News and updates 2025
Wild swimming reduces stress (November 2025)
A couple of my clients had been talking about wild swimming and how much they were enjoying it. But what is it that makes it feel so therapeutic?
It reduces our levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It does this both through the environment and the activity of swimming itself.
We create cortisol every day. A little is helpful as it can motivate us when faced with a challenge. But when we produce too much, it becomes unhelpful. We might experience poor sleep, increased appetite or no appetite, energy slumps, skin problems, weight gain, aches and pains…
We often find wild swimming spots in environments that are beautiful and very relaxing. Being in nature and among the trees for even just 20 minutes has been shown to reduce cortisol levels. When we hear birds singing a signal is sent to the part of the brain that deals with fear to reassure it that we are safe and we can relax. And when we are relaxed there’s parts of the brain that busy processing and reducing stress that may have built up through our day-to-day lives, helping us create a calm positivity.
Cortisol is like a fuel. It’s why a little bit can give us the push we need from time-to-time. Physical activity like swimming helps burn off any excess cortisol we might have flowing around the body. This is especially true when it’s an activity we enjoy.
And the benefits of reduced cortisol in the body should not be underestimated. It can improve sleep and digestion, help us think more clearly, improve our immune system, lift our mood, increase patience and generally make us feel better in ourselves!
(Wild swimming needs to be done safely. Make sure you have someone with you, do not spend too long in cold water or swim out of your depth, and make sure you have things in place to warm up afterwards).
Feel the fear and do it anyway (September 2025)
This sounds such a flippant thing to say and almost invites a response of, “Easy for you to say.”
But when we understand the brain and our fear responses of fight, freeze and flight, we begin to understand that there is something to be said for the saying.
I’ve recently been working with a lovely lady who was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. As a retired person she had been a very social and active person, arranging group activities in the community like coffee mornings and group walks. Initially thinking she was physically ill, she began to feel a sense of dread, creating stomach pains and nausea. She stopped doing all the things she loved. She stopped spending time with people, she stopped gardening, cooking and shopping. Her whole life had pretty much stopped.
She wanted to get back to her normal self but couldn’t see how. She asked if hypnotherapy could help.
In our hypnotherapy sessions we talked about how thinking negatively can trigger our fear responses. For her, it was her flight and freeze responses. The flight response was putting her on edge, the freeze response was making her withdraw from the world.
We talked about how if we want to overcome anxiety and depression we have to take baby steps towards bigger goals. So she began to accept offers from friends to pop round and see her and took short walks to the park. Then she pushed herself a little more, meeting friends at a coffee shop and walking along the canal with a friend. Each baby step took motivation and determination and our hypnotherapy sessions helped put that into practice. She kept taking these small steps until she was back at her coffee mornings and joining in with group walks. She sometimes still gets that feeling of fear in her stomach when looking to do something big or new, but she knows she is able to feel that fear and do it anyway. And the more she does that, the less and less she gets that feeling.
This month, this determined lady turned 80. For her birthday her family bought her a flight experience in a glider. She was excited and nervous. But you know what?...
She felt the fear and did it anyway…
And had an amazing time!
It's a cortisol release (July 2025)
What a Summer we are having! It feels like the sunshine is endless and the heat relentless. Some of us will be enjoying the weather, some of us will be hoping for a bit of break. Most of us will have found ourselves getting a little sweaty here and there.
Sweating can be unpleasant - maybe we become conscious of how we look, how we smell or what it might be like for other people around us. But sweating has a purpose. It helps the body cool down, keeping or core body temperature stable. It also enables us to release cortisol.
Cortisol is the stress hormone. When we are stressed, we trigger the fight or flight response and cortisol acts as the fuel to enable us to do that. However, because we don’t often actually run away or fight when we are stressed, we are left with that cortisol just flowing around the body. But we can get rid of the cortisol. We can exercise and burn it off, and we can release it through our tears and our sweat.
So rather than becoming socially conscious when sweating, think of it as a cortisol release, getting rid of that stress hormone and making us happier.
“I’m not sweating. I’m having a cortisol release!”
My tribes (May 2025)
We are designed to spend time in groups. This connection is so important to our sense of safety and in turn our happiness and our good mental health.
The part of our brain that enables us to sense danger is much the same as it was when we lived in caves. In these times, there was safety in numbers.
We would sleep in groups, taking it in turns to be on the look out for danger.
We would hunt in groups using team work to achieve our goal to provide for everyone.
We would gather in groups, sharing resources and ensuring there was enough to go around.
Whilst we may not need our tribe in these practical ways any more, we still need these connections to others. It’s important the people in our tribes make us feel good, supported and safe. And in modern day life, we might have more than one tribe.
My tribes include my family, my friends and my network of hypnotherapists. These groups of people make me laugh and smile, they support me and I support them, and very importantly I feel safe with every person in these groups.
Who have you got in your tribe?
Marching into Spring (March 2025)
What a lovely time of year it is when we welcome March. We’re seeing crocus and daffodils bringing colour into our gardens and parks, we’re hearing birds chirping and we’re seeing some blue skies. And people seem to smile more.
People seem happier and generally more optimistic - perhaps it’s the longer days and increased sunlight, maybe it’s the promise of change and growth. Whatever it is, I’m feeling inspired and motivated.
I’m starting to think about growing some vegetables, fixing the garden gate, decorating, sorting out the attic… my list is growing!
Whilst it is exciting to think about what could be possible over the next few months, if our list grows too long it can become overwhelming and we struggle to achieve any of it. The trick is to think about just one step at a time.
Now then, I know it may be a little too early to plant vegetables (I’ve made that mistake before), so I will focus on fixing the gate. I know some of the wood is rotten and needs replacing, so my first step is to measure up how much I need. Because I am thinking about just doing this first step and not the whole task, it becomes very doable. I’ll only think about the next step once I’ve completed this first one.
Marching into Spring, one step at a time!
Better than a new year's resolution (January 2025)
The new year prompts us to think about what we want the year to be like. Whilst it’s tempting to do this in the form of a new year’s resolution, these rarely work out. There are many reasons they fail. Sometimes the aim is too big or too long term. Sometimes it’s too demanding on our time or our existing habits.
But that’s not to say that considering hopes and goals for the year is a waste of time. It’s what we do next that influences whether they stay as dreams or become a reality.
So earlier this month I thought about what I want to achieve this year, in all areas of my life, and created a vision board. I used old magazines and leaflets to find images that reflect these goals. Some of these images are literal and others are more metaphorical. I took time to cut them out and place them on a large piece of paper. Only when I was happy did I glue them down. The intellectual thinking parts of the brain love working with pictures, and they prepare the brain for change. This makes a vision board much more powerful than just verbalising a new year’s resolution a couple of times.
My vision board is somewhere I see it every day, reminding me of what I am working towards. This will help me keep taking steps towards my goals, which is much easier than going for the ultimate goal right away. I’ll be taking notes to really acknowledge these steps as this will give me a rewarding dopamine hit and perpetuate momentum.
I’m really looking forward to see how far my vision board might take me in 2025. Watch this space!