#51 Relaxation Hypnosis for Stress, Anxiety & Panic Attacks

Hello and welcome to Relaxation Hypnosis for Stress, Anxiety and Panic Attacks. My name is Jason Newland. Please only listen to this when you can safely close your eyes.

I hope you're well. I've done something today that I don't normally do. I've done a little preparation for this recording and I've even made notes, can you believe it? Only like headlines because I thought it might be useful to mention some useful things that you may be able to do that might be helpful, you know, and I might have mentioned some of this before so if I have and you've listened to that then please forgive me although repetition is useful and so I made a list of some stuff and I'll make a few comments and tell you about some of my personal experiences with these things.

Some useful actions that you can take to help with reducing your stress, anxiety, panic and and maybe also dealing with the issues surrounding it as well. So I'm just going to go through them. So there's a few, a lot of this is really obvious but I find it's sometimes the most obvious blatant stuff that's useful.

I also find, and I don't know about you, sometimes when a friend or someone that I know offers me some advice I don't seem to like it. I have this, and again it might just be me, but for example, they might say, oh have you got anxiety, have you tried this, whatever this is, and straight away I can seem to have a wall comes up and it's the same thing that happens when I meet someone new and they tell me their name.

I just stop listening or if I ask for directions, which is a time when I really should be listening and I just for some reason blank out a bit.

So I thought maybe coming from somebody different, because I think sometimes it might, it feels like they're not really interested. Maybe it is saying if you try this in order to no longer talk about what it is, that we're concerned with. It might not be the case though.

It's a very obvious thing. The first one, and this fits in with what I do with my hypnosis podcasts. So here's the first thing I wrote down, sleep decreases stress and anxiety.

And that's basically decent sleep. And that fits in with what I do because I've got a few sleep podcasts, which are pretty popular. And I literally just read, someone just sent me a message on Facebook saying that every time they listen to one of the deep sleep whisper hypnosis sessions, that he falls asleep straight away.

So that just happens to be at the top of the list. I could go on about sleep. Personally, when I was going through the hardest part of the panic times, and I found the, the only thing that, the only thing that I really felt I was able to do, not always, but a lot of the time, was to just lay in bed on my own with quiet and just relax.

Relax. And it got to the point where when I visited people, I'd sometimes say, I just need to go and lay down. Can I lay down for half an hour? And usually it was okay.

I only did it with people that I knew well, like family or like a good friend. I wouldn't, wouldn't do it in someone's house that I'd only just, you know, met. Oh, by the way, can I, can I lay on your bed, please? You know, that would sound a bit weird.

There's one time I visited my friend and in London. And I got up there, I travelled up there, probably on a Friday evening. Saturday morning, got up, everything was fine.

We went to take his dog for a walk. And we couldn't have got more than 200 yards from his flat. And my legs went numb.

I mean, literally, I couldn't feel my legs. And I had a panic, I had a big panic attack. I was like, and then, you know, other stuff happened.

It's like, oh, and I said to him, I got to go back. And what was annoying was, he got angry. Because I travelled up to visit him, to see him.

And we were kind of doing things that we used to do before I moved away. But I couldn't, I couldn't walk down the street without being able to feel my feet and my legs. So I had to go back.

And I laid down on his bed for, I don't know, an hour. An hour or so, and then I was okay. If I'd have pushed myself to keep doing it, to keep walking, there's no way of knowing.

I mean, obviously, I didn't do it. I might have been okay. I would have been okay.

I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have died or anything. I would have been okay that way. But there's, there's some of the books, and I did read quite a few books on anxiety and panic attacks, especially at that time.

And some of them said you just got to push through it. You got to, you know, if you feel you're going to faint, you got to continue anyway. And you got to, you know, continue through it and don't, kind of don't let it beat you, which I understand the concept of that.

You don't give in to something. But in the same way, it's an illness. And it is debilitating.

And it is, for me to say, you know, if someone says, oh, don't, keep going through. Yeah, you can hold your hand on a hot kettle. Eventually, the kettle is going to cool down.

