And hello to you.

How are things?

There seems to be a lot of stress around at the minute and it'll be nice to mitigate some of the effects of that.

I've talked about how enough times in the past, and I will again maybe a little bit today, but I wonder if you know why minimising stress is so important.

Because something to bear in mind is that your mind and your body are deeply connected.

Stress in your mind is going to have an effect upon your body.

There was a story during the rounds recently about the new leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski.

Before politics, he was a hypnotherapist and once claimed, probably with a nudge from a cheeky journalist who was just looking for an article, that hypnotherapy could help increase breast size.

And to be fair, he's not the first person to try and get media attention with a wild idea to boost his business.

But can hypnotherapy do that?

In short No.

And in long, absolutely no.

But it got me thinking.

'cause although it isn't true, the idea that our mindset can influence our body is.

Massively.

In fact, stress for instance, isn't just a mood, it changes your body.

Migraines, eczema, IBS, heart palpitations.

These are all aggravated or even caused by chronic stress, and yet we still say things like, oh, it's just stress as if that makes it any less serious.

But the truth is, your brain doesn't know the difference between what's real and what's imagined.

Think about a nightmare.

It gives you a pounding heart, the sweat's pouring out of you, but you're safe in bed.

But your thoughts are powerful and it works the other way around as well.

If you relax your body.

Slow your breath, release tension, your mind starts to follow.

They're not separate.

It's a loop, a feedback system.

There's actually a field of research called psycho neuroimmunology.

Try saying that with a mouthful of Hob Nobs.

And that studies how our thoughts and our emotions impact our immune system.

And it's not fringe woowoo science.

It's well documented.

Like a study that found that people who practiced daily gratitude had lower levels of inflammation in their body or another, showing patients recovering from surgery healed faster if they meditated.

So yeah, your body listens.

Now if you're sitting there thinking, well, that's nice, but what do I do with that knowledge?

Here's the good bit.

If you've got the chance right now, pick a part of your body that needs a bit of care.

Your back, your stomach,your neck, whatever it is.

And each day, just take a few minutes to imagine it softening, healing, picture warmth, ease, flexibility, and not sort of fluffy unicorn stuff, but real sensory imagination.

Step into it.

Athletes do this all the time.

They will visualise success and their performance improves.

So why can't we visualise healing and expect some changes?

So try some body scans while you're at it.

Just gently pay attention to different areas from head down to toe.

Softening them.

Acknowledging what's tense or tight.

You don't have to fix it.

Just notice, because that awareness alone tells the brain, I'm safe now.

And when your brain feels safe, your body can heal.

But also notice how you talk to yourself if you are inner monologue is very much, This back pain is ruining my day.

Or, Oh, I'll never get better.

Your body will hear that negativity too and will respond with more tension, more inflammation.

So try swapping some of those thoughts for something gentler.

My body is asking for rest and that's okay.

Or healing is possible even if it's slow.

This isn't magical thinking.

It's biology, so you're not pretending the pain isn't real.

You are giving your body a better environment to recover in.

So if this sounds like your sort of thing, there's a full episode over on my Patreon page with a lot more detail.

Some practical guided exercises for you to try at home.

I talk a bit more about why the NHS uses hypnotherapy for IBS.

Go into some things about placebo milkshakes as well, just to get you into some interest about our hormones and how pretending to be younger might just make you younger, genuinely.

So if you're curious about how to use your imagination to feel better physically as well as mentally pop over there for the full version.

Until then.

Be kind to yourself.

Your body's listening, so speak to it gently.

Take care, and I'll speak to you soon, Tara for now.