The idea of faith in self and faith in each other has come up multiple times recently; I began writing about it last week, but let’s explore it a bit further.

Having faith in oneself comes naturally for some and extremely difficult for others. It can often be an area of push-pull throughout one’s life, where some times and in certain situations they have faith in themself, but not at other times or other circumstances. Some people have been hurt so much that it’s hard for them to trust themselves and others. However, if we can have faith in ourselves and our ability to accomplish things, it builds trust. When we build that trust in ourselves, it lessens our anxiety — it’s the confidence of “we’ve got this!”. When we reduce our anxiety, we increase our stress reduction and our resilience to stress, which then feeds more trust, which then feeds our faith in ourselves and each other. In his book, Build Your Resilience, Donald Robertson (2012) offers evidence of how living according to our values decreases stress. Having faith in oneself and others works in the same way; when we live according to belief in our abilities, we reduce our stress and anxiety.

Obviously, there are exceptions to this cycle of faith and trust. We may have been hurt by others in the past, and some people have chosen to not be trustworthy. This also does not apply to systems, including government and religion. But take some time to think about it. Is it applicable to you? Is there some work you can do to increase your faith in yourself to help reduce your anxiety and stress? As a Cognitive Behavioral Hypnotherapist with specialisms in spirituality and stress reduction, this is an area I can help you with. Contact me if you’d like to start the conversation.

NB This is one of those writings where I toe a line between “evidence-based” and “spiritual”. Coming from a background of mixing science and spirituality, it was and remains challenging for me to have completed a program where all of my spiritual work was degraded and dismissed. I am inherently spiritual and I will not hide it. I will cite evidence where evidence is available, and I will try to note intuitive ideas that are not evidence-based, but I cannot separate the two. Funnily enough, much of the science, particularly in cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnosis, is catching up to spirituality. At any rate, I am who I am and I endeavor to serve humanity as best as I can with my gifts and talents. Therefore, please expect to find a combination of science and intuition in my work.