WE all have a “stress bucket”? – The question is can you effectively empty yours?

This time last year I experienced what can happen if you fail to empty your bucket effectively. In my case I suffered an anxiety attack. It was scary. I was driving my children and all of a sudden I couldn’t breath. I know it sounds dramatic but I really thought I was having a heart attack. Thanks to the wonderful men and women in green and some great medical support in the hospital I recovered. BUT and it’s a huge but, how do I stop it from ever happening again?

The bucket

I have learned that WE all have a bucket. Your bucket is unique to you. We need to ensure that we can keep our stress levels at a healthy state. Evolution dictates that we need an element of stress in our lives – fight or flight. But what happens if your bucket just keeps filling?
During our REM sleep our brain processes what has happened in our lives. Moving emotional memories (clearly by re running events or in metaphor, dreams) from the subconscious mind to the intellectual brain where it becomes a narrative memory that you can rationalise. So if your bucket is regularly emptied the term to “sleep on it” makes so much sense. If you have had enough REM sleep (which is also exhausting sleep) your brain processes and empties some (and in some cases all) of the things in your bucket leaving you ready to wake and face the day.
In my case my bucket was not emptying properly. I wasn’t sleeping, or as I latterly found I was sleeping but it was bad sleep, exhausting sleep. I was permanently exhausted and the cycle of topping up the bucket to the point that it over flowed and I had my attack crept up on me. I had thought that I was coping.

This could explain why some soldiers cope with the trauma of going to war better than others. If their bucket is full or partially full with other things that are going on in their lives (marriage, bereavement etc) at the time that they go to war then maybe they just can’t process and cope with the stress of war as well as those who have an empty bucket in the first place. Post Traumatic Stress doesn’t affect everyone despite them being in the someplace at the same time!

Through my learning as a Solution Focussed Hypnotherapist I will be developing the skills to help myself and others to keep the bucket empty. If you feel the pressure then consider some solution focussed hypnotherapy. It doesn’t dwell on the past (so no need to go over the bad experiences) it just focusses on creating positive thought patterns that give you the skills needed to keep things in check and the bucket empty. If you can sleep well and process the anxieties of the day you will wake up prepared and able to cope with all that life throws at you.

We are all different, I would never claim to fully understand what others think and feel, but I can help everyone who wants to be helped, to deal with the underlying problems and help us all have a better more relaxed existence. If we are relaxed, we perform better and achieve our goals and aspirations.

Giving up smoking, reducing anxiety and depression, quashing phobias and many other issues can be helped. Giving you increased confidence to perform to your best ability.
Related article:

People who go to bed late worry more!

Here are a few of my sleep patterns from the past year. I was so surprised how much it has improved with only one relaxation session.
If you get a good night’s sleep then you can cope with the world and all that it throws at you…. and enjoy it!!!
Sleep pattern before

After 1 session or Trance

After four months of practicing

I think I can safely say that I can now effectively empty my bucket. I would not have considered Hypnotherapy this last time last year. Pure ignorance being the reason. I’m just so glad that I have now, and have the ability to help others too. If you are curious then you can book a free consultation to find out whether it is something that could help you.