Lifestyle changes are a fundamental part of the work of hypnotherapy. Perhaps the most well known of these is stopping smoking. However, many of the interventions for physical and mental health conditions require long term lifestyle changes for them to be maintained. Some of these lifestyle changes will be specific reactions to the symptom (doing physio being a classic). However, there are also lifestyle changes which will help retain the benefits of symptom specific changes. As such, helping and supporting lifestyle changes is a fundamental part of the hypnotherapist’s role. Lifestyle change is a broad topic, but there is a core which I term the lifestyle package.
Hypnotherapy – The lifestyle package
The lifestyle package is a series of things which improve quality of life. These are:
- Exercise – Exercise has been repeatedly shown to improve quality of life (Conn, Hafdahl & Brown 2009), as well as mental wellbeing (Wang, Tian & Luo 2023) and decreases sensitivity to pain (Belavy, Van Oosterwijck, Clarkson, Dhondt,Mundell, & Owen 2021). Anything someone can do to safely increase their activity levels is likely to have a positive impact on their quality of life. For a lot of people this will have to be done gently and carefully.
- Good sleep – Good sleep is associated with a good feeling of quality of life (Lee, Kim & Chung 2021). Whatever you do to improve the quality of your sleep will translate directly or indirectly into quality-of-life benefits.
- Music – Music has been demonstrated to benefit both cognitive wellbeing and physical health (Viola, Martorana, Airoldi,Meini, Ceriotti, De Vito, M., … & Faggiano 2023). Ensuring that you make time each day to have some music playing for at least 20 minutes will improve your mood in all kinds of subtle ways. The type of music or the emotional feel of the music does not matter, as there is good evidence that even sad music makes us happy. (Sachs, Damasio & Habibi 2015)
- Relationships and sociability – Quality of friendships is positively associated with sense of wellbeing (Pezirkianidis, Galanaki, Raftopoulou, Moraitou & Stalikas 2023). There is a tendency for people to withdraw from social situations when they are burdened with mental and physical challenges. This is a natural response, often due to the illness burden making socialisation seem like one thing too many. In the short-term this is fine and to be respected. However, where there is a long-term illness burden the tendency needs to be challenged. Actively making plans with family and friends will usually reawaken old bonds. New friendships will grow by engaging with the world, such as going to interactive events, like board game nights, or joining activity groups, such as going to a martial arts or joining a knitting circle.
- Connectedness to nature – People who spend time in natural environments, such by the sea or in woodland experience greater wellbeing and physical health (Antonelli, Donelli, Carlone, Maggini, Firenzuoli & Bedeschi, 2022). Making the effort to spend time in gardens, parks, woodland, at the coast or up a mountain will have a beneficial effect on mood in general.
- Flow activities – A flow activity is one in which you are sufficiently engrossed that time slips pleasantly by. Typical examples include hobby activities, sports and playing a musical instrument. People who engage in flow activities report a greater sense of wellbeing (Sweeny, Medina Huerta, Hawes & Susoeff, 2026). Taking up a new hobby or picking an old one back up again can be greatly beneficial.
- Purposeful living – People who feel they have a purpose in life tend to live longer (Cohen, Bavishi & Rozanski 2016). Further they enjoy generally better mental health (Boreham & Schutte 2023). Identifying what your personal purpose in life is can begin to make everything in life clearer. Try reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning or talking it through with a therapist.
People who have lived with chronic conditions frequently find that the burden of illness has led to them withdrawing from many of their activities. This is a natural reaction in the short term, but a trend to be countered as things go on.
What Lifestyle changes to make
Some activities are likely to have greater impacts than others. Exercise for instance, is probably the best thing a person can do for themselves, but it might not be the place a person wants to start. A therapist may prompt thoughts towards activities, looking for the things a person can do, their next natural step. The therapist will look at things like;
- What are you currently doing? – What are the limits on doing more of this?
- What have you done in the past? – This may not be practical anymore, but it may give clues as to the sort of thing that interests you?
