I know that it is the middle of Summer, and that no one really wants to think about school starting again, but the reality is that many schools will open in just a few short, sunny weeks.
I was reminded of this the other day when I asked my daughter how she was doing on her summer reading assignment. She is just going into middle school, and is an avid reader. Normally she cruises through books at an alarming pace, and it isn’t unusual for her to finish a book in less than a week. But right now it is summer, which means swimming and vacations, video games and playing outdoors. And right now, she is behind in her reading assignment.
For her, the solution was pretty simple, (she is used to having a hypnotist for a mom.) With a few careful phrases we were able to tap into her desire to finish her assignment and amplify that desire, making her more eager to take the time to read. As an added bonus, her concentration, comprehension and recall also improve as a result of this technique.
There are other ways that you can help set your kids up for success too, priming them for the school year. My oldest struggled with anxiety that affected his ability to function in school. In the middle of his junior year he found himself in danger of not graduating. We used hypnotic techniques to anchor a calm safe place and reprogramming to increase his focus, attention, and eliminate the stress and anxiety. His grades began to rise, and he was back on track to graduate with his class.
What Makes Learning Hard?
While everyone faces their own individual challenges, there are a few common themes when it comes to academic struggles. Stress and anxiety are two of the most common underlying causes of problems with academics, and even athletics, for students.
Stress:
Stress is the body’s reaction to a challenge. Stress can actually be good in many ways. The right kind of stress can sharpen the mind and reflexes. It might be able to help the body perform better, or help you escape a dangerous situation.
Stress produces a physical reaction in the body. When faced with a stressful event, the subconscious mind directs the release of certain hormones, which results in a physical reaction. These reactions can include slowed digestion, shaking, tunnel vision, faster breathing and heart rate, dilation of pupils, and flushed skin. This process is often referred to as the “fight or flight” response. Our bodies are poised to either run away from the stressor or stick around and fight it.
There are three main types of stress: Acute, Episodic Acute, and Chronic Acute.
Acute stress is the most common form happens with recent or anticipated stress. Acute stress can have both positive and negative effects. For example, the excitement before a fun event is a type of positive acute stress. Getting into a car accident is negative acute stress. As long as the acute stress doesn’t last for extended periods or happen too frequently, there is nothing wrong with experiencing acute stress. It happens to all of us, and it passes with time.
Episodic acute stress is a recurring type of stress, happening over and over. This is the kind of stress that continuously pops up in your life, sometimes in a pattern. It often comes with the feeling of worrying about things that are happening to you or around you. People with the “type A” personality type often feel a sense of urgency and a need to get things done that might actually become overwhelming.
Chronic acute stress can be thought of as ongoing, or never-ending stress. This type of stress will eventually begin to affect your health and can lead to heart problems, strokes, and even cancer. Chronic stress definitely requires that you reach out for help.
College Stress:
While this is not an official type of stress, there are several unique factors associated with college students.
For many students, college is the first time they have lived away from home or been away from their family for any significant period of time. Besides that, it’s a very unfamiliar environment. Everything is different – the food, the people, and the living accommodations.
Even though most students eventually get used to these new things without a problem, the first few weeks of college can create a stressful environment. This is true even if you are truly excited about the changes. Remember that even positive changes can induce stress.
There is also a change in the support environment. When there is a big test, a bad day, or confusing situation, family members and old friends are not readily available for support. This can be tough to adjust to, especially during those first few months.
Academic Demands and Test Anxiety:
This may be the most common long-term cause of stress for high school and college students. After all, students go to school to learn. When you don’t get the results you think you should get, or you feel pressured to get certain academic results this can cause a lot of stress. Test anxiety is anxiety that usually starts before or while taking tests. The symptoms are both physical and mental, and usually inhibit your ability to perform.
Anxiety:
Anxiety is a general term that can cover several different types of disorders. All of them share the common symptoms of nervousness, worry, fear, and apprehension. Sometimes the emotional feelings can be so overwhelming that they create, or manifest, physical symptoms.
Anxiety often causes a rapid heartbeat, sweating, trouble sleeping, an inability to concentrate, shortness of breath, fidgeting, fatigue, and others. If you are constantly feeling on edge and worried about something, you are probably experiencing anxiety.
