Articles from Susan Leigh | Hypnotherapist, Counsellor, Writer & Media Contributor

18/10/2020: Boost Your Autumn Mood

Autumn is usually the season when we start to hibernate a little, cosy down as the evenings draw in and spend more time indoors. After all the restrictions of the past year, fortunately made bearable by some g

11/10/2020: Reflections on 2020

I'm sure that many of us started this year toasting the new decade, excited and full of enthusiasm. This was going to be 'our time', full of promise and potential. Well, that certainly didn't work out as antic

05/10/2020: Would You Rather Be With Your Friends or Family?

The saying, we choose our friends but not our family, often causes a wry laugh. But, on reflection, those relationships are rather different. Do our friends typically see us having a 'bad hair day' or have to

05/10/2020: Ever Ask Yourself If You're Good Enough?

How often do you berate yourself, feel that you've fallen short, not achieved what you set out to do or done as much as others in your orbit? A 2020 survey of 2000 adults by a weight loss company has found tha

01/10/2020: Are You Managing Well on Less?

During these past few months many of us have had to manage on less income, some on substantially less. Yet whilst we may have been earning less we may have also found that we're spending less due to reduced op

24/09/2020: How Do You Feel About Christmas This Year?

Are you looking forward to Christmas this year? It seems that for many of us the thought of something bright and festive to look forward to offers a beacon of hope and optimism. No-one has been untouched by th

16/09/2020: Finish Your Sentences in a Positive Way

I've been reflecting on how we process our thoughts and feelings, the way we ultimately allow our sentences to finish. How often do we close with, 'it's not fair', 'I'm fed up', 'why does it keep happening to

06/09/2020: Have You Ever Felt Judged?

I'm sure there have been times when you've been walking towards someone and you've felt their eyes quickly scanning you up and down. It's disconcerting, isn't it! Are they checking out your clothes, your dress

05/09/2020: How Are the Men in Your Life?

'It's not the men in your life that counts. It's the life in your men." When actress Mae West made that comment it was meant to be a saucy innuendo, designed to raise a laugh. Today I'm turning that somewhat r

10/08/2020: Struggling to Sleep in the Heat?

Almost a third of people (62%) say they struggle to sleep in very hot weather. Even if they use a fan it appears to make very little difference, simply circulating the warm air around. Here are some tips to hel

09/08/2020: Do Your Friends Know What's Best for Your Divorce?

Divorce is so commonplace that many of us will know someone who's been divorced, maybe more than once! And yet, when it happens to us it's devastating. Our plans, dreams and normal routine are smashed to smith

07/08/2020: Tempted to Overshare Your Personal Stuff?

Many of us will have had times when we've overshared too much personal stuff, been over-zealous about expressing our thoughts, feelings and experiences, only to regret it upon reflection later on. At the

04/08/2020: Is It Time to Venture Outdoors?

After several weeks of lockdown and social isolation it's fair to say that there are many diverse reactions to the easing of restrictions. Now that it's coming time to venture more outdoors some people can har

03/08/2020: What's the Best Part of Your Day?

When's your favourite time, the best part of your day? When so many of us live full-on, busy lives, reaching our favourite, best part of the day can be akin to arriving at an oasis in the middle of the desert.

28/07/2020: Tell Me, What Do You Do?

'What do you do' is often an opening gambit when meeting a stranger. It's deemed to be a safe, fairly neutral way of starting a conversation and getting to know someone. But how influenced are we by someone's

23/07/2020: Do You Wind Down Before Bed?

Sleep has long been an issue. Even before coronavirus 90% of adults said they didn't get enough sleep and in 2018 a survey found that stress and sleep-related issues cost UK businesses £40 billion. 25% ad

20/07/2020: Do You Have FOGO, the Fear of Going Out?

Over the past few months we've been besieged with constant news updates, orders, commands and admonishments about the dangers of going out due to the global pandemic. We've seen outrage at pictures of lar

11/07/2020: Does Someone Always Have to Win?

The words sound inviting enough. 'Darling, it's a lovely day, let's go for a bike ride in the country'. But what starts out as a pleasant few hours together may all too quickly turn sour if one person can't be

15/06/2020: Should We Make More Effort to Keep the Romance Alive?

