How can hypnosis function as a natural sleep aid and improve sleep quality?
What is sleep?
Sleep is a physiological function that is a natural state of rest for the body and mind. A few theories address why we need sleep, but generally, it is a restorative process that replenishes and rebuilds the brain and body. Sleep increases cell production and reduces the breakdown of important proteins. It consolidates the events of your day and stores the information you’ll need in your memory bank. Poor sleep, or even an hour of sleep debt, decreases your cognitive functioning and affects the body just as much as stress. Adults need about 7-9 hours of sleep, which varies from person to person according to numerous factors.
Using an electroencephalography (EEG) and an electromyography (EMG), scientists have identified four stages of the sleep cycle that demonstrate the different electrophysiological changes occurring in the brain. Stage 1 is a light sleep characterized by theta waves (4-8 Hz), possible muscle jerks, or the feeling of falling. There is a gradual shift from being relaxed to being drowsy. Stage 2 is a slightly deeper sleep still characterized by theta waves but includes sleep spindles that are high-frequency wave bursts. In this stage, the person is no longer conscious of their environment. Stage 3 is a deep sleep characterized by slow delta waves (< 4 Hz). Stage 4 is known as REM sleep, characterized by rapid eye movements and most vivid dreams. These stages repeat in 90-100 minute cycles throughout the night, with Stage 3 taking longer in the first half of the night and Stage 4, REM sleep, taking longer in the second half of the night. A disturbed or lacking Stage 3 and 4 sleep results in impaired brain activity the following day. It’s crucial that your brain experience enough high quality Stage 3 and 4 sleep each night to perform optimally during the day.
Can’t sleep? What is insomnia and why do we have trouble falling asleep?
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that makes falling or staying asleep difficult. About 30-47% report symptoms and 6% of people meet the criteria for diagnosis of insomnia. While there are no obvious causes, it results from a range of factors like lifestyle choices or as a response to other conditions like depression or anxiety. While sedatives can be useful for short-term help with insomnia, their long-term benefits are not effective. They reduce the time spent in deep sleep, which plays an important role in emotional processing, dreaming and brain development. This results in grogginess and irritability.
There are stages of wakefulness and sleep as defined by various brain activity and muscle tones. In each stage, your energy levels decrease, breathing and heart rate slow down, muscle activity slows down, and brain waves shift from theta to delta waves. In response to darkness, your body produces melatonin to promote sleep. Sometimes, an inability to sleep can be due to environmental factors like the temperature in the room or light exposure. Other times, it can be due to a disruption in melatonin production, tension in the body from the day, or racing thoughts. Oftentimes, worrying about falling asleep makes it harder to do so, exacerbating the experience of sleeplessness. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, sleeping deeply, or improving the quality of your REM sleep, or improving your sleep habits, hypnosis is a natural therapy that can help.
How can hypnosis improve your ability to fall asleep naturally?
Hypnosis can promote healthier sleep habits, encourage the body to relax, and reduce mental chatter. Improving your sleep hygiene includes sleeping at a similar time each night, reducing distractions or noise in your bedroom, ensuring the room is dark, and keeping the temperature cool. Hypnosis can help you build these habits through suggestions encouraging you to gravitate naturally toward these sleep-promoting behaviors.
Hypnosis can also help your body relax by encouraging progressive muscle relaxation. This technique signals to your brain that is safe for you to sleep. By listening to a recording consistently, you build new neural pathways that increase your ability to relax before going to bed. The more you listen, the easier it becomes to fall asleep. A hypnosis recording can also change your relationship to your chatter and thoughts. Using various techniques, you increase your mind’s ability to let go of worries and allow yourself to rest.
A hypnotic state is closely linked to theta waves in your brain, encouraging your mind and body to enter Stage 1 and 2 of the sleep cycle. When you are in this state, the relaxation in your body signals to the brain that it is safe to relax and start to wind down. Over time, consistent exposure to the process makes it easier to fall asleep. This hypnotic state can be achieved whenever you listen to a recording or self-hypnotize, but the difference of deep sleep hypnosis is that the suggestions lead you towards rest, and there is no dehypnotizing patter, allowing your mind to enter sleep as opposed to wakefulness.