Other Challenges
All kids struggle with concentration to some degree, and this has more to do with their intellectual development than anything else. Their growing minds are already trying to pay attention to so many things, and that fractured attention is not designed to retain information.
Concentration is our ability to focus our attention or mental effort. It’s important to know that not every student who has a hard time focusing in school has a learning difficulty such as ADD or ADHD. In many cases, the concentration issues children have in school can be caused by a number of different reason. Once you know what’s causing your child’s focus issues, you’re ready to start making a plan to overcome it.
Retention:
How we retain information is a complex process, and the retention of information is vital to learning. When memory is not working at it’s best, then our ability to learn is compromised.
Lack of Practice:
Many young children have a hard time focusing in school simply because they are in a new environment, or because they have not develop good study habits. This can also happen to older children after a break from school like school vacations, when they fall out of the routines of school.
Not Understanding the Material:
What might look like a lack of concentration could actually be a lack of understanding the material. This lack of understanding can lead to students to stop paying attention, and falling further behind.
Not Being Challenged Enough:
For some children, what is being taught in class isn’t challenging enough. Children who are not challenged at a high enough level can lose interest in the material and stop paying attention altogether.
Distracted by External Stimuli:
The classroom can be a place full of distractions, from chatty classmates to a cluttered workstation. Some kids have a harder time than others filtering out these distractions, which makes paying attention to the teacher more challenging.
Lack of Motivation:
In some cases, your child’s concentration problem may actually be a motivation problem. This lack of motivation can lead to a number issues in the classroom, including disinterest in the material, behavioral issues, and falling behind in the materials.
Mismatched Learning Style:
Different students have different learning styles: some learn best by seeing, some by hearing, and others by doing. If your child’s teacher emphasizes a learning style that doesn’t match with how your child learns, this can lead to a lack of focus and understanding.
Not Getting the Right Amount of Sleep or Nutrition:
If your child is not getting the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep each night, he or she won’t have the energy needed to concentrate in class. Skipping breakfast is another big cause of lack of focus in class. If your child is heading to class hungry, he or she is more apt to be distracted than ready to learn.
Disorganization:
A disorganized notebook or workspace can be a major distraction for students. Coming to class disorganized means your child is spending time searching for the tools and material needed to learn rather than paying attention to what is being taught.
School Anxiety:
Anxiety about school or grades can be another deeper issue that leads to lack of focus in the classroom. Students who are overwhelmed or stressed by a subject may simply check out, leading to dropping grades and lowered self-confidence.
Learning Difficulties:
If your kid is having severe problems in the classroom, such as constant disruptions, distractions, or poor grades, and you have ruled out other causes, it could be time to look into possible learning difficulties.
In some cases, these children may have learning difficulties such as ADD, ADHD, or Dyslexia. They may also have problems with hearing or vision. Each of these can be addressed with the help of their primary care provider, a tutor, and a learning plan, so your child can improve his or her focus and succeed in the classroom.
The Role of Hypnosis
There are at least eight ways hypnosis can help improve academic abilities:
Increase the ability to concentrate.
Improve the ability to retain, recall, and remember information.
Control emotions and stress.
Enhance motivation and enthusiasm for learning.
Increase energy and endurance.
Increase self-esteem, confidence, and self efficiency.
Resolve subconscious blocks or conflicts that keep us from doing our best.
Remain calm and relaxed while taking tests and exams.
Hypnosis is a trance that focuses attention on a limited area, can slow down thinking, heighten the imagination, and prevent distractions. In this special state of mind, you are empowered by the hypnotist to address obstacles to learning using imagination, imagery, and suggestion. The result of this process is permanent change, for as long as you find this new way of doing things useful.
You can either keep doing things the way you have always done them, and get the same results you have always gotten, or you can rewrite your programming and allow yourself to succeed!∎
Karen Gray is a Certified Hypnotist, a Registered Nurse, and the director of Green Mountain Hypnosis. For more information on how you can use hypnosis to change your life, you can visit www.greenmountainhypnosis.com, contact Karen at karengray@greenmountainhypnosis.com, or call (802) 566-0464.