- Who have you socialised with in the past? – Exploring this with questions like: Where are they now? Where did you meet? What did you bond over?
By exploring the limits on these we may find opportunities to enhance aspects of your life. We are looking for the elegant options which enhance a person’s wellbeing in multiple areas, for example:
- Attending a walking group can help increase exercise, sociability and outdoor time.
- Going to a dance class is music, exercise and sociable.
- Even going to the gym can be music time as well as exercise, and many people find it quite sociable after a while, especially those who take part in regular classes.
- People who volunteer for charitable work frequently find purpose in this and depending upon the activity it can be social, physical and sometimes outdoors.
- Even hobbies (Flow activities) have their social elements, Conventions and shows (literary festivals, comic cons, quilting conventions etc) where likeminded individuals can indulge their interest in an environment which shares the passion.
The therapist provides an opportunity to think about these which is likely to open out the mind to possibilities it may have shut down to. A hypnotherapist can help take these ideas further.
How does hypnotherapy help with these lifestyle changes
In addition to providing a safe space to explore possibilities the hypnotherapist has skills which may help activates to happen:
- Address limiting beliefs – We all get stuck in thought patterns and with assumptions that we are unaware of. Talking something through can highlight the limitations we put upon ourselves. Deeper change to these may require work such as Parts therapy, EMDR, systematic desensitisation or direct suggestions to challenge the “I’d be too embarrassed too…”, “I don’t have the time”, “if I’m not excellent at it what’s the point” “I’m not the sort of person who could…”, “I’m too unwell to…” and similar. All of which will be, at least in-part, true, but rarely are as absolute as they may feel.
- Goal setting – Once a direction has been agreed upon, setting a specific plan and envisioning conducting that plan can greatly increase the chances of it happening.
- Direct suggestions – Classic hypnotic suggestions to support an activity. Be that to get started, to help get into it once started or whatever is most helpful.
None of these activities or behaviours is in itself likely to make a person feel substantially better, but over time they provide a strong counter to the depression associated with living with a chronic illness.
References
Antonelli, M., Donelli, D., Carlone, L., Maggini, V., Firenzuoli, F., & Bedeschi, E. (2022). Effects of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) on individual well-being: An umbrella review. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 32(8), 1842-1867.
Belavy, D. L., Van Oosterwijck, J., Clarkson, M., Dhondt, E., Mundell, N. L., Miller, C. T., & Owen, P. J. (2021). Pain sensitivity is reduced by exercise training: Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 120, 100-108.
Boreham, I. D., & Schutte, N. S. (2023). The relationship between purpose in life and depression and anxiety: A meta‐analysis. Journal of clinical psychology, 79(12), 2736-2767.
Cohen, R., Bavishi, C., & Rozanski, A. (2016). Purpose in life and its relationship to all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events: A meta-analysis. Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine, 78(2), 122-133.
Conn, V. S., Hafdahl, A. R., & Brown, L. M. (2009). Meta-analysis of quality-of-life outcomes from physical activity interventions. Nursing research, 58(3), 175-183.
Lee, S., Kim, J. H., & Chung, J. H. (2021). The association between sleep quality and quality of life: a population-based study. Sleep Medicine, 84, 121-126.
Pezirkianidis, C., Galanaki, E., Raftopoulou, G., Moraitou, D., & Stalikas, A. (2023). Adult friendship and wellbeing: A systematic review with practical implications. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1059057.
Sachs, M. E., Damasio, A., & Habibi, A. (2015). The pleasures of sad music: a systematic review. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9, 404.
Sweeny, K., Medina Huerta, J., Hawes, J., & Susoeff, S. (2026). Just keep flowing: A meta-analysis on the relationship between flow and well-being. Emotion.
Viola, E., Martorana, M., Airoldi, C., Meini, C., Ceriotti, D., De Vito, M., … & Faggiano, F. (2023). The role of music in promoting health and wellbeing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Public Health, 33(4), 738-745.
Wang, C., Tian, Z., & Luo, Q. (2023). The impact of exercise on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1279599.