The start of a new year brings hope, fresh starts and promises. We make promises to ourselves that we are going to make changes to our lives. Sometimes big changes and this can feel overwhelming as the winter months continue. The pressure that comes with making new year’s resolutions, along with the fact that we can sometimes make too many, means that it doesn’t take much for the habits from the previous year to return. Why does this happen?
Our brain is a wonderful thing. It has evolved over time and continues to adapt but our factory settings remain the same. The key survival part of our brain is the same as it was when we were cavemen and women. While the dangers and threats to our lives are somewhat different now, our brain responds in the same way as if we had been greeted by a big grizzly polar bear. This is known as fight or flight.
In order to survive, our brains pattern match with previous experiences in order to find the appropriate response. Our brain will look at the gym kit by the front door and think ‘what did I do yesterday in order to survive?’ If the answer was to order a pizza and watch tv, then you will be encouraged to do the same sort of thing the next day. This is why those resolutions might not make it past Burn’s Night.
Hypnotherapy helps by creating new Neuro-pathways and ways of thinking so that we no longer need to repeat the negative behaviours that are making us unhappy. We achieve this by spending more time in the Left Pre-frontal Cortex. A much more updated system which is more compatible with modern life. It’s also very positive.