Overcome summer holiday stress with hypnotherapy

Podcast 21: Overcome summer holiday stress with hypnotherapy. Today I’ll be briefly talking about

• Summer holiday stress
• Some of the challenges parents face in the 6 week holiday
• The common effects of longer term stress and
• 5 top tips to overcome summer holiday stress including how you can use hypnotherapy to manage summer holiday stress.

There will also be a free hypnotherapy audio at the end of this podcast that you can enjoy, keep and come back to time and time again. 

The summer holidays are here, 6 weeks of holiday for the kids which can be quite difficult to manage as an adult. Whether you work or not children can be a challenge! Juggling your responsibilities is hard enough when the kids are at school so having the kids at home can cause all kind of different challenges and more summer holiday stress.

If you work you might need to take time off or need to cover the cost of a childminder. Which is difficult if, like me, you’re self employed. It can be a challenge trying to get everything done and still having the energy to spend quality time with your children. You don’t want to spend the holidays stressed out or feeling overwhelmed but without effective coping strategies this is usually what happens.

What can happen if we don’t manage these stresses? Prolonged stress can make us more likely to experience  

• Concentration and memory problems, you can’t focus when you’re stressed. You don’t know whether you’re coming or going.
• Worrying or having anxious, racing thoughts that keep you in that stressed state. Do you worry that you’re not a good enough parent or that you should be doing more with your child during the holidays? That you should have dealt with that situation better, or not shouted that time, or had more time to play, or been able to take them on holiday.

Commonly when we’re stressed we feel

• Like we’re irritable or have a short temper
• Feel overwhelmed, if you have more than one child to care for it might feel like you’re outnumbered at times!
• General feeling of guilt, depression or a sense of unhappiness
• Feel drained and have no motivation which can then make you feel guilty and more stressed

You could also find you

• Experience sleep problems
• you might start neglecting your responsibilities or putting off things you enjoy because of low motivation. Or because you think it will be a nightmare with the kids.
• Self medicating with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs to relax. This includes prescription medications. A few drinks after a particularly stressful day won’t really do you any harm but what if this is every day after the kids go to bed? Smoking can also be used as a way to get away from the family. To get 5 minutes to yourself “you can’t come near me, I’m smoking” can become a way to get a few minutes to yourself but it could be taking time away from your family in future years. If you die young because of smoking was it really worth trying to get another 5 minutes of peace this way?
• Other nervous habits like nail biting, pacing, hair pulling or picking your skin which can then impact on your confidence or self esteem

Hypnosis can help us manage stress and anxiety in many different ways, deep relaxation helps us cope with the day to day stress we experience. Using positive suggestion can help us change our reactions to our children and the ways they make us feel stressed. Hypnotherapy can also help you build your self esteem and confidence which will help you feel more in control when you are wi