Can Hypnosis Help Improve Sleep?
Sleep is fundamental to every other aspect of life and health. Without getting proper sleep, we can struggle to think creatively, show up for our loved ones, and stay positive. Unfortunately, many adults and even some children are having difficulty with sleep. So they come to us and they ask,
“Can hypnosis help me with sleep?”
Funny enough, the word hypnosis is historically derived from the Greek word for sleep (“hypnos”). Due to the common signs that someone is in a hypnotic trance (eyes closed, reduced responsiveness to external stimuli, and changes in breathing and heart rates), this term caught on. Now we know it’s quite a misnomer, as hypnosis is very different from sleep.
However, hypnosis can be a helpful tool for improving sleep quality.
Hypnosis is a psychological tool that helps us bring our brains into optimal states for change-making. If you are struggling with sleep, you are usually struggling to fall asleep, or to stay asleep (or maybe both). This is when a lot of adults turn to substances to help them sleep, as the longer insomnia lasts, it can snowball into a bigger problem. The longer you stay awake, the longer you may stress about how little sleep you’re getting — a thought which can keep you awake. This is a habit hypnosis can help you break.
And we need it!
1 in 12 adults take medication to help them sleep, which can lead to poor sleep quality and feeling groggy in the daytime. Over 50% of Americans have taken supplements or other substances to assist with sleep. While many people may believe that the latter is a healthier and safer option, supplements are often unregulated and can have problematic side effects. For example, melatonin is commonly accepted among Americans as a safe, natural supplement to take for sleep. However, recent studies that tested non-prescription melatonin supplements found there are significant inconsistencies between the amount listed on the bottle and how much it actually contains.
Further, an experiment done by neurobiologist Andrew Huberman showed that melatonin injection drastically inhibited the reproductive cycles of Siberian hamsters. While humans are different from hamsters, it’s still alarming and it’s something to consider. Melatonin also suppresses puberty in kids. The concern he sees with taking melatonin is, due to the dramatically high amounts found in supplements, it’s “the equivalent of super-dosing sleep hormones. And these are hormones that have other issues, and other roles… in the body. So that’s why I veer away from melatonin,” Huberman said.
So how can hypnosis help?
Hypnosis is a safe and natural alternative to medications and supplements. It can be done anytime, anywhere, in a matter of moments. It merely involves tapping into the powers of your mind, focusing on the change you want to make (in this case, sleeping better), and letting your body peacefully fall to sleep.
Further, you can do hypnosis all on your own. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis, meaning no one can do it “to” you. You can use Reveri, the self-hypnosis app developed by renowned psychologist Dr. David Spiegel. The Improve Sleep Practice offers an exercise for falling asleep, and another for falling back to sleep if you wake in the night. Each exercise takes less than 10 minutes and members report high rates of success. Many have used Reveri’s Improve Sleep Practice to overcome insomnia and quit taking melatonin.
In summary
Hypnosis is a safe alternative to medications and supplements to overcome sleeping challenges. The research supports the statement made by Dr. Spiegel’s team in The American Journal of Medicine that hypnosis should be used “particularly when it outperforms the current standard of care by safety and efficacy, as in the case of opioids and sedatives.” Hypnosis checks all the boxes for helping improve healthy sleep.
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