Managing Hot Flashes with Hypnotherapy

Hot flashes can be incredibly uncomfortable, with intense sensations of heat in the upper body, a raised heartbeat, a sense of being red and flushed, and perhaps followed by a chilly drained feeling. They're often associated with a change in the body's hormones, such as when a woman is going through menopause or as a side effect of certain kinds of medical treatment. But they can also occur at other times in a person's life, such as by stress and anxiety.

It may be that there are lifestyle changes you can make to reduce the incidence of hot flashes, such as reducing or eliminating caffeine, alcohol and spicy food and when you're feeling deeply calm and relaxed in yourself, calm cool environment, there will tend to be a significant reduction in the hot flashes. Of course, we can't expect life to be totally calm all the time, but you can take steps to help yourself feel generally calmer, and there is significant evidence that physiological reactions like hot flashes are influenced by our mood and mindset.

Misinformation and stories of suffering contribute to negative and fearful expectations. In traditional cultures, self-perceptions are described as overwhelmingly positive; women who had entered menopause tended to experience an increased sense of autonomy and were viewed as respected elders. In Western societies there is a culture of silence and ridicule around menopause, and a general lack of parity for women in general.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of the North American menopause society, identified that women with moderate anxiety were three times more likely to experience hot flashes than women who felt less anxious and the women who felt highly anxious are five times more likely to experience hot flashes. The good news is this means hot flashes are something you can positively influence, both by calming down your stress levels and by using guided imagery and hypnotic suggestion for inwardly cooling down the body.

Hypnosis has been successfully used to treat a wide variety of physical conditions, including regulating the immune system, accelerating healing, normalizing blood pressure and reducing the incidence of blushing flushing. And hot flashes. A 2013 study found that people who received regular hypnosis sessions to cool down hot flashes experienced a 74% reduction in their symptoms compared to just 10% in the group who did not receive hypnosis, and skin sensors showed that there were significant differences in how calm and cool the skin was over time in the hypnosis group, demonstrating the genuine physiological changes taking place.

There are numerous developmental stages in life, each of which when we pass through them, changes who we are. To quote Paula Gunn Allen:

‘The changing roles of women as they spiral through the phases of life, like the changing face of the moon. We begin our lives walking the Way of the Daughter. This is the time for learning, for gathering experiences in the shelter of our parents. We move next to self-reliance, when the necessary task of the age is to learn who you are in the world. The path brings us next to the Way of the Mother, a time when our spiritual knowledge and values are all called into service of our children. Life unfolds in a growing spiral, as children find their own paths, and mothers, rich with knowledge and experience, have a new task set before them. Our strengths now turn to a circle wider than our own children, to the well-being of the community. The net stretches larger and larger. The circle bends round again and grandmothers walk the Way of the Teacher, becoming models for younger women to follow. And in the fullness of age, our work in not yet done. The spiral widens farther and farther, so that the sphere of a Wise Woman is beyond herself, beyond her family, beyond the human community, embracing the planet, mothering the earth.”

Studies of indigenous cultures revealed that women across cultures were much more alike than they were different. And more traditional women (ie, Navajo women and Latina immigrants) did relate fewer or no menopausal symptoms. Factors differentiating traditional women from modern women included diet, lifestyle, parity (equality), and experience of ceremony.

The menopausal time of life is marked by evolving and changing relationships, acceptance of aging and change, a time of rest, an increased focus on self, and a time of freedom from childbearing and the constraints of women’s roles. Several studies show that cultural attitudes towards menopause plays a significant role in a woman’s experience of menopause. In Asian and Indigenous cultures, aging comes with an increase in status and as such symptoms are up to 70% less, than in Western cultures.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, menopause is called a second spring. There is an acknowledgement of the wisdom that women have acquired during their earlier years and a feeling that their life experiences can be put to use in many ways, often by helping and advising others. It's called the second spring because we are heading into a stage of life where everything is changing and dissolving.

Did you know, the word Crone is derived from the old word for crown, suggesting the wisdom that emanates from the head like a halo. Her own child baring days are past; she is the wisdom keeper, seer and healer and midwife, whose knowledge is sought out to guide others during life's hardships and transitions.

Now is the time to look for your neglected or hidden talents. As you really relax with the changes you are experiencing and allow the wisdom of the body to support you as you do so.

To book a hypnotherapy session that can help you manage your menopausal symptoms email imaginalcoaching@internode.on.net or call 0449 912 157.