Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis - News and Articles

A Gift For You
Posted on May 12 2011
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How would you like something that’s completely free and that can absolutely change your outlook on life and it’s challenges?

Today I’m writing about a really simple technique that at first glance appears to be so easy that it couldn’t possibly work. But in clinical tests in the USA the ‘Three Gifts’ exercise has been shown to be as effective as Prozac in treating depression. And you can just imagine how even if you are not feeling depressed how amazing this simple technique could be for you.

For two hundred years psychologists and psychotherapists have studied people who are unhappy in order to find ways to help other unhappy people. Eventually someone suggested that instead of studying the unhappy people it might be an idea to study happy people and see what makes them so happy – they called this Positive Psychology. One of the things they discovered is that the happiest people are also the most grateful. The following simple, but powerful, technique is borrowed from Positive Psychology.

Just before you go to sleep, write down three ‘gifts’ or good things that happened to you today. These could be really small things like hearing the birds singing; a child’s smile; or hearing your favourite song on the radio. Even the worst day has some gifts if you take a few minutes to look for them. Do this simple task every night for three weeks – of course you might find it so powerful that you continue to do it for much longer (I certainly did).

Why does it work?

By recalling positive things just before sleep you are doing two things. Firstly, all the latest research in neuro-science shows that by recalling good things, you release exactly the same “happy” chemicals into your blood that you did when you experienced them first time round. Your brain loves these chemicals and taking the time to remember them increases their effect and you go to sleep happy.

Over the days gradually and gently your brain becomes primed to look for and notice these ‘gifts’. So you unconsciously begin to spend your day looking for the good, positive stuff. This has the effect of filtering out many of the negative things you might have been paying more attention to before.

This is a wonderful, easy technique that works for everybody of every age, gender, and class. And the best news is it costs you nothing but a couple of minutes of your time each day.

Why not try it out with your children too - they love to be asked for their three gifts and if you make this part of their bedtime ritual they might actually begin to look forward to bed time and you can begin to learn more about what makes them tick.

So I wonder what your three gifts will be today?

Brenda Cox
07895 290528
admin@brendacox.co.uk

Last changed: May 12 2011 at 1:31 PM

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Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis - News and Articles

A Gift For You