A few of us went out for dinner on Valentine's Day, instigated by a friend who's in a long-distance relationship. They've been together for several years but at the moment, due to work commitments, are only ab

07/06/2020: When You Need to Take a Break

These past few months have been an exhausting, emotionally draining time for many of us. Whether we’re working longer hours, worried because we’re not working, uncertain about the future, staying indoors with f

03/06/2020: Beware of the Pitfalls of Working From Home

Working from home can seem like a perfect scenario for both employers, employees and sole traders. After all, it minimises overheads, reduces the need for office premises and allows for greater flexibility, wi

02/06/2020: Deal With Your Anger Issues

Have you ever seen a child eagerly awaiting their absentee parent who's coming to take them for a play date? When faced with the dawning realisation that the parent is not coming the child may become defensive

01/06/2020: It's Okay Not to Be Liked

We all want to be liked. As children we understand the importance of fitting in and being with the popular kids. On a primitive level we recognise that the animals who are not part of the herd become vulnerabl

01/06/2020: Are Friends Bad for You?

How many of us refer to practically everyone we know as friends? We may thrive on being popular, enthusiastically accumulate lots of introductions, have hundreds of contacts on our phones and network voraciousl

15/05/2020: Starting Again As Lockdown Restrictions Lift

As lockdown restrictions start to lift it's becoming increasingly apparent that there are distinct differences in our attitudes towards moving forward. Some businesses have continued trading throughout and man

11/05/2020: How Are You Coping As Lockdown Restrictions Ease?

How have you found these past few weeks of lockdown? It may be that the weeks have seemed like a lifetime and many of us have been finding the loneliness and isolation a real struggle. Without our normal

27/04/2020: Spending Lockdown With Someone You Want to Divorce

I daresay there are quite a few of us confined to our homes with someone we don't like or have fallen out of love with. This may be because they've had an affair or because something's changed and they're not

19/04/2020: Help Your Relationship Survive COVID-19

Was it really a surprise to learn that over 80 couples filed for divorce immediately upon leaving lockdown in China? Being together 24/7 is something we rarely experience for any significant period of time, pe

12/04/2020: Are You Experiencing Weird Dreams?

Many people have reported disturbed sleeping patterns and weird dreams during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's hardly surprising that during times of disruption, disturbance and crisis people struggle to calm

11/04/2020: Top Tips to Manage Your Time in Isolation

We’re living in unprecedented times. From our health, income, education, ability to travel, no one has been exempt from the impact of this global pandemic. So excuse yourself if you have an occasional melt down

08/04/2020: How Real Are You?

How many of us actually walk the walk? We may talk the talk, and some circumstances do require us to present ourselves in a particular way. In order to feel confident and step effectively into the role of boss

07/04/2020: Is There Life After 50?

Certain birthdays have always held especial significance. When we reach double figures, become a teenager, reach 21, these are all markers of our journey through life, of our progression as we become an adult a

01/04/2020: Start by Prioritising Your Happiness

Some people treat happiness as their main goal. When you ask them what they want in life they say, 'to be happy'. But happiness can be elusive. It creeps up on us when we least expect it, when we find ourselve

24/03/2020: Where Do You Find Recognition?

Where do you find Recognition? Just a thought on the 'bigger picture', and how much we’ve come to value our NHS & frontline services, especially during these exceptionally testing times. There’s no doubt th

09/03/2020: Grief and the Single Parent

How do you heal and recover from the loss of a much-loved partner, especially if there are young children to consider? Even if someone's been ill for a while and it could be argued that there's been time to pr

04/03/2020: Some Good Reasons to Work from Home

Working from home is becoming a more popular choice, especially of late with the spread of Coronavirus. Some staff employed by large organisations may have responsibility for several regions in the country and

04/03/2020: Good Habits Support Good Results

Are you perhaps feeling that now's the time to improve your health and your life? Good habits are often crucial to achieving good results and a positive outcome. You may be looking to lose weight, become fitte

03/03/2020: Do You Ever Switch Off?

