By Fern Tausig
On Your Mind
Fern Tausig
Do you find yourself eating even though you’re not hungry? Do you feel short tempered and find yourself snapping at people? Maybe a particular person is annoying you or sets you off in a way that you don’t like. Do you have trouble sleeping or experience anxious feelings that make you feel out of control? Do you find yourself saying things that you later regret or feel bad about?
Sometimes we attribute these things to whatever is currently happening in our lives.
However, if any of these apply to you, it is an indication that there is something unconsciously bothering you. It could be an experience you had a long time ago that is completely unrelated to the reactions you’re experiencing presently. Past experiences that made you feel angry or hurt and that you never dealt with can create feelings and behaviors that reflect those feelings.
I worked with a client who told me she would continue eating even though she was no longer hungry. She knew she was full but felt compelled to keep eating. This is a perfect example of one of my favorite expressions: “Sometimes it’s not about what you eat, but it’s about what’s eating you.” The overeating was a manifestation how she felt: out of control.
She was angry at her fiancée, who had cheated on her. She told him she forgave him, but it wasn’t true. The anger she held on to made her feel out of control of her thoughts and feelings.
It’s easy to get to the bottom of unwanted thoughts and feelings using hypnosis. By helping her let go of the feelings and truly forgiving him, the overeating ended.
Past experiences have a powerful effect on our present thoughts, feelings and behaviors. If you were bullied in the past or made to feel bad about yourself, those experiences leave an imprint on you that is triggered throughout your life. Although it could be triggered by a colleague or a family member, the reaction has nothing to do with them. They become the victims of your unresolved past feelings.
Sleep is also affected by past unresolved emotions and experiences. Sleep is very important to physical and mental wellness. When negative feelings are held on to, sleep is disrupted, dreams are troubling and you feel anxious about not being able to sleep.
Hypnosis is an excellent treatment for sleep problems. The common complaint is “I can’t shut off my mind,” or “I wake up and cannot get back to sleep because of racing thoughts.”
Many who have sleep issues find the problem has roots in their past. One client would wake up in the middle of the night and go to the kitchen and eat sweets. This created a weight problem, and she was very frustrated. She unconsciously found comfort in food. The underlying issues were directly related to body shaming by her mother when she was a preteen; her mother called her chubby. Her mother tried to prevent her from eating snacks that were in the house for other family members.
I was glad to help her neutralize those feelings and stop the night eating.
If you find you have regret over reoccurring negative behaviors or feelings, it is probably unrelated to whatever you think is the cause.