Herbal Health

When we question people about whether they can remember how they fall asleep, most people say they feel sleepy and tired and that their eyelids are heavy and they cannot keep them open. They are unable to concentrate and no longer can be bothered with what is going on around them. Their awareness of their surroundings becomes less and less, and somehow they fall asleep. No one can remember exactly how they pass from the waking state to the sleeping state; they just know that it is a very vague and transient period. In fact we all go through a very brief period of hypnotic state before we fall asleep. This is the stage in which we feel that we can no longer be bothered with what is going on around us and we are dissociated from our surroundings, as if we are in a dream state, as observed by Foulkes. This period of drifting from the awake state into the sleeping state is a brief hypnotic state and has nothing to do with REM stage sleep.

Everyone goes through the THS between the waking and sleeping states. We do not feel awake and alert one second, and then all of a sudden asleep the next. When we fall asleep, we go through a brief THS which is a transit between the waking and the sleeping states. The THS is the precursor of sleep. As you know, we have little or no control over falling asleep. We cannot close our eyes and say the magic word ‘sleep’ and then fall asleep. However, if we can induce ourselves into this THS, sleep will follow. We have no control over sleep, but we have full control over the THS. Remember how in highway hypnosis the driver passes from the awake state to the hypnotic state and then, if he is not careful, into the sleeping state. The THS is the switch that we can switch off and fall asleep.

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This, then, is a basic rule: Whatever happens in the way of pain we shall not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by distress. This means that we shall not only prevent ourselves from venting distress, but more than this, we shall not allow ourselves to be inwardly overwhelmed.

At first this may seem a difficult task. But remember this. Distress is a purely psychological reaction, so it is possible to influence and control it by an act of mind, if we only set about it the right way.

The child is saved from his distress by the kisses of his mother. The woman in childbirth is led into a calm state of mind, and has her baby without discomfort. We understand the truth of these examples. But you quickly point out that in each case there is some other person who relieves the distress and so helps the one in pain. This is true. But let us think about it. The presence of the other person makes it easier, but he does not do anything that we cannot do ourselves. Really, what does he do? He communicates to us the message that we need not be overwhelmed by distress. The fact that he does this for us, helps us and makes it easier for us to master the situation. But it is still something that we can do ourselves. Many people do it simply through the natural intuitive processes of their mind; others can learn to do it by following these ideas, and letting themselves go along with them, and by experiencing the calm and ease of the mental exercises.

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Stress occurs only when our coping ability is not equal to the problems with which we are faced.

The disturbing nervous impulses to our brain from various sources add one to the other, so that the major problems of practical living usually become significant only when they are operating on a background of lesser problems.

The background problems consist of the minor affairs of life that continually disturb us, as well as matters of conflict and conscience within our own self.

The background at work

Our work situation often creates minor problems which form a background for our major problem.

For a start, let us take some simple examples from real life.

The desire to get on

«It’s the job. I’m tense all the time. My GP says if I don’t 6 let up I shall have an ulcer. By the way my tummy feels, I think I have one now. An ulcer at thirty-five!

‘Let up. He does not know the facts of life. How can I let up? It’s laurels to the victor. If I let up, just for a moment, another would step into my place. What can I do?»

What would you do? Perhaps the story comes near to home.

His doctor says, ‘Let up’. Well, that’s not what I say. The central idea of the self-management of stress is to live the full life, but to be able to live it in such a way that we don’t have to let up. Rather it is a matter of letting our brain learn to work in adverse situations without becoming disorganized.

He is faced with the problems of work and his desire to get on. He is just coping, just. His brain is integrating the inflow of disturbing impulses with nothing to spare. In this state, if he should be confronted with some major problem – serious sickness in the home, the failure of some investment – there will be more disturbing impulses than his brain can integrate. He will come under stress, and will exhibit the symptoms of stress in one form or another.

So a first principle in the self-management of stress is to learn to have our brain running actively in the fullness of life, but at the same time with some reserve of coping power. With something up its sleeve, as it were. Then, in the advent of some unexpected major problem, our brain is still able to integrate the additional flow of disturbing impulses.

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Don’t set an alarm clock to time your meditation. There is nothing worse than being brought out of meditation by a loud noise. It is quite easy to time your meditation. Most of us place a watch in a convenient position and during the meditation will open our eyes to check the time. After a few days most of us are able to gauge when the twenty minutes are over without needing to check.

Sometimes the twenty minutes are over so quickly we wonder if our watches are working correctly; on other occasions the time seems to go very slowly and we become irritated. If this happens, it may be beneficial to end the meditation session and try again later.