So much of our lives are ruled by time, with school, work, appointments, transport connections all needing to be turned up promptly for. Even when we're looking forward to something like a run, a swim, a game

02/03/2020: An Abusive Relationship Can Creep Up On You

Imagine you went on a first date with someone who was sarcastic, nasty, disparaging towards you. It's hard to believe that you would agree to a second date. Yet an abusive relationship can creep up on us and ha

02/03/2020: How Do You Feel About Leaving Work to Go Home?

Not wanting to leave work isn’t necessarily about being a workaholic. There can be a myriad of reasons why we may feel uncertain, reluctant or even afraid about leaving work at the end of each day. There are th

01/03/2020: Do You Need to Take a Sabbatical From Your Relationship?

There has been much coverage in the media of late on the value of taking a sabbatical from your relationship. The reasoning behind taking a sabbatical is that it provides a breathing space to reflect on your l

01/03/2020: Do You Prefer to Sleep Alone?

An increasing number of us are choosing to sleep alone. In fact a recent survey has revealed that as many as 1/6 British couples or 15% now sleep apart, with 89% of them choosing to sleep in separate rooms. And

28/02/2020: Do You Do Too Much for Them?

When we undertake certain roles in life it influences our mindset, affects the way we behave and interact. Titles and roles determine our approach to life, which in turn educates our expectations of how we shou

13/02/2020: Single & Alone - How's That Working Out for You?

Would you agree that there are few places lonelier than being in a loveless relationship? Spending time with someone who's clearly bored, disinterested, perhaps even angry at your mere presence slowly destroys

13/02/2020: Do You Apologise When You Cry?

How do you react when you see someone cry? Many of us would be solicitious and keen to find out if we could help. I doubt we'd expect someone who's upset to apologise for crying and if they did we'd put i

13/02/2020: Make Every Day Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is treated as the special day for love, where we may look forward to receiving flowers, cards and declarations from our special one. Whilst others are cynical of Valentine’s Day, viewing it as a

01/02/2020: Sometimes You've Just Got to Say 'No'!

Many people find that it’s their automatic default to say ‘yes’ whenever something is asked of them. They may have learned to respond without even thinking about it, maybe regard others’ needs as more imp

17/01/2020: How Jealous Are You?

How jealous would you be if your husband or partner was regularly car-sharing with a much younger, good-looking business colleague, or exchanging texts with them into the evening? Modern life often involves tr

01/01/2020: Starting Again, But Where Are My Friends?

Have you ever changed school, moved home, left one job for another and realised that by doing so you're starting again and leaving all your friends behind? Going away to university, getting divorced, moving on

17/11/2019: How Do You Spend Your Sundays?

Remember when Sundays were sacrosanct, all about church and family? No shops opened, so people used to worship, visit relatives and enjoy an easy day. These days shops open 7 days a week and family dynamics ar

11/11/2019: Why Take a Retreat?

There's so much focus on stress these days, information aplenty on how stress-related issues cost UK businesses £40 billion last year, the fact that 90% adults say they don't get enough sleep and that 1/14 don

26/10/2019: How Do You Feel About Winter?

As the days grow shorter, the evenings longer and colder it's tempting to hibernate. How many of us are secretly relieved when an evening out is postponed or cancelled! We go home, draw the curtains and have a

17/10/2019: Be Clear and Say What's Involved

I recently had an interesting conversation with a friend who had just returned from a kayaking holiday in Vancouver. After an exhausting four days of kayaking she was less than enthusiastic when their guide as

16/10/2019: What's a Little Inconvenience!

So you've been asked to hang around and wait for someone or something to arrive, to go out of your way to drop someone home, take part in something you don't want to do. The request may make you feel rather ir

18/09/2019: How to Survive Making Tough Decisions

From time to time we're all faced with the need to make tough decisions. We may be determined to commit to a partner who we know friends and family will never accept or we may want to end a relationship which

13/09/2019: Teenage Behaviour May Be a Cry for Help

When a person, of any age, is struggling with mental health issues they may prefer to keep it private, anticipating that it could be regarded as a sign of weakness, potentially threatening their future choices

01/09/2019: What's Happened to This Year's Resolutions?

