Apologies for those of you who follow my blog that I have not posted for the last couple of weeks. Let me assure you that I am alive and well, just incredibly busy with different projects at the moment!
A good friend of ours who we met up with recently spoke about how, when he needed to have access to a certain resource, would (in his imagination) put on a particular hat and I have been thinking what an excellent idea this is. There is no limit to your imagination as to how silly or indeed how sensible the hat could be (wonder what resource Prince Beatrice wanted to summon up with her Philip Treacy hat that she wore to the royal wedding?!!) When I need to be especially assertive or forceful, I tend to put on a ‘Hyacinth Bucket’ hat, so people know that I mean business. Sometimes, when I am just a bit vulnerable – yes us therapists are human too – and need to have added protection, I put on a crash helmet with full visor. Try this yourself, and by letting your imagination run riot, you will soon find that you have a ‘hat’ for all occasions.
As principally a hypnotherapist, but also partner in a marketing business, wife, mum and daughter, I find that I have been having to change hats quite frequently, and this is fine, as long as you make sure that you have time to take all the hats off occasionally and just be you. Or at least make sure that the one you sometimes wear is a comfortable floppy sun hat, that, as soon as you have it on, tells you to lie in the garden and do nothing, except read a book and listen to music and watch the birds.
My ‘mum’ hat is often in use at the moment (not quite sure what that looks like, perhaps comfortable, practical, knitted number that holds sausage rolls in its brim?) as I have been making sure that the boys are sufficiently prepared for their AS levels and GCSEs. This means stocking up on healthy and not so healthy food, making sure that they get plenty of rest and have all they need for each exam. Its a difficult time of year for many, and it does continue to irk me that there is still insistence from some quarters that students do not work nearly as hard as they used to and that standards have dropped. When I look at the work that my boys are doing and the hours of revision they are putting in, I know that this is definitely not the case. It is quite obvious that things are very different now, with the internet to help, but this does not necessarily mean that students work less hard.
If you are putting in the hours studying for exams, or helping your children through this quite stressful time and perhaps need a bit of advice on ways to reduce exam anxiety, then please contact me, and I will be able to advise how hypnotherapy can help. I can be contacted on 01449 780352 or 0871 715 8429, or email me at wendy@wendychalk.co.uk.
In the meantime, can I suggest my special ‘brain booster’ hat, which sends out signals to help you stay calm, but perfectly focussed at the same time.
