My chance to practise what I teach

Yesterday morning I had a decision to make that many do. I needed to have an endoscopy (gatroscopy) and I had the choice to be sedated or not. Having a busy afternoon planned, I decided not to be sedated. In the waiting room, the other patients, all of whom had experienced this procedure at least once before, advised sedation - all had bad memories of earlier experiences and there was a sense of stress and anxiety in the room... I began to worry about my choice, and phoned to arrange a lift home if I 'bottled it' and went for the drugs... Then I thought about the pregnant women I teach to use self-hypnosis for birthing and decided (to use a phrase often used by my friend and colleague Richard Nicholls) to 'practise what I preach'. In the waiting room I got myself as comfortable as I was able to in a hard chair, closed my eyes and visualised myself on Saunton Sands in Devon. The nervous conversations in the waiting room became the background chatter of other beach users. I smelt the sea air, saw my dog running on the flat sands and felt the warmth of the sun, relaxing my muscles.... When I went through to have the procedure, the nurses asked me what I did for a living and I said I'd tell them afterwards... I lay on my side as instructed, closed my eyes and took myself to Saunton. As they arranged my relaxed arms, I heard them say, "she's almost asleep" I stayed relaxed and kept my breathing slow and kept my eyes closed until it was over, which was a few short minutes. When I sat up, the nurse said "So what do you do?" When I told them, they laughed. Afterwards, reflecting on the anxiety of my fellow patients and the 'stressy' atmosphere, I wondered how I could use my hypnotherapy skills to help make the experience of endoscopy less of an ordeal and to help reduce anxious thoughts prior to the procedure. I am also pondering recording a self-hypnosis CD for preparation for endoscopy....Watch this space!