When the meditation session is over, we sit quietly with our eyes closed for a couple of minutes before getting up. This allows us to re-orient ourselves gently and naturally. There may be times when we will need to break our meditation session for one reason or another. If this happens, try to return to it as soon as possible to finish the remaining time. Outside noises may interfere. Acknowledge that they are happening, but don’t become caught up in them. Let them happen and let go of the irritated thoughts.

• Avoid drinking coffee and other products with caffeine in them before meditation. Caffeine is a stimulant. Meditation is for relaxation. It is also a good idea not to meditate just after eating, because our digestive systems slow down during meditation.

• Initially, each meditation session will be different from the previous one. Some will be great, others not so good. Remember that learning to meditate is learning a new skill. For the first twelve months most people find each of their meditation sessions are different. It is this difference between sessions which teaches us more about the whole process.

• It is important to go with whatever happens. Don’t stifle a cough or yawn or sneeze. Do whatever feels and is comfortable.

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The rapid and shallow breathing caused by the release of adrenalin may lead to over-breathing. Some people become so frightened of their shallow breathing they feel as if their breathing will stop completely. In other instances people feel they can’t take a deep breath because of the tightness in their chest.

Over-breathing is known as hyperventilation, and its symptoms are similar to those of an attack. We can experience pins and needles, light-headedness and dizziness. When we hyperventilate the original symptoms of the attack are intensified by the additional symptoms of hyperventilation.

I have only met a few people who have actually fainted. Some people have told me they have occasionally fallen to the floor, but even then they have never lost consciousness. Even if it does happen, there is nothing to be alarmed about. It is just the body’s way of getting control of the situation so it can stabilise itself.

It is important to point out that if this hasn’t already happened, then it probably never will. If it were going to happen it would have during the initial stages of the disorder.

The effects of hyperventilation can be alleviated quite easily by taking the time to breathe very slowly and deeply. Sometimes just holding our breath for ten seconds can help to return breathing to normal.

Another simple and effective way to stop these symptoms is to cup our hands over our mouth and nose and breathe into them. We will feel the symptoms easing. This method is a variation on the most common technique of easing hyperventilation—breathing into a paper bag. However, most of us do not want to do that, because we do not want to draw attention to ourselves.

With so many symptoms centred on our heart and breathing it is only natural we are frightened we may die. Understanding why we have these symptoms, and understanding why they won’t hurt us, will help us to lose the fear. When we lose the fear we turn off the adrenalin and the symptoms ease.

When we are assured by our doctor that there is nothing wrong with our heart and our breathing, we need to accept it. Our recovery depends upon it. If we don’t accept it, we will continue to be afraid of our experiences and our fear will perpetuate the disorder. If we still doubt the diagnosis or experience any new symptoms, then we need to speak to our doctor again.

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Wendy

Wendy was convinced she would never recover. She had had the disorder for twenty-five years, and during that time she had seen many doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, taken all types of medication and even spent six months in a private hospital, all to little or no avail. She had never been told exactly what was wrong with her, although a doctor had told her she was depressed. She thought it was natural that, feeling the way she did, she was depressed, and wondered why people treated only her depression and not the panic attacks. At the hospital her doctor and the nurses would pat her on the shoulder and tell her to ‘think positive’. She tried, but it was difficult when her life had disintegrated and there seemed no way she could ever get back to ‘normal’. After leaving hospital she refused to see any other doctor or specialist. She was angry and frustrated at the lack of help, but there appeared to be no solution. Gradually Wendy was able to arrange her life around the disorder. She could do her own shopping at the local store, but she spent most of her time at home. Her children grew up with the impression that their mother was a bit ‘odd’, but they accepted her as she was and never questioned her decision not to seek further help.

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The primary fears are usually established from the first panic attack. The first and most common fear is ‘I’m having a heart attack’ and/or ‘I am going to die’. The second is ‘I am going insane’, and the third is ‘I’m going to lose control of myself which could mean ‘I’m going to faint’; ‘I’m going to make a fool of myself; ‘I will vomit’; ‘I will have an attack of diarrhoea’; or, literally, ‘I am going to lose control’.

From the primary fears come flow-on fears. In the past much attention was given to the flow-on fears—what we can and cannot do—and in the past treatment was usually aimed at them instead of the cause—the spontaneous panic attacks.

Susan

Susan called her husband at work and asked him to come home because she was frightened something was going to happen to her. She had been to five different doctors and not one of them could tell her what was wrong with her. Most had said she was just anxious, and had prescribed various tranquillisers and other medications. She couldn’t make them understand that she knew she was anxious. Feeling the way she did was making her anxious. If they could just tell her what was wrong with her and help her she would stop being anxious. It was beginning to affect her relationship with her husband. She didn’t want to bother him at work, but she didn’t know what else to do.

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