They may have started this year with excitement and nervousness about the final year of school. You were getting ready to launch your child into the world. There were driving lessons, formals, university open days, study plans, subject choices, the beginning of such a wonderful adventure. Then on March 11th the World Health Organisation warned us that the world was about to change, very fast, and with no regard to the meaningful details, or the importance of this year - to you and your Year 12 student.

The grief, the stress, and even the change in learning context may strongly impact your childs ability to learn and remember. You can support your independent home learner to lower stress and accept their learning environment, in turn allowing them to grow, and develop the new skills needed to navigate the change in this new, albeit temporary, Covid-19 world.

So let's talk about subconscious soup. In the first 7 years we pour ingredients in; some are delicious and sweet (love, affection, acceptance, happiness and compassion) and some are yucky and salty (criticism, negative comments, limitations of character).
Unfortunately, just like any soup, we can’t take any ingredients out! If the soup is too salty and unpalatable there is no way to get that salt back out! So what then?

We could add more potatoes (happiness), or some more water (love) to cancel that bad taste. We can add a genuine sense of self-worth, we can add the unquestionable feeling of unconditional love, we can add happiness and acceptance, and maybe the belief that there is no limit to our child’s potential.
These delicious ingredients balance the soups flavor and overcome and supersede the yucky taste... for life. 

Enter SleepTalk®; offering parents the chance to balance the soup, to top up our precious children's subconscious minds with positive suggestions of love, acceptance and happiness.

Even after the age of 7, SleepTalk® gives parents the opportunity to directly fill their child with minds with an unquestionable knowing, of self-worth and unconditional love.

The process is simple, connecting and brings your family close together on the road to feeling calm, happy and "loved up". Just 2 minutes a night, every night (and I promise you they are a wonderful two minutes!)

My Story with SleepTalk®
I began using SleepTalk® with my children 4 years ago. When our second child was born, our first became a different little person.

A wise maternal health nurse described it to me this way:
"Imagine your husband, after loving you intensely for as long as you can remember; brought another woman home. Not only does he tell you that this new woman is coming to live with you, and that he loves her as deeply as he loves you, but he also says that you have to learn to love her deeply too!"

Wow! No wonder my son was angry. Now he is getting less attention, which makes him even angrier, which gets him some attention! And the cycle began.

I was sad for him; he was heartbroken, anxious, angry and unsure of his place. I was hopelessly disappointed in myself; I was busy with a newborn, doing too many things - it felt none of them well. I was exhausted and just could not give him the time or resources he needed from me no matter how hard I tried.

SleepTalk® gave both my husband and me the connection we needed with our children again. Our son began to feel love and acceptance within and he began to truly believe that he was "ok". Things were (and remain) happy for us again. 

Our nightly ritual has not stopped, and it now feels right, in fact it has become an effort NOT to SleepTalk® to our children every night!

Our children still have their "moments", but SleepTalk® keeps us grounded, and creates a sense of comfort in our children. They feel comfort within themselves, that they are loveable, and truly, unquestionably and unconditionally loved. SleepTalk® has given us the opportunity to give them this gift, and it's easily the greatest gift of all... It's all that really matters... 

​How often do you notice that you are running on autopilot? You don’t remember finishing your meal (but it’s gone), or driving through the last traffic light (but you are home), or lighting the cigarette in your hand (but it’s almost finished). Our subconscious manages our daily function and behaviours in so many ways.
 
There may have been a time when those behaviours were valuable; overeating gave you comfort, smoking made you feel calm, worrying helped you perform at your best, or being in pain protected you from pushing too far. Now these behaviours are outdated and no longer good for your health and well-being but they just seem to happen despite your efforts time and time again.

​When we are relaxed our body and mind can run its maintenance program. We restore energy and nutrients around our body and repair damaged muscles and cells so we can work at our best again. When we are relaxed we also find answers to problems we have carried around; a clarity of thought. Our critical conscious mind takes a back seat and our wise subconscious mind has space – here is where we can easily make convincing and permanent positive change. Hypnotherapy guides your subconscious mind to think about your behaviour and find new solutions to old problems. 

​A hypnotherapy program begins with a discussion of your current state and the goals you want to achieve. Once hypnosis begins, all that there is to do is relax, get comfortable and listen. This is called a “trance”. It can be as light as that feeling you get when you daydream, or as deep as you may feel when you do meditation. Both are so relaxing and effective. You will only ever relax as deeply as you need to and only so that you just feel so comfortable. When you are in a trance you can hear everything that is said. I find most clients choose a deep trance and really enjoy the benefits of the time relaxing – 30 minutes in trance, can feel like an hour long massage!

Hypnotherapy can

• build self-esteem and confidence
• change habits (poor eating, smoking, nail biting)
• help motivate your commitment to change
• change your response to stress (and phobias)
• help to manage anxiety and depression.
• provide a closer connection between your mind and your body such as;
  • managing pain
  • responding to illness
  • getting in tune with the optimal function of your body
  • feeling satisfied when your stomach is full

* https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201702/how-do-neuroplasticity-and-neurogenesis-rewire-your-brain.

The possibilities are extensive. Make an appointment today and take the first step to being your best.

5 ways you can start to shift your mindset:

1. Visualise daily how it feels to be the size you would like to be; make an inspiration board, or just close your eyes and really imagine yourself there now.
2. List all the rewards you will find when you reach your goal; (health, energy, confidence, relationships)
3. Make small changes and build on them each day (start with walking for 20 minutes a day, decrease your portion sizes or substitute high fat foods with healthier options)
4. Talk to yourself kindly; take note of how you talk to yourself and commit to being on your own cheer squad.
5. Be in it for the long haul. Doing it properly will take longer but it will also last a lifetime.

​Clinical Hypnotherapist Kim High says hypnotherapy can effectively help people who find themselves emotionally eating and change their behaviour in a short period of time.
“Sometimes people that come to see me for weight loss are happy, healthy and just have some bad habits that need to be broken. More commonly, people find they are constantly failing at weight loss attempts, motivation seems impossible to sustain and they eat for emotional reasons”.
“Some people believe that losing weight will make them happy when actually being happy is what makes weight loss easier (and more permanent)”
“It is more powerful to treat the cause of the eating patterns and that is where hypnotherapy can be very effective for long lasting change. A lot of these saboteurs are happening sub-consciously. The problem may actually come from low self-esteem, limiting self-beliefs or an issue or event from the past. It is important to treat the problem properly rather than quickly.”

No matter what your goal is – from fertility to quitting smoking, weight loss to managing IBS, the key factor in motivation, health and happiness is STRESS.

Stressors in our lifestyles today are great and often lie in areas that we are not even aware of. Scientifically, the definition of a stressor is "anything that requires us to burn energy in order to keep internal systems running smoothly"*1.

This could be as simple as constant over stimulation of visual information (on your smart phone), too much noise, too many refined foods in your diet, too many people... and the list goes on. Then there are greater more obvious stressors; changes in lifestyle, pressure of work, trying to get pregnant, learning the new skills of nurturing a newborn…
*1 https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/self-reg/201608/caught-in-stress-cycle