But your hand's going to be in a lot of pain during that process. And I know once I went on a, I went on a retreat, it was a Buddhist retreat, which, you know, is supposed to be really relaxing and calm. And I spent about five days in continuous anxiety panic mode.

Not the whole time, but continuously going back there to that extreme anxiety. And I pushed myself because I'd read it in a book, got to push yourself, don't give in to it. And I ended up coming back.

So I went there on New Year, on Boxing Day. And I came back New Year's Day, or New Year's Eve rather. So however many days that is, or it might be the day after Boxing Day, so it's about five days.

And I was absolutely drained. At the end of it, drained of all energy. And I almost felt like I'd gone back, like gone backwards.

You know, I really, really felt like I'd, I was making a bit of progress. And then by pushing myself like that, was harmful, actually, mentally and emotionally, to me. So I'm not saying don't do anything, don't push yourself a bit, if that's what you want to do.

But maybe be gentle. You know, figure out what's right for you. And don't give yourself a hard time, if you're not perhaps doing what you might have read in a book.

Because that book is not going to be for everybody. You know, everyone's at different levels, everyone has different experiences. It's, it's a guide, guideline, these books on how to help with anxiety.

And it's, you know, not everything is going to be useful to everybody. Whether it's a podcast, whether it's a video, whether it's a YouTube lecture, whatever, it's not always going to be useful to everyone, every single thing. And after that, I never pushed myself like that again.

You know, it's, if you if you break your leg, you stop walking on it. Even if you're not sure if it's broken, you stop walking on it. If you bruise your leg and it really hurts, basically, you stop walking on it.

Until you find out what's wrong with it. Until it heals. You badly bruise your ankle or your foot.

You're careful with it. Doesn't have to be broken. To be painful and to need gentleness, caring, kindness.

I could go on and on and on about every subject, but I'll be here forever, so I won't. But going back to the sleep, I found, and I still do, it's not even sleeping so much. Sometimes just laying down or sitting back in a chair that supports your body, maybe listening to some music.

I quite like listening to nothing. Just listening to the background sounds, maybe the birds in the garden, maybe just the sounds of people in the garden or the cars going past, you know, just the sound of the wind. So other things, so look, what else have I got? There's some things you can ask yourself.

There's some questions you can ask yourself. So when it comes to being stressed about something, worrying about something, you can ask yourself a question and you can stick that question there. You can write it on a piece of paper, carry it around with you and just ask yourself this question whenever your mind gets a bit too stuck.

When those thoughts are causing stress and anxiety, ask the question, am I going to get paid for thinking about this? Am I going to get paid money for thinking about this? Or how much am I going to get paid for thinking about this? Am I going to win a gold medal? For thinking about this? You can reword it however you want, but how am I going to get paid for thinking about this?

Which is another way of asking, is there any point? What am I gaining from thinking, overthinking, worrying about this thing which is causing distress? Am I going to get paid for thinking about this? If the answer's yes, then it's up to you what you do. It's up to you what you do anyway, but if the answer's no, let it go. If the answer's no, let it go.

So what's the next one? So these are different techniques and different things. Mindfulness, again, it's not something that I came up with. This is a very, very popular thing, has been for a while.

I discovered mindfulness probably when I got into Buddhism, because one of the meditation practices was the mindfulness of breathing. But mindfulness, as I discovered, is much more than that. You can be mindful whatever you're doing, whether you're washing up, you're just walking even.

I like to do walking meditation when I'm out, when I'm walking to the shops. For me, it's not just focusing on my feet on the floor, the movement of my feet moving on the floor as I walk, but also my hands swaying, my body moving, my spine, the feeling of the wind or the temperature of the air. Just general things, what I'm hearing in the background or in the foreground, even what's happening right now as I walk through the air, walking and feeling that movement of my knees and my hips, and also noticing what I'm thinking as well.

Just noticing the thoughts and just letting them go, letting them just flow. So for me, mindfulness is something that you can do. You could do it as a meditation, which is really, really good thing to do, I think.

