Three, That’s the Magic Number.
How We Can Create Our Own Happiness Naturally.
I thoroughly enjoyed training to become a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist. I chose to train in Bristol, which involved very early Saturday morning starts and a ninety mile journey in a northerly direction (remember practically everything is north when you live in Devon!). This also cunningly meant that I got a night away in a hotel once a month. A whole night, in a big bed, alone. Bliss! I’m not sure that I would have felt able to do that a few years ago when my sons were smaller but it felt like the right time so off I went, and I am pretty sure that I deserve those precious uninterrupted nights sleep after a long decade of musical beds whilst trying to get children to actually go to sleep/sleep all night/sleep in their own bed. I’m not sure why I’m trying to justify my hotel stay- It’s not like you were judging! Anyway, as I was saying, I thoroughly enjoyed my training, and one of the parts that I found most enlightening and valuable was learning about the brain. Developing an understanding of neuroscience and learning about brain anatomy and physiology was fascinating. It helped me to understand how the brain reacts and responds to stressors on an unconscious level and why it creates the symptoms of anxiety, depression and anger. I found this both empowering and reassuring because it means that we can understand how and why as humans, we can end up feeling down, anxious or overwhelmed, and importantly what we can do to help.
By this point anyone who likes the band De La Soul will be wondering why on earth the title of this article was a nod to their classic track “The Magic Number”….bear with me…I’m getting to it. Our brains produce neurotransmitters. Natural chemicals released as messengers in our brains and body. So our brains produce these chemicals naturally, but our MINDS and the way we think can have a major influence on quantities of the chemicals produced. If we have high levels of anxiety it is likely that we will produce far more adrenaline than is of any use to us unless we are about to unexpectedly meet a polar bear wandering the local streets. If we are struggling with low mood, we will be lacking the desired quantities of feel good motivational chemicals and most certainly won’t be auditioning for a remake of the music video of the Pharrell Williams song ‘Happy’. Both those scenarios, or a combination of the two, will leave us feeling FAR from great. Now it’s definitely worth acknowledging at this point that as human beings we are not designed to feel happy ALL the time. It is perfectly normal to feel sad at times, it is also normal to have a few worries, it is, indeed, completely normal to have a bad day. But these bad days shouldn’t be the norm. You should feel good. You can feel good. You deserve to feel good.
Let’s focus now on the happy ‘feel good’ chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine (as a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist I like to focus on the positives!). The production of these rather lovely and beneficial chemicals can be significantly increased by what can be referred to as the THREE P’s (a tenuous link to the song ‘Three’ maybe, but I do like De La Soul). Positive actions, positive interactions and positive thoughts. Doing things that we enjoy, or that give us a feeling of purpose, boost the production of those lovely feel good chemicals. Interacting with others, spending time with people we love or care about also give us a natural chemical boost. Even thinking about things that make us happy and feel good produce more of the amazing natural resource of those wonderful positive neurotransmitters.
The great thing is about neurotransmitters is that it is entirely possible to influence the production of the ones we desire, such as serotonin and dopamine. In the same way that we can influence a reduction in the ones that we don’t desire. Almost like a chemical game of Rock Paper Scissors, but where serotonin and dopamine (in this case our heroes) can beat both anxiety and depression. The more that we are able to incorporate positive actions, positive interactions and positive thoughts into our daily lives the more wonderful natural free feel good chemicals we will produce. So you see three really is the magic number!
If you are feeling stuck, finding it hard to think positively, or feel that you need motivation or confidence in order to take positive actions or have positive interactions then Solution Focused Hypnotherapy could be very beneficial to you. You will learn more about how the mind works and will be supported to move forward, leaving low mood and anxiety in the past, producing more of your own super neurotransmitters, so that you can enjoy your future just as you would like to.
If you would like to find out more about boosting your natural feel good neurotransmitters, or support in achieving your goals, please get in touch to find out how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy could help you! bryonywayhypnotherapy.co.uk 0734 2338284
Now go and listen to De La Soul, or your favourite song… It’ll boost your serotonin!
Enjoy!
BW x