How are you getting on with your New Year's resolutions? If you decided to make some this year chances are they're a long distant memory by now. Why do you think that is, why do so many fail within the first m

01/09/2019: Tips for When You Want to Eat Healthily & Have a Social Life

So much of our social life includes food and drink and it's often lovely to change our clothes, eat out and see friends, or network and meet new people. But what about looking after ourselves, especially if we

28/08/2019: Why Don't You Take Your Holidays?

I'm sure many of us will remember the culture of working long hours, always keen to be recognised as the first to arrive and the last one to leave each day. It didn't matter if the hours in-between were spent

19/08/2019: What Does Resilience Mean to You?

Certain words seem to be popular at different times. They're used as buzz words, meant to encourage us to focus on specific aspects of our health, wellbeing and performance. Resilience is the latest of these w

16/08/2019: When Summer's a Washout

Well, there's nothing we can do to change the weather but what can we do when summer's a washout and we've children, holidays and lots of time on our hands? Not everyone wants or can afford to go overseas

04/08/2019: When Is the Best Time to Break Up?

Many of us recognise and are appreciative of the happy combination of good fortune and circumstance that brings each special someone into our lives; that chance meeting, a swipe on a dating site, the acceptanc

01/08/2019: 10 Ways to Be the Best Version of Yourself

How important are you? Do you feature on your own list of priorities? If you're a mum you no doubt regard your children as your number one priority. If you work as a manager or business owner with staff

24/07/2019: Are You Ready for a Post-Divorce Holiday?

Divorce is often a debilitating process. It takes its toll and can impact on every area of life, eroding our confidence, self-esteem and sense of worth, as well as seriously affecting our finances. Often, when

21/07/2019: Start by Being Happy

Many of us I'm sure would be thrilled at receiving an expensive gift, thinking, 'how lucky am I!' It would make our day and contribute to our feeling happy. But what if that gift was a substitute for time, lov

12/07/2019: What Have You Got to Moan About?

Some years ago my family went for an outing to a restaurant, for a lovely Sunday lunch. The waiter started to deliver our meals and when mine arrived it was nothing like what I'd ordered. When I started to spe

07/07/2019: Tips for the First Few Days in Your New Job

Many young people will now have now finished their education and be looking for full-time employment. Some will have found paid employment from day one whilst others may be starting work as an apprentice or in

07/07/2019: What's Your Excuse?

'Sorry, I'm busy, I haven't the time'. Do you hear yourself uttering these words quite often? Have they become a habit, an excuse, an automatic default to get you out of making an effort? Saying you're too tir

03/07/2019: When You're Wanting to Start a Conversation

There are times when we might need a little help in starting a conversation. A new person, situation or period of awkwardness may require us to dig deep and find a few words with which to appropriately fill a

02/07/2019: More Than Twenty Simple Things to Make You Happy

Happiness does not come from being complicated, expensive or fussy. Simple things are often far more effective and pleasing. Think of a gift from a child or a loved one, a simple pressed flower

02/07/2019: Have You the Confidence to Speak Up?

There are times when we could kick ourselves aren't there! There was something we wanted to say, an opportunity to join in and contribute, but we hesitated and the moment passed. Irritatingly someone else may

01/07/2019: When Your World Comes Crashing Down

Sometimes life hits us between the eyes and delivers an unexpected turn of events. The shock and resultant impact can make us question why it's happened. Have we been bad, is it karma, do we deserve this? The

23/06/2019: Can You Keep a Secret?

I'm guessing that for many of us the decision on whether or not to keep a secret very much depends on several considerations. What the secret is, who's involved and the implications around keeping it or not ca

18/06/2019: The Role of Food in Your Social Life

The words, 'would you like to come for dinner?' can be enough to cause apprehension in even the most confident of us. What shall we wear, who else might be there, should we take something with us, will we be a

17/06/2019: Is Work a Happy Place?

We spend so much of our time at work, and yet many of us are unhappy. Stress in the workplace is an increasing area of concern, costing UK businesses £40 billion last year in stress-related issues; accidents,

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