And it's been proven medically, medically, scientifically, to change the chemistry of the brain, of your brain, my brain, to create new neural pathways, to calm the brain, to stimulate that part of the brain, which sends, I don't know what the chemicals are, if they're endorphins or whatever they are, to the body. So you have a sense of calm and feeling well-being, relaxation. So mindfulness can be, it's also kind of the opposite as well to what we perhaps want to do.

So if we have, if you've got a feeling that's uncomfortable, which we all have, regardless of stress or anxiety, everyone has feelings at times, physical feelings that aren't very nice, emotional feelings that are unpleasant, thinking things that are unpleasant. And that's just normal part of being human. It's also part of being human is to try and push it away, try and block it.

Which you could say is partly what we're doing with the, is this, am I going to get paid for this? But not really, because that's, you're still allowing yourself to feel it and then allowing it to go, because it's unnecessary, because it's pointless, because you don't need it nor want it. But with the mindfulness, there's that sense of allowing yourself to feel whatever is happening, whatever feeling is there, and not pushing it away, not holding onto it, just allowing it to flow.

So mindfulness is something that's really something that you could look into.

You may be an expert on mindfulness, so, you know, of course, I don't know what everybody that's listening to this does or has done. These are just some things that I've come across, that I've used myself. Some things I've not used myself.

This next thing is something I haven't used, but I've come across that might be useful. And it's cuddling. So cuddle as in human contact, and positive physical contact can help release oxytocin and lower cortisol.

It can help apparently help lower blood pressure and heart rate. And studies have been done on this. Apparently chimpanzees also cuddle friends when they're stressed.

And we know from children, when children, young children, they go to the to cuddle when perhaps they don't know somebody or they're, you know, anxious or whatever. As adults, it's a little bit different. And not every adult has a person to cuddle.

I don't have a person to cuddle, but I do have Andre the ferret, my little boy, and I cuddle him. And it does feel nice. And so yeah, that's one of those things that you may have access to it or you might not.

That might sound like a weird statement, but you can't just walk up to a complete stranger and cuddle them, generally. So but if you do have a person that you you know, that you're able to have as a cuddle buddy, your partner or loved one supposed to be really good for you. And just excuse the if there's any background sounds because I have some of my neighbors that like to go into the garden and just clap their hands loudly and who knows what's going on, why they do that.

Maybe it helps reduce their stress. And so see what the next thing is. See, I don't normally have pieces of paper like this.

This is something that you could do. It changes the way you feel. And it's probably something that I would include in a like a hypnosis session, where I'd go more in depth to get you to, you know, do this.

But this is the opposite to what I would say probably most people do. I'm the opposite. And especially in a situation that's stressful, panicky, anxiety and stuff.

So this is something you could do that may be useful to change your state, your physical and mental state. And it's just remember the last time you experienced feeling great. The last time you experienced feeling wonderful, like really, really good.

It can be as personal as you want it to be because this is your memory. It's not something you have to tell anybody else. So it could be, it could have been in the gym.

It could have been getting an exam result. It could have been the last time you were with your partner or the first time you was with your partner or, you know, it could be anything. But just remember the last time you experienced feeling wonderful.

Or maybe if it's not the last time, remember a time or a succession of different times where you felt really, really wonderful. Because when you feel wonderful, your body automatically feels relaxed and calm. So that's something you can do.

And I recommend doing that anyway, regardless. Don't wait for anything, just do that as often as possible. Start remembering the good things, not in a kind of regretful way, like, oh, I haven't got that anymore.

Not in a feeling sorry for ourselves way, but in a nice way, in a way that makes you feel really good, where you kind of re-experience some of those pleasant feelings. Another thing you can do, increasing confidence in yourself will decrease stress and anxiety. Increase confidence in yourself decreases stress and anxiety.

And you may say, oh, how am I supposed to do that? There are millions of ways of doing that. But one that I would focus on now, and that is focus on what you're good at. If you're anything like me and anyone else that you probably know, we perhaps spend way too much time focusing on what we're not particularly good at, rather than on what we are good at.

And this doesn't have to be something major. You know, it doesn't, it doesn't have to be, you won a gold medal in the Winter Olympics, it doesn't, if you did, then great. But most people haven't.

