Shifting From Discomfort to Comfort: Clearing Your Physical and Mental Static

Are you feeling discomfort in your body or your mind? Is your jaw clenched or do you wear a night guard? Do you look forward to more sleep yet have difficulty getting or staying asleep once you wake up?

By acknowledging discomfort or if you have difficulty getting your mind to slow down or unwind, you can choose and reach for something that will perhaps shift that discomfort or disturbed sleep. It may mean you may have to seek medical help, in whatever form you need, in order to make that discomfort lessen.

It could also be that reaching for hypnosis can resolve your intermittent sleep issues and resolve jaw clenching at the same time!

Maybe you have discomfort somewhere in your body. What's preventing you from resolving that issue? Creating a practice of unwinding may be the key; like self-hypnosis.

What do you notice when you are in discomfort? Do you try to push it down or push that discomfort away? Do you attempt to distract yourself or rationalize it?

Stress can manifest in your body and show up as:

• Jaw discomfort

• Headaches

• Drinking or eating too much

• Lower back (lack of support?)

• Sleeplessness

• Anxiety

• Snacking

• Depression

• Overreacting

• Frustrations

If you could learn ways of "checking in" with your body and calming your mind, you would relieve some of the stress that causes your body to respond with sensations of discomfort.

You would feel:

• More expressive and creative

• More uplifted

• More connection with others

• More open to having fun

• More present in your world

• More consistent work performance

• Better about your relationships

I was always taught "whatever you resist, persists" (credit: Carl Jung) When I push away discomfort, I seem to notice more of that discomfort. How is that even possible? It may not be the same for you, but you may notice similarities.

When you keep telling yourself, over and over, I have a headache, what does that do for you? Are you actually "inviting" that headache to continue to be a part of your world?

No one like discomfort. As I'm naming my sensations or feelings, I can "check in" with my body and my mind.

If you "checked in" with your body and mind, what would or could you notice, without trying to make it change or judging it?

Could you:

• Notice your breath (is it shallow or deep?)

• Notice where you feel expanded or contracted, and take an action to allow expansion

• Notice that you felt edgy or short with others?

• Notice that you felt lackluster and want to be alone?

Here is a 1-2-3 template to address just about any issue:

STEP 1: Be aware (you just did that, congratulations!)

STEP 2: Ask yourself, “What am I feeling?

Here’s a list of core feelings you may have experienced:

1. Fear (anxiety or nervousness, worry or concern that something bad might happen)

2. Stress (overwhelm – too many things on my plate to do them all well)

3. Anger (could also be annoyance, which says: something isn’t fair). Frustration is sort of like anger except that it’s chronic; happens regularly and has been on-going

4. Sad (did you lose something or someone of value?)

5. Loneliness (it would be great to have someone to care about and someone who cares about me)

6. Guilt (I did something that wasn’t right or fair to someone else or maybe even to myself)

7. Inadequacy (I’m just not good enough or I failed in some way)

8. Boredom (I need a growth experience, I need to stretch myself)

STEP 3: Determine what would be a satisfying response, not just a momentary distractor (that’s what unwanted habits are – they distract you temporarily from the real feeling and your body often demonstrates discomfort as a way of speaking to you)

Here’s a list of healthy alternatives to disturbing body or mind states:

- Act, if you need to change something

- Re-prioritize your responsibilities and/or delegate

- Try to make something fair and if you can’t or the person is no longer in your life or that awful job situation is now gone:

- write a letter expressing your thoughts (tear up the letter or burn it)

- pound a pillow

- work on advocating for others

- speak up

- express yourself to a compassionate listener

- consider the concept of forgiveness.

REMEMBER: NO ONE GETS OFF THE HOOK THROUGH FORGIVENESS. YOU JUST GET TO EXPRESS YOUR ANGER/HURT safely, which helps you shift your perspective and then, you can unhook.

Forgiveness is ONLY for you! You will likely never forget.

- Grief is a natural part of life. Allow yourself the time and space to grieve a loss so you can move on

- Can you attempt to replace the person or thing that you’ve lost?

- Join a Meet Up group or host one

- Go to a concert

- Spend time in the garden

- Invite someone for coffee/tea

- Send flowers to someone whom you might have been unfair to or message them an apology

- Post something good about that person on Facebook

- Learn a new skill, take a class or deepen a hobby skill

- Donate time to the Kiwanis

- Volunteer at the animal shelter so you can hug and kiss all the kittens and puppies you want

- Host card night

- Take a hike with the Sierra Club

- Find a “friends only” pen pal

- Learn self-hypnosis

What would be possible for you, if you gave yourself some self-care time and attention? Are you open to shift from discomfort to comfort?

Here are more practices you can do right now:

With your hand on your heart, and your eyes closed, take a moment or two to just notice your breathing.

• Is it shallow or deep? Just notice, there isn't anything to change or judge. Just observe.

• As you observe, are you aware of any sensations going on in your body? Again, just observe. There is no right or wrong.

• Allow that place or area of your body to tell you what it needs, while you are in this quiet, reflective place

• If you hear or notice a message that will enhance your well being, continue to listen to your body's wisdom, and allow more messages to percolate up

• Set a time in your day where you can allow your messages to guide you to action. You may have to schedule a time of day, for that self-care action, in order to create the practice (for instance, self-hypnosis may be what you were guided to do. Upon wakening or going to sleep may be the best time for that action to become a habit or practice

Let me know what works for you, because sharing is connecting!

Drop me a line: info@northwesthypnosiscenter.com or post something on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/northwesthypnosiscenter