Parenting is a full-time job – and a wonderful one, especially when we are at our best.
In both my role as a holistic hypnotherapist and as a mother, I’ve found that to be the best parent you can be, you should treat yourself with the same kindness and care that you show your family. Nurturing yourself so that you’re at your best when supporting others.
One of the biggest ways we can better look after ourselves is through boundary setting.
Setting boundaries is a skill many people struggle to learn, but it can make such a big difference to our lives as parents. So often we’re conditioned to accommodate the needs of others to the extent where we find it hard to say no to things that we could really do without in our lives – whether that’s social invitations that encroach on our precious family time or unsolicited ‘help' from older generations or others who insist they know best.
Learning how to politely yet firmly push back when others encroach on our boundaries is a valuable skill we can pass on to our children too. Helping them to simply say ‘no thank you’ to unwanted affection, to not feel compelled to try to please everyone and to recognise when they are feeling tired from partaking in too many activities, for example.
Looking after ourselves is also about learning how to give ourselves permission to be who we are. To forgive ourselves for making mistakes and to recognise that these mistakes are part of our growth, just as we would encourage our children to learn from their mistakes as they learn and grow.
For instance, while social media can be a useful way to keep in touch with our friends and keep up with issues that are important to us, these platforms can too often become hives of negativity, where others are quick to judge and condemn. In this environment, it’s natural to shy away from showing our true selves and to feel afraid of making any mistakes that can so quickly be jumped on and criticised – making it harder to feel confident in ourselves.
But we don’t have to let this kind of negativity encroach on our lives, invading our thoughts and our time. Instead, we can focus on seeing the beauty in the world and accepting ourselves and others.
Learning how to set boundaries and to have confidence in ourselves are just two examples of how we can better look after ourselves and, in turn, move towards becoming the best parents we can be.
Essentially, it’s about letting go of whatever is holding us back from living the lives we want to live. This might be adopting healthier eating habits or finding a way to increase our motivation to exercise – or healing ourselves after a relationship breakdown or recovering from childhood trauma that continues to take its toll on our lives.
These are just a few examples of the kind of issues that holistic hypnotherapy can help with. And, importantly for time-pressed parents, they can usually achieve the results they need in just a few sessions.
Holistic therapies focus on the health of the entire person. By relaxing and integrating the mind and body, a person can make positive changes to their lives - physically, mentally, and socially.
Hypnotherapy is a gentle, relaxing way to connect with your subconscious mind, letting go of thoughts or habits that are no longer helping you in your everyday life.
An iceberg analogy is often used to describe the different parts of the mind – with the tip of the iceberg representing the conscious mind and the subconscious mind represented by the larger part that lies beneath the surface. Connecting with the subconscious mind is key in making changes in thought patterns and behaviour, which is why therapy delivered whilst in a state of hypnosis is such an effective way to drive change.
Hypnosis happens naturally whenever a person is inclined to accept outside suggestions. Hypnosis makes memories more real and ideas clearer and can act to help you heal more rapidly, be more creative and change for the better.
Many parents crave a small window of time just for them. A safe space where they can truly relax and let go of anxiety and fear – and learn to have more trust in themselves and have more confidence in their boundaries. To update their operating systems.
Holistic hypnotherapy allows you to do this and to give you the tools to continue to give yourself that space and support to be the best parent you can be.