Doesn't have to be that you're the best ever at something. Focus on something you're good at. And everybody, every single person is good at something.

I want to say good, I'm talking about good. You're just good at it, you're naturally, or you've worked really hard, whichever way it goes, or both. Something you're good at doing.

I know the word good is, what does it really mean? You know, it's a bit very subjective. But what are you good at? Maybe you can dance. Maybe it can be something, you're good at keeping a clean house.

Maybe you're good at speaking, you're good at communication, you're good at finding stuff on the internet. You know, you might be able to be a whiz on Google, you know how to find things. You might be really good on a smartphone.

You may be a good reader. You may be a good runner. You may be a good listener, whatever it is.

Spend time focusing on what you're good at. So I'll leave you with that one. I'm not going to leave, I've still got others to do, but that's, I won't say any more about that.

This next one is something that I mentioned the other day. Spend time with your pet. And there's a few reasons for this.

It can give you purpose. If you're in a situation and the illness, you've got an illness that's maybe preventing you from working for a while, maybe you're, you might be living on your own, whatever the situation is, if you've got a pet, it doesn't have to be a dog or a cat or an elephant. It could be, you know, it could be a, even fish need your attention.

They need to, the bowl, you know, the thing needs to be cleaned out. You need to feed them. Of course you can't cuddle them, but it still can give you purpose.

So whatever kind of pet you have, it keeps you active. So in some ways, probably more so if you've got a dog, if you're taking an animal for a walk, it gets you out, gets you walking. It doesn't have to be a dog.

I've got a ferret and I take him out for a walk. Provides companionship. Also, I've got a neighbor that takes her cats out for a walk on Leeds as well.

Provides companionship. And that is a big one for me. Andre is my only companion, really, as far as where I live, and is a big part of my life.

So that's the spend time with your pets bit. So these are more, these are some practical things, like therapeutic things. Essential oils.

I know a little bit about essential oils because I studied them at college, quite a few years back. And I did, it was a holistic course, and I did it specifically because of the anxiety that I'd gone through. I wanted to find as many different ways that I could use to help myself to reduce the anxiety and to increase relaxation and to still be able to work and function and do everything that I wanted to do.

So essential oils, you burn them in oil burners, which is what I've done in the past. Of course, you need to be safety conscious with these things. But it gives you the instructions on them.

You can get oil burners in quite a few different places. And it gives a nice aroma around your home. And the, with our senses, this is my memory correct, your eyes, your ears, everything, most of them go through a, like a process, you don't get instant.

Like with your eyes, everything's upside down, isn't it? And then it corrects itself in the brain and everything. That's as technical as I can get with that. With your smell, it's instant.

The olfactory senses, I think that's what it's called, isn't it? It's instant. It's direct. So when you smell something, that's why sometimes smelling things can bring back a memory, because it's so quick, it's an instant.

So smelling something can bring a very instant feeling of well-being. My advice, and this is just based on me, because if you get a book on essential oils, it will give you a list of ones for specific things. And when I studied it at college, I did aromatherapy.

And there's lots of different things, different mixtures for different conditions. So my advice is perhaps get a book or go online, there's lots of different information. But ultimately find one that you like.

Find one that you like. I like Yang Lang, I think he's called Yang Lang. But one that I really liked, that I didn't know, because you know, the three wise men in the Bible, Jesus gets born, the three wise men come and they give, what is it? Myrrh, something myrrh and frankincense.

I didn't know what frankincense was, I thought it was some kind of the gold kind of, you know, expensive stuff. I didn't realise it was an oil, an essential oil. It smells beautiful.

It's absolutely, to me, it's a beautiful smell. It's not necessarily for you. So you need to find one that you like.

And notice how you feel when you smell it. I used to do this, I used to put, I used to have a hanky with me at work. Bearing in mind that people don't really carry hankies around anymore.

But I had a hanky, I kept it in my pocket. And I had some oil on it, some essential oils in it. And I would sniff it every now and then just to help calm me down.

So that's something that you might think about doing. Of course, there's different ways of doing it doesn't have to be a hanky, it could be a scarf or, you know, just there's lots of creative ways. So there's therapists, you could say, and I've been to all of these at times.

