Month: February 2021

If you have a lot going on, and you find yourself procrastinating or getting side-tracked when you really need to be getting on with what you are doing, a simple Yawn-Stretch-Relax exercise can re-focus your brain on what’s important.

According to Mark Waldman, one of the world’s leading experts on the brain, communication and spirituality, this simple exercise can restore balance and clarity, bringing you into the present moment and allowing your brain to process what’s going on more efficiently.

The brain can only hold about 7 chunks of information at any one time, that’s about 10 or 20 words, max. Is it any wonder we can’t remember everything we want to remember? If there is a lot going on, it can seem overwhelming, but only if you think it’s overwhelming. The way you communicate with yourself impacts on how your brain responds. If you think you can handle it, your brain deals with the situation much more effectively.

There are roughly 160 billion neurons in your brain and they are constantly communicating with each other, a hundred times faster than you think! Your brain is always working on your behalf in the background and a little help goes a long way. This little exercise helps your brain to sift through all the data and bring a bit of clarity to the situation, with a moment of calm.

Whole Brain Integration

According to Waldman, when you do the Yawn, Stretch & Relax exercise, it activates what’s known as the Salience Network in the brain, where intuition and imagination live, and you are rewarded with a moment of whole brain integration. It’s like hitting the reset button for clarity and focus, which may lead to an “AHA” moment about what’s important.

Here’s how to do it

Look away from what you are doing, disengage for a couple of minutes and force a slow yawn, stretch your arms, stretch or loosen your neck and shrug your shoulders, relax, and gently stroke a part of your bare skin, like your hand or arm. Give yourself a few moments to enjoy the feeling and then ask your intuition, “What’s interesting, useful or insightful for me right now?” and just allow whatever comes to mind to come to mind. Wait and listen. It might be a whisper or it might speak loudly and clearly about what your next step might be. If it’s of value to you, write it down.

If you can’t yawn to begin with, just pretend to yawn and you will get better at it. Imagine watching your favourite animal yawning and see how they look so relaxed when they do it.

Learn to trust your intuition.Take a few moments right now to close your eyes, Yawn, Stretch & Relax…. and see what happens!

Complimentary Consultation

If I can help you to manage your mind in any way, feel free to get in touch for a complimentary consultation.

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How to stop your emotional brain from hijacking healthy weight loss

Trying to be healthy or trying to lose weight can trigger the survival instinct and cause “All or Nothing” thinking which leads to stress.

Are you familiar with the recurrent pattern of being good, eating healthy, exercising, sticking to your plan all day, and then blowing it in the evening?

“All or Nothing” thinking can lead you down the path of self-sabotage

Maybe you are chilling out on the sofa, or watching TV, and your thoughts turn to snacking. You have had dinner, you are not hungry but there is something nagging away inside your mind. You have worked hard all day. You have been good. You deserve a treat. Something small won’t do any harm…. You justify and rationalise your craving.

Rationalise = rational lies

A craving takes you by the hand and leads you astray. You quietly raid the fridge or the cupboard, or maybe you decide you really need to pop to the petrol station… wherever you can get your fix.

At this point, your brain is flooded with dopamine, the hormone that propels you into action. You just have to go get it. You can’t help yourself. You are on a mission. It’s almost as if you are in a trance.

Then comes the instant gratification moment, nothing else matters except satisfying that need. Junk food, bingeing, sweet things, stuff you really don’t want to be eating but you are blind to it. Or you know what you are doing but you just don’t care. For a short time, your brain swims in serotonin, the happy hormone.

And then regret, guilt or shame floods in along with the name calling. Why did I have to eat that? Why am I such a pig? I’ll never be slim and healthy. Who am I trying to kid anyway? I might as well forget it. I’m wasting my time.

DON’T DESPAIR – IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT

There are several things going on at a sub-conscious level:

• Your brain gets caught in a loop. The reward system, part of the ancient survival instinct, kicks in big time when you place restrictions on yourself. It fights back;
• Your logical, rational brain temporarily goes off-line and your focus is fixed on instant gratification;
• A vicious cycle once begun has to be completed.

What you can do:

Healthy Weight Loss Prevention is better than cure.

Avoid All or Nothing thinking “All or Nothing” means you are either a winner or a loser, a success or a failure. This kind of thinking is rigid and unhelpful and causes you to feel stress when you don’t live up to 100% perfect. When you feel stressed you go into survival mode and lose the ability to think straight. Accept you are imperfect and you will make mistakes, you will slip up from time to time and it’s ok.

Live in an abundance mindset You can have what you want when you want it, it’s your choice. There is no shortage of food, drink or comfort.

Show yourself compassion and love – If you do have an unhealthy snack, learn from it. Rather than beating yourself up with harsh self-talk, speak to yourself as if you were your best friend, understand that it’s ok to make a mistake, and move on. There is no need to dwell on it.

