The Ebb and the Flow

November. It's a divided month where some turn to thoughts of Christmas - for cheer, for preparation or dread - while others deny the approach of the festivities, bemoaning the jolly retail marketing when it isn't even December yet!

We ebb and flow between two states of perceived times of joy: the Summer Holiday and the Christmas Season. Each at opposite times of the year, the summer and winter solstices, the celebration of self and family abroad; the celebration of self and family at home. The idealised images of tanned skin and sun-soaked beaches versus the hygge cosiness of knits and comfort food and welcoming homes filled with creative decorations.

It has a powerful pull to our psyches, reinforced by tradition, childhood memories, nostalgic expectation and the media, as we are not-so-gently ushered to prepare between the two extremes of celebration. Some resist this tide, particularly towards Christmas, overwhelmed by the overreaching demands for spending and consuming and the inevitable physical and financial hangover thereafter. Others just go with the flow, well it is Christmas, as they heap more mince pies, panettone, stollen and turkey cranberry flavoured crisps into their trolleys. The Crimbo jumper will hide the rolls of excess until the New Year rolls around and we look towards the next season of celebration with adverts for summer holidays offering deals for the budget conscious.

There is another ebb and flow that takes place with our minds, between the conscious and the unconscious. Consciously, we can be aware of the forces that direct our behaviour. We can see what we are doing as we eat or drink or smoke or spend too much to create an image of fun, sociability or a carefree existence. These means of escapism, taken to excess, only worsen the reality of its consequences when we finally open our eyes. Consciously, we try to problem solve and work out a strategy, then sit back and expect results because you know what needs to be done. But this does not deal with the subconscious perspective.

Logic could set a goal: to be this weight by this time if I do this and eat that. Simple. However, when this time comes around why are you not doing this or eating that? Why are you not sober, or still smoking, or diving into the pre-January sales in December?

It is because the unconscious mind does not problem solve with conscious logic. The unconscious mind is concerned with how you are feeling, and it always searches for the most immediate way to soothe and stablilise your emotional landscape. The subconscious does not hear Today I change my (insert choice of addiction here) habit, instead it feels that you are anxious, a bit overwhelmed, a bit desperate, or whatever you feel at the process of changing your habits and responds to soothe these feelings instead. It is a hard pull to resist with willpower alone. Breaking the resolve once willpower peters out is inevitable if you don't get your unconscious onboard.

The unconscious will mourn the loss of an effective means of escape from an uncomfortable reality. What is taken away must be replaced; it is part of the never-ending balance of ebb and flow, and a hypnotherapeutic method is to replace the habit with another, more beneficial one whose consequences improve our reality, not worsen it.

The loss of the manufactured magic of Christmas is felt keenly by some, who turn their thoughts to the direction of the summer and its preparation to be fit for the activities to come. The season of excess is replaced by the season of reining it in and it seems less painful if we do it together en masse.

So, I am here, offering my services, to work with your unconscious minds to create realities that are free from addictive habits. My pre-Christmas offer in November, leading to the New Year, is a 20% reduction in cost for smoking cessation sessions, and a free fifth session for a four-session weight management course. These discounted sessions are for January to support your Resolutions. And I know, it isn't even Christmas yet!