Aromatherapist, reflexologist, have a massage, full body massage or back massage. A foot massage is amazing. And very relaxing, I find.

Not everybody likes to have their feet touched. So again, it's specific to you. It's what you feel comfortable doing.

There's no point sitting there having a stranger touching your feet, and you're all cringed up, feeling uncomfortable, thinking, well, it should be good for my stress. It's not going to be good for your stress if you're uncomfortable. It's the opposite to what you need.

So find something that feels right for you. An acupuncturist, I've been to acupuncture, very much recommend that. Hypnotist, hypnosis.

Well, I do that. So I can't really comment other than say, it's what I do. So counselling, again, I'm a fully qualified counsellor.

I've got a degree in counselling. And I go through these in a sense. Aromatherapist, when I did the course, my friend used to do aromatherapy with me.

It's basically massage, but with aromatherapy oils. And it's very relaxing. I wasn't crazy about leaving with all those smells on me, if I was honest.

Because I think I'd have felt better if it had been in my home. And I could just, you know, then had a bath in the morning and gone to work. I remember walking and then getting a bus.

And I felt a little bit self conscious. Because I had all these, they were lovely smells, but I probably felt like I was stinking the bus out. But the idea is the aromas, it's not just for you to smell, but it seeps into your skin and it's healing, like a natural healing, because all the oils are from nature.

I studied reflexology twice. And the, for those of you that don't know about it, it's basically, there's parts of your foot, the bottom of your foot, the sides and the tops, that are correlated, according to reflexology, correlated to the different parts of your body. So it's kind of based on the meridian system, the same as acupuncture is as well.

So it is, there's, it kind of works on releasing the energy, crumbling the crystals that may have caused blockages in the energy between the different parts of your body. And it doesn't always feel pleasant. So with a foot massage, if you like having your feet touched, or if you you're okay with it is, you know, with oil is just amazing.

It's beautiful. For me, I found it lovely. reflexology is relaxing, it is nice, but it can be a little bit painful, slightly painful, if there's a blockage.

So sometimes, the person, the reflexologist may put a bit of pressure, or they will put pressure, but it depends on the person you're doing, that's doing it. But the idea is, it releases, unblocks the energy lines, which then causes, allows your body to heal. And it's very relaxing as well.

You know, and massage. Yeah, it's again, it's not everybody's wants to be touched. And but if you go to a qualified masseur, or if you've got a partner that knows what they're doing, you know, it could be really, really useful.

And it's very relaxing. It's and it does it this, I think it's like twofold in a sense, it's physically relaxing, because you're massaging the muscle groups. It's also you got the human contact, which is, you're getting something that you wouldn't get from a vibrating chair.

You know, there's massaging chairs, it might massage your back. But compared to having a human being touching your back, and massaging, there's that healing aspect of touch, which and I remember reading years ago, a scientific journal, they said that if a baby's not touched, chances are the baby will die. It has to have human contact.

So just having, just feeding it, but not ever touching the baby, at the very least, it will be damaged, like emotionally damaged. So we need to be touched. Really, even as adults.

So it might be worth having reflexology, having a massage, going to a rheumatherapist. Because apart from anything else, you're having human, physical human contact. Even if it is just on your feet, it's human physical contact, which is healing.

Acupuncturist or acupuncture. I had that a few times over the years. And I don't like needles, I'll be honest with you.

But you can feel the energy. When they go in, there's a connection, there's a real energy going on through the body. And if you ever doubt it, have acupuncture, you can feel it.

You can feel the connection between a needle that's in your foot, and a needle that's in your shoulder, for example. I don't know if that's the right, but there's you feel the needles connect to each other. And they're not, they're not electric.

You know, they're just needles. But you can feel the connection. So there is definitely energy going through us, which is scientific fact anyway.

And counselling. In some ways, that could be the thing that is most useful. Because if you don't need counselling before going through a period of extreme anxiety and panic, you possibly could do with it afterwards, as well as during, because it is traumatic to suddenly feel like you're losing control of your life, losing control of your mind, maybe of your body.

