Juliet Hollingsworth Hypnotherapy

03/08/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞?

Most people think procrastination means you're lazy or simply need more self-discipline.

It can sometimes look that way, but that's only part of the story.

Thousands of years ago, humans lived in environments where immediate needs usually took priority. Finding food, avoiding danger, and responding to opportunities that were right in front of them often mattered more than investing effort in rewards that might arrive weeks or months later.

Our brains still carry many of those tendencies today. Research suggests that procrastination is often linked to how we regulate emotion, rather than a lack of effort. When a task feels uncertain, stressful or emotionally uncomfortable, our brains are drawn towards activities that provide quicker rewards or temporary relief.

The problem today is that we're surrounded by instant gratification - social media, emails, streaming services and online shopping all offer immediate rewards that our ancestors never encountered. Our biology hasn't changed nearly as quickly as our environment has.

The more we understand human behaviour through the lens of evolution, the more everyday experiences begin to make sense.

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

Steel, P. (2007). The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94.

Sirois, F. M., & Pychyl, T. A. (2013). Procrastination and the Priority of Short-Term Mood Regulation: Consequences for Future Self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115–127.

Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1997). Longitudinal Study of Procrastination, Performance, Stress, and Health. Psychological Science, 8(6), 454–458.

01/08/2026

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 #𝟐𝟖 How else to start a book about stories with a story. And maybe I should do so in fairy tale style.

Two young maidens were visiting a castle south of the sun, where they happened upon an old horse. In their happy, carefree state of mind they stroked the old horse.

The old horse enjoyed the attention so much that when they wandered off she called them back with a big kick against the stable door. Many times over they returned to the old horse and then left again. Each time the old horse called them back with her hoof.

After a short while the queen came down from her castle abandoning her afternoon reading on the veranda. She too had heard the call of her old horse.

She left her open book on the table for all to see. The fair maidens asked - what book is this. A book about fairy tales for women? That, we must buy and they ran off home to order next day delivery on Amazon prime.

There are two beautiful quotes in the afterword of 𝐑𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐞 that I like:

“Stories are spells; they change things. And when they slip into our hearts and their quicksilver magic slides through our veins, they change us too…

But to find our way out of the dark woods that are closing in around us, we need a trail of breadcrumbs: stories which can lift us out of despair and powerlessness, and propel us onto a path of wise action and deeply rooted hope.”

I found it hard to concentrate on this book - it didn’t absorb me. However there are a lot of lessons in it. I have already recommended it to more people than I do most books. I'd screenshot a page to send to someone, and then realise I’d need to send the whole chapter, so I'd end up photographing the cover and suggesting they read the whole book!

I found the beginning hard to take in. The book explains fairy tales, travels through the lifetime of a woman using fairy tales to describe different experiences, and then offers some ideas for using fairy tales as a personal tool. It makes sense that the later chapters resonated with me the most.

The book has certainly inspired me and there is lots I can take into my work. There is some personal work I’m going to do as a result of reading it which I also think will be fun. All in all, a beneficial read, one I’d recommend if you want to learn about fairy tales and enter some personal development work in a less than usual way.

31/07/2026

Your brain didn't evolve to produce constant comfort. It evolved to keep you alive.

Many uncomfortable feelings begin as biological signals that something needs your attention. Hunger encourages you to eat. Loneliness motivates you to reconnect with other people. Unease increases your awareness when your nervous system detects uncertainty. Fatigue encourages recovery. These sensations direct your behaviour towards meeting needs that supported survival throughout human evolution.

Modern life gives us countless ways to quiet those signals before we understand them. We scroll, snack, stay busy, shop or keep working. These behaviours can change how we feel for a while, yet they often leave the original need unmet. Your nervous system continues sending the signal because its job is to guide you towards conditions that support survival, not simply to create comfort.

The next time you feel a slight discomfort, try asking yourself:

What is my body moving me towards?

Perhaps it needs rest. Perhaps it needs food. Perhaps it needs connection. Perhaps it needs safety. Sometimes it needs movement or another basic human need that modern life has pushed into the background.

Human behaviour makes far more sense when you understand that many emotions began as guidance systems, rather than problems to eliminate. Learning to recognise those signals gives you another way to understand yourself and another way to respond.

30/07/2026

𝐀 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮...

𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠?

