and last month down on an apartment and could not afford his own medical. Clearly he was responsible for his own circumstances. It was inappropriate to feel resentful toward his wife.
Negativity Is So Tempting
Eventually they came to a financial solution. Both calmed down as the plan began to work for them.
Still, my client was stressed.
His stress finally diminished as he realized his negativity was worsening the crisis.
Once he put aside the negative image of losing everything and replaced it with an image of the success he and his wife would continue to experience, he concluded their future together was as bright as it had been in the past. The only difference was that they had to pay their tax debt.
Another valuable lesson was sitting down and practicing the self-hypnosis relaxation skills that I had shown him. They included positive affirmations that allowed him to relax more quickly than he had thought possible. This relaxation coupled with five positive affirmations, handwritten every night for 21 straight nights 10 minutes before going to bed helped him to reset his attitude and to focus on the positive.
Writing affirmations just before bedtime is an effective tool because the subconscious is most open 10 to 15 minutes before bedtime. Writing will go straight to your subconscious where it is stored and ultimately acted upon.
Remember, you reduce your stress by accepting your situation as it is and creating an action plan to determine the cause of the stress and the resolution. The right answer usually is the one that leaves you feeling relaxed, free of stress.
Do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net