To be able to talk to someone about it without them, without feeling judged, without them perhaps giving you advice. And just to shut you up, you know, why don't you try this? You could say that's what I'm doing. But this is a different situation.

And I am actually a therapist. But the counselling is really, really useful, I found. And I don't think I've ever met a person ever that couldn't benefit from counselling.

Even the happiest people could possibly benefit from talking to someone else about what's on their mind. And it helps sometimes to get a different perspective on yourself. Because when you say stuff out loud, and perhaps you're not interrupted by somebody that wants to talk about something different, it might, it's almost like, for me, you know, like a whiteboard on a board, you've got a marker pen, and writing down something, and then realising, oh, so that's what I'm thinking about.

Just as if seeing it for the first time, even though it was inside your mind. And it can almost certainly help you to reduce anxiety and stress, and to reduce depression. Because having panic attacks and anxiety can lead to depression.

Because it's so horrible. So yeah, that's, that's all I've got to say on that for now. But I definitely recommend all of those.

And I've done all of those. I've been a client and also trained in all of those except acupuncture, which is weird. It's amazing.

I've done quite a few things over the years. But the only ones that I've really focused on has been the counselling and the hypnosis. The next thing is listen to music.

I spoke about this in a session the other day. So I won't go into that. Basically, find something that you enjoy listening to, something that you enjoy, that relaxes you.

And listen to that. It's as simple as that. It's a I saw a study and it is a case of listen to something that you enjoy listening to.

It doesn't have to be classical music. It doesn't have to be music. It could be the sounds of the rainforest, or birds singing, or drums.

It could be listening to a hypnosis recording. It could be listening to a motivational speech, and the YouTube's full of them, you know, this unlimited stuff out there that might be exactly what you need. It might be listening, having snooker on the telly and closing your eyes and listening to that.

It's very relaxing. It can be if that's your thing. The next thing is call the Samaritans when you're in need of someone to talk to.

So I'm in England, the Samaritans are like, it's a phone number you call, and you can speak to somebody. And they don't judge you, don't tell you what to do. And you can, you know, you probably got the equivalent wherever you are in the world, I imagine.

I don't know what they are. But in England, it's called the Samaritans. They've been around for a long time.

But, but, but, but, and I used to think this, I used to think it was just for people that were suicidal. I always thought that. And then I went to join them.

And I didn't end up joining them. But I went to one of the evenings where they kind of talked about what they were doing and what they're about. They're not there just for people who are suicidal.

They're there for anybody who needs to talk about anything. You know, they're not there to talk about cake, cake recipes, you know, obviously not just, but you know what, if you need to talk to somebody, call a helpline number like that, like the Samaritans, somewhere that you can phone and talk to somebody about how you're feeling. And for people in England, remember, it's not just for people who are suicidal.

Because they've got that reputation because in suicide hotspots, there'd be a, might be a phone or, you know, a number for the Samaritans. And it's kind of very much connected with that. But it's, it's for everybody.

It's for anybody who needs to talk. So that's really important. And sometimes talking for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour, can be the difference, can make the difference, whatever that difference is needed.

These are some little practical things, which I don't always take notice of myself, if I'm honest. Reduce caffeine, coffee, tea, energy drinks. Out of those three, energy drinks are probably the nowadays well known as the most dangerous, because of the high caffeine content, apparently.

The least out of them would be tea, I would say. Personally, I found coffee, I can, I have one cup of coffee a day in the morning with my breakfast. It's the only cup of coffee I have, apart from occasionally when my friend comes around, and I might have a cup during the day.

But when I do that, it doesn't feel right. I kind of, oh, it doesn't. And if I, if I have too many cups of coffee, I actually feel like I'm going into panic mode.

So one a day. Energy drinks, I don't touch. Tea.

I just don't drink tea. I used to, but I do drink Coke, Coca Cola. So as I said, I'm not preaching here.

I'm just saying that's what the experts say. But it's about listening to your own body as well. I know that I can't drink too much coffee.

I can drink Coke as much as I want, and it doesn't affect me in the same way. Although I need to cut down. Another thing, write down how you're feeling.

