Hypnotherapy to help with stress and anxiety caused by worry about Coronavirus Covid - 19

COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It's caused by a virus called coronavirus.

You can't have escaped the news about Coronavirus and how it has spread from China around the world.  For once the news channels are not finding that Donald Trump or Brexit are their top stories. Instead they are focussing on the virus, and how it is spreading. Of course Trump and Brexit can also be responsible for stress, worry and anxiety in people too.

Where we are...

At the moment we are in the early months of the Corona Virus and we are still finding out all about it, how it spreads and who could be affected the most.

I am already starting to hear from people who are worried about what could happen to them or their family if they were to contract this new virus. People are aware that unlike the flu virus there is currently no vaccine available.

Just having a flu jab works in two ways in helping you with worry. Firstly you have given yourself a really good chance of not getting the flu, that's the physical side of things. The other side, the mental health issue, means that you can tick it off the list of things that you may worry about. That is why people are finding that they are more worried about this and the uncertainty than anything else.

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu.

• a cough
• a high temperature
• shortness of breath

It is important to note that having these symptoms does not necessarily mean you have the illness.

How is coronavirus is spread?

Because it's a new illness, we do not know exactly how coronavirus spreads from person to person. Similar viruses are spread in cough droplets. It's very unlikely it can be spread through things like packages or food.

Tips on how to avoid catching or spreading coronavirus

Wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds. You can try singing happy birthday so that you know how long to do it for.

Make sure you always wash your hands when you get home or into work, or you can use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.

If you cough or sneeze make sure that you cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve rather than your hands.

Always put used tissues in the bin straight away and then wash your hands afterwards.

If you can do keep away from people who are unwell.

It is also very important that you do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.

Helping to let go of stress and anxiety with hypnosis

So, at the moment there are lots of unknowns about what could happen. It is of course natural that we may start to worry about these but we can learn to let go of them. If we do all the things that are suggested above then we will make things easier for ourselves and everyone else too.

Taking time out to relax... Whatever people come to see me about there is one thing that most people really do not do enough of. That thing is simply to take time out to relax on a daily basis. If you practice meditation, hypnosis and mindfulness things may surprise you by becoming easier. Helping to reduce our stress levels is always a good idea.

Let's start right now. All you need to do is take a few minutes out to listen to the recording below. It is only one minute long and just taking one minute to help your breathing relax and let go of your worries is a really good start!

If you have a little more time and enjoyed that simple start then here is something a little longer that you can try..

Remember that just taking a few minutes out of your day can start to make a real difference...and also make sure you wash those hands!

Pop star Justin Bieber has a new Youtube series which follows his life. 

Justin Bieber talks all about Havening..

He talks candidly about how he has struggled with his mental health due to the pressure of his career and the paparazzi, and how he has used one particular technique called Havening to help himself.

Talking about a photo that was published showing him at his most vulnerable he recalls.. "I remember just struggling. I remember feeling, like, emotionally just overwhelmed and talking to her, not knowing how to communicate certain things and just feeling kind of frustrated...this was a point in my life where I was just like, so overwhelmed ... being a normal person and crying."

“People are like, 'Is he OK, is he having a mental breakdown?' and I'm just emotional and, you know, I think that's OK."

Later in the Youtube video, Bieber talks more about his mental health while shooting the video for his latest single Yummy.

Knowing that he is in the position of being able to find help he turned to his health coach, Dr. Buzz Mingin, to help him through filming the music video and discussed one of the techniques he's taught the pop star to practice when he's feeling stressed, which is called "Havening."

"Havening is a psychosensory technique that actually raises the feel-good chemicals in your brain on demand," Mingin says as Bieber is shown continuously rubbing his head and face.

Justin’s wife Hailey Bieber, who also appears in the youtube episode, discussed the technique and described it as a “self-soothing thing”.  

“Everybody kind of has their own version of Havening without knowing it, It’s like when you’re a little kid and you suck your thumb to soothe yourself. When you’re starting to feel really stressed out or just to keep yourself calm – it’s almost like when you’re a kid and your mum is rubbing your back to sleep and it’s the best feeling in the world? 

“It’s kind of like that, except you’re doing it for yourself.”

What is Havening?

Perhaps the most famous practitioner of Havening is Paul McKenna, whilst known initially for his hypnosis shows in the UK, McKenna has always been known to seek out new techniques that can help us with our mental health and even deal with PTSD, as well as stress, anxiety and panic attacks.

You can watch Paul McKenna talking all about techniques such as Havening in the following video...