The Easter Break - A Pebble Hypnotherapy Blog

As Easter arrives early this year, many of us will use this time to take a well-earned break. The school holidays and warmer weather give us a perfect opportunity to take some time away from work or our usual routines and relax.

Although in the UK we tend to celebrate with chocolate eggs, bunnies and baby chicks, there are other traditions around the world; in Sweden and Finland it’s a time when children dress as witches, swapping paintings for sweets, and in Norway people like to read or watch crime thrillers over the break!

However you like to celebrate, there’s plenty of evidence to show how important it is for us to take some time out, rest and relax. In fact, there’s a part of the brain that only really switches on when we rest, called the Default Mode Network. The functioning of this part of our brain is essential to help us focus, think creatively and solve problems, and when we allow ourselves more down time, we find that our productivity actually improves!

However, in our modern world of readily available distractions, and a society that places great value on busyness, it can be hard to feel that we’re ‘allowed’ to really take time off. Not to fill every moment with events and activities, but to simply be, slowing our pace and enjoying simple pleasures. The good news is that it doesn’t need 2 weeks on a beach to activate this amazing brain function, building in 5 or 10 minutes through the day to allow your mind to wander will start to switch it on!

This is an area I often talk about in my sessions with clients and I love seeing how much people improve just from allowing themselves to stop. If you’d like some holiday reading (and don’t fancy the Nordic tradition of crime thrillers) Dr Joseph Jebelli has written a brilliant book about this exact subject: called ‘The Brain at Rest’ it explores the Default Mode Network in more detail and demonstrates how time outside, exercise, sleep and playfulness can all enhance our wellbeing.

Candy x

Pebble Hypnotherapy