Some things that I wonder about:

Why do some people wonder and others don't?
Why can I be more myself with some people than others?
Why do I feel intimidated by some people?
How can I stay true to myself?
What makes me feel deeply connected?
What makes me feel safe?
What makes me feel truly seen?
Why do some people want to learn and others don't?
Does anyone else think like me?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

29/07/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤

The beautiful sunrise on Saturday morning as I sat working.

How green the contents of my fridge are thanks to .

A wasp killing a horsefly. It was fascinating to watch until it flew away and I thought it was chasing me! I felt like I wanted to rescue the horsefly but had the voice of our driver in Tanzania ringing in my ear “it’s zee nature”.

The difference in colour of the yarrow at the moment. I did some research and learned that the pink comes from pigments called anthocyanins. Some wild yarrow plants naturally produce more pink pigment than others. They also open with a stronger pink flush and then gradually fade to pale pink or almost white as the flowers mature.

When you lick something (like ice cream) it becomes yours!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲?

29/07/2026

I've updated another article.

This one is about trauma.

One thing I see time and again is that people rarely come to therapy saying, "I think I have unresolved trauma."

They come because they can't sleep, they feel anxious, they keep repeating the same patterns, or they react in ways that don't make sense to them.

Sometimes those experiences have nothing to do with trauma.

Sometimes they do.

The important part is taking the time to understand the bigger picture rather than assuming every difficulty has the same explanation or the same solution.

If you've ever wondered what trauma actually is, how it can affect the nervous system, and how therapy can help people process difficult experiences safely, I've rewritten the article using what I've learned over the past few years.

I'd love to know what surprised you most after reading it.

⬇️ You can read it here:

Trauma-informed therapist discusses how hypnotherapy can help process and begin healing from traumatic events.

28/07/2026

Episode two with Kia | Intuition Mentor for the Creative Woman is out now - link in FH&W highlights.

28/07/2026

Many people want to understand why they feel anxious, overwhelmed or constantly on edge, even when life seems fine.

One answer comes from human evolution.

Your brain and nervous system evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in a hunter-gatherer world where survival depended on noticing danger, staying connected and responding quickly to change.

That biology hasn't disappeared.

It still shapes human behaviour, the way we respond to stress, the way we seek rewards and the way our bodies communicate unmet needs.

When you understand your behaviour through the lens of evolutionary psychology and my Human Mismatch Theory, many experiences begin to make sense.

The question changes.

Instead of asking:

"What's wrong with me?"

You can ask:

"What is my body trying to help me do?"

Developing this theory changed the way I see anxiety, stress, and so much of modern life. What about you?

27/07/2026

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡?

Most people think a sigh means you feel bored, stressed or fed up.

It can happen during those moments, but that's only part of the story.

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors sighed for the same reason we do today. A sigh is a deeper breath that reopens tiny air sacs in the lungs that naturally begin to close during normal breathing. This helps the lungs continue exchanging oxygen efficiently. Researchers also think sighing helps the nervous system move between different states as the body responds to changing situations.

The problem today is that we often treat body signals as signs that something is wrong. We notice ourselves sighing and wonder whether we're stressed, anxious or not coping. In many cases, we're watching a healthy process that has always been part of human biology.

The more we understand the nervous system and human behaviour, the more our everyday experiences begin to make sense.

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

Li, P. & Yackle, K. (2022). The physiological and neural roles of the sigh. Progress in Neurobiology, 218, 102344.

Vlemincx, E. & Van Diest, I. (2013). Sigh rate and its relation to respiratory variability, emotion and stress. Biological Psychology, 97, 42–49.

26/07/2026

I've just updated an article from 2015.

It's about the fight or flight response.

Back then, I explained what it was. Reading it again made me realise how much my understanding has changed over the years. The biology hasn't changed, but the questions I'm asking have.

I'm less interested in what the fight or flight response is, and much more interested in why it switches on when we're sitting at our desk, lying awake at night or walking through an airport.

Your body isn't trying to make your life difficult. It's trying to keep you safe based on the information it receives.

Understanding that changed the way I think about anxiety, phobias, stress, sleep and so many other experiences.

Have you ever noticed your body reacting before your mind has caught up?

I'd love to know what happened.

⬇️ You can read the updated article here:

https://www.juliethollingsworth.com/2015/07/14/what-is-the-fight-or-flight-response-causes-symptoms-and-how-to-calm-it/

Today I spoke with a client that is fearful of flying. I mentioned the fight or flight response she wasn’t really aware of this reaction.