So in the moment, I've done this myself a few times. There was one time in 1997, where I really, really lost it. Anger wise.

And I felt like I was going crazy. Really, I felt like I was losing my mind. So it wasn't a panic attack.

It wasn't anxiety. Well, probably a bit of anxiety, but I think this is useful for a lot of situations. Write down how you're feeling.

Don't hold back. No one will ever read it. Remember, you can always rip up the paper afterwards.

You can destroy it. You could rip it into tiny little bits and put it in the bin. So you can write down anything about anyone.

It's the old thing, write a letter that you're never going to send. And I really do recommend you never send an angry letter. Because once it's sent, you can't unsend it.

And that's one of those problems with the internet now. It used to be a problem for emails. But now it's even more instant, isn't it? With, you know, Facebook and your text messages.

And it's like, once you send the message, you can't retrieve it. So write down how you're feeling. And this is what I did on that occasion.

And I was, I didn't hold back at all. And I did feel the rage reduce and the confusion. And it was anxiety connected with that as well.

And I did feel out of control. But it helped. Really.

And I wrote three or four letters. And I was writing really super quick. And then I could feel the handwriting slowing down as I became more relaxed.

And then I destroyed the letters. And I didn't feel guilty at all about what I wrote. Compared to how I felt if I sent the letters or said it to the person.

Because it can't be unsaid. But writing it down, getting rid of it. It helped.

But again, that's personal. It's up to you, up to each person. This is quite a long recording, isn't it? But I'll keep going.

So this is basically focus on what you do have rather than what you used to have. Focus on what you do have rather than what you used to have. And this is, I suppose, increasing your positivity instead of negativity.

I won't say any more on that. This isn't something to necessarily do while you're in the midst of panic or anxiety or stress. But something that could be practiced daily when you're feeling okay, which can actually improve your state of mind and reduce anxiety and stress and increase, I suppose, that sense of gratitude and well-being, you know.

So I'm nearing the end. Here's a practical thing. So I just, this again, this isn't mine.

This is something that I've read. Chewing gum. So chewing gum causes brainwaves similar to those connected to relaxation.

So I remember, again, a long time ago, having read a lot of books on anxiety and, you know, all that stuff, the more saliva you've got in your mouth, the more relaxed you are. It sounds like a strange thing to say. So I went through a period where I was constantly making sure that I had a wet mouth inside.

And it might sound like a strange, weird thing to talk about, but the more saliva you've got in your mouth, I'm not talking about walking around with a mouth full of spit, because that'd be weird when you go to talk. You don't want spit dribbling out. But it's relaxing.

It's got chemicals in it. And chewing gum, as far as I'm aware, chewing gum increases saliva, which then increase your sense of well-being. So I'm coming near the end of the session now, which might relax you.

Here's this one. It's not something I do a lot of myself. So again, I'm not preaching this, but visit family and friends.

Apparently, visiting family and friends gives us a sense of belonging and self-worth. So it gives you the opposite to the fight or flight impulse. And it's called the tend and befriend.

Tend and befriend, the opposite to the fight or flight. So visiting family and friends, and I suppose having a hug helps you have a sense of belonging, self-worth. And for those that are living on their own or are kind of solitary, perhaps, for some people, it can feel like they are on their own.

Literally, in the world. And that might not be useful in times of stress or anxiety. So if you do have family and friends, if you can't visit them or don't want to or are unable to for whatever reason, there's Facebook, there's phones, you could always phone them, perhaps.

But again, that's a personal choice. But I quite like that idea, actually, the opposite to fight or flight feelings, tend and befriend. So that's family and friends.

And that is everything for this recording. And I know it's been a practical kind of thing, you know, just me telling you some ideas that I've come across a little bit, you know, information about my experience using some of those things. And I've repeated over and over again, it's personal for each person.

It's totally about finding what is useful for you. But I would say also, before I go, try not to dismiss anything until perhaps you've tried it or given it some thought. So I'm going to leave you on that.

And I wish you all happiness. Remember to be kind to yourself. Bye.