Plan ahead You can have a healthy snack that won’t sabotage your healthy lifestyle, or find something else to do that you enjoy – for example – phone a friend, read an inspiring book, write in your journal or go for a walk. Pleasure can be found in places other than food.

Recognise the pattern and say “thank you”. Awareness and acceptance will keep you balanced. Put yourself into investigator mode. What is your body actually telling you? It may be you need something other than food or drink or it may just be an old habit playing out. Are you just bored?

Learn to recognise true hunger from false hunger True hunger is in the stomach. False hunger is in your head. If you are hungry, eat something healthy. If you are not truly hungry discover what is really going on.

Ask yourself “What do I really want?” Is your goal to be a happy healthy weight long term or is it just to satisfy yourself in the moment? Dig deep and be honest with yourself.

It’s your choice You can have what you want – do you really want that snack or do you want to be a healthy weight, attractive, full of energy and vitality, and look amazing? It’s always your choice. Different choices produce different outcomes.

If you want help to reprogramme your mind for success the easy way, get in touch with me for a free consultation.

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If you, or someone you love, suffer from this distressing and debilitating illness, you may already be at your wits end. I may be able to help.

My husband suffered from this illness for 2 years before we knew what was wrong with him and he had to retire from work at the age of 45. I gave up my job and dedicated my life to helping him to regain his health – which he did. From the months of hopelessness, the mountain of research, the never-ending visits to doctors, consultants, various therapists, to the learning of new techniques, skills, behaviours and ways of coping, I can now share this knowledge with others and also recommend other types of treatment that are beneficial in managing and speeding up the process of recovery.

Using the broad base of knowledge gained, the hands on experience of living with a CFS sufferer along with the combined skills of hypnotherapy and NLP I can work alongside other qualified practitioners in the treatment of CFS.

Profile of the CFS/ME Sufferer:

CFS sufferers tend to be highly motivated individuals who led a very active life before the onset of the illness. For them, it can be very depressing to be inactive and exhausted, this can lead to feelings of hopelessness and anxiety. Sometimes it can be hard to ask for help.

Causes:

Medical opinions differ greatly on what causes CFS and how to treat it. Some researchers believe the illness could be related to a person’s genes and their susceptibility to viral infection, stress, depression or major life events which could act as a trigger for CFS to develop.

Some say it’s caused by a bacterial or a viral infection which affects the immune system so badly, the result is the onset of CFS.

Other opinions say it is a physical disorder that leads to a build up of toxins within the brain and the spine. One technique (The Perrin Technique) has been developed to diagnose CFS/ME by identifying definite physical signs and to treat the disorder by improving drainage of these poisons from the central nervous system.

Symptoms of CFS/Me:

Whichever way you look at it, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a debilitating illness, characterised by some or many of the following symptoms:

• Abdominal pain and digestive problems.
• Brain fog.
• Chest pain
• Depression, irritability, anxiety, panic attacks
• Disturbed sleep
• Excessive perspiration
• Exercise intolerance
• Extreme exhaustion
• Flu-like symptoms
• Headaches or dizziness
• Palpitations usually induced by exertion
• Poor concentration
• Poor stamina (if any)
• Recurrent sore or lumpy throat or swollen glands
• Sensitivity to light or loud noises
• Short term memory loss
• Shortness of breath, aggravated by exertion
• Toxic build up in the lymphatic system

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME Of course everyone is different and there are varying degrees to which a sufferer can be affected.

How can Hypnotherapy Help?

Hypnotherapy is a complimentary therapy, working alongside the medical profession or other types of therapy. It is an excellent way to retrain your mind and body to work in harmony, helping you to:

• Ease the pain
• Stop worrying
• Free yourself from anxiety and stress
• Manage a healthy exercise regime
• Get back to balanced way of living

You can learn:

• What your body is telling you
• How to identify the triggers that tell you to slow down
• How to sleep better
• How to have your inner critic work for you
• How to gradually bounce the boundaries so you can increase activity little by little
• To learn to recover from the inevitable mental and physical setbacks that characterise the illness
• To understand that relapse is part of the recovery process
• The skill set needed to manage on a daily basis

If you are suffering from CFS don’t lose any more time. If you would like to discuss any aspect of my therapy or just have a chat about how I can help you, please click here.

Good News for IBS Sufferers – Hypnotherapy can help relieve most symptoms in more than 80% of cases

Hypnotherapy is one of the recommended interventions for people with IBS who do not respond to traditional pharmacological treatments and who go on to develop a chronic symptom profile. An increased sensitivity of the entire gut is the most common description of IBS and this can often be preceded by some type of food related illness, trauma, chronic stress, bereavement or depression.

The distressing symptoms of IBS can be life shattering. Pain, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea can have a devastating effect on a sufferer’s day to day lifestyle. From urgency to embarrassment, or pain to bloating, it’s no fun to live your life never knowing when the next episode of IBS is going to strike.

Over 20 years of research into the use of gut-directed hypnosis has been conducted by Peter Whorwell, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology, Withington Hospital, Manchester, showing that hypnotherapy has a very high success rate in more than 70% of patients. Another study done by Prof. Olaf Palsson in the University of North Carolina, reports that hypnosis has a success rate of up to 95%. In the majority of cases, most symptoms are greatly improved. During the hypnotherapy treatment, sufferers learn how to influence and gain control over their gut function.

Although psychological issues don’t necessarily cause IBS directly, sufferers agree that stress or anxiety makes their symptoms worse.

The benefits of hypnotherapy for IBS

• It is a comfortable and enjoyable form of treatment
• The skills are easy to learn and put into practice
• There are usually no negative side effects
• Relaxation is emphasised and tension relieved
• It utilizes the healing power of the mind
• There are often other benefits, like relief from headaches or migraines
• The effects of treatment last long after the treatment has finished
• Stress levels are reduced overall
• The sufferer becomes empowered to activate their own healing abilities
• New pathways in the brain are created to change the way the body reacts to stressors

IBS The precise causes of IBS are not known, although it is commonly accepted to be a functional disorder of the gut, made worse by certain foods, stress or anxiety. Sufferers agree that the gut is extremely sensitive to what’s happening in their lives on a day-to-day basis.

The IBS Hypnotherapy Programme

I have based my IBS Treatment Programme on the work of both Professors Whorwell and Palsson mentioned above. The course of treatment consists of 6 sessions each lasting one hour. The sessions are structured to include suggestions for functional, emotional and behavioural well-being. The plan is symptom oriented and is tailored to suit each client individually.

Skills Training

Typically, you will sit down comfortably in a chair and relax while you allow your mind to let go and turn inward. You listen to my suggestions and allow them to seed themselves within your unconscious mind. Your attention is all that is required to water those seeds. Over the course of 6 sessions, these seeds grow to maturity while new pathways in the brain are being created and you are learning new skills that empower you to take control of what happens to your body. We work together and in tune, I respond to your needs and you respond to my suggestions. By creating an inner space you can align and balance the energies to flow freely, allowing your own creative healing power to be switched on. You will be taught how to ease the pain, reduce the bloating, and overcome the distressing symptoms of IBS in the comfort on the therapy room, or your own home. These skills can then be transferred for use in everyday life and in any situation.

You will be taught the skills of relaxation, mindfulness, self hypnosis and pain reduction methods. You will also be given a hypnosis audio to listen to between sessions to enhance the process.

Rest Assured…

You can be assured that when you work with me, I am extremely sensitive to your needs, understanding of the distressing symptoms you experience and the confidential nature of the problem. I will work with you to build your confidence and enable you to start taking control again. Your body knows how to be well; we just need to re-activate that programme.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BEEN PROPERLY DIAGNOSED WITH IBS BY YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE COMMENCING HYPNOTHERAPY TREATMENT FOR IBS
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“Feeling Flat. Just Nothing. Can’t be bothered. Would like to curl up and go to sleep. Don’t want to do anything. Not interested. I Don’t Care. Go away.” These are some of the things depressed people say.

Depression can descend upon a person for a variety of reasons: death of a loved one; the break-up of a relationship; the loss of a job; financial problems; living with someone who is already depressed; pain and illness; addictions; or other reasons.

Depression can mean time off work, lack of strength, low energy levels, or no zest for life. Some people can put on a happy face and hide what they really feel from the outside world. Depression is no longer something to be ashamed of, gone are the days when people thought it was some kind of personality flaw. You don’t have to be a victim of depression any longer. Life is too short. If you can’t really appreciate the things you used to enjoy and life is getting you down, and if this has gone on far too long, it’s time to do something different. (Your doctor can diagnose depression by asking you some questions).

Contributing Factors
There are three primary contributing factors to depression and these are biological, psychological and social.

Depression can be managed in the majority of sufferers with medication, psychotherapy or both (Yapko, 1977). Anti-depressant pills may help a lot of people to cope, but there is another side to the coin which should not be overlooked. Psychotherapy can put the spotlight on any major contributing factors– how you think and explain things to yourself. Cognitive, behavioural and interpersonal approaches to treatment have been show to be highly effective in implementing new, more constructive and positive styles of thinking and behaving.

Surviving and getting through life is not enough. Happiness is available to all and it is your right to be happy, to enjoy life to the full and to be able to appreciate the simple things in life.

The Mind-Body Connection
The mind-body connection is unfortunately underestimated by many people. To get an idea of what this means, all you have to do is think about and focus on an upcoming exciting holiday or other event, really imagine it’s the day of the event and you might even smile and get those butterflies in your tummy as you call up the feelings. Equally, think of something really sad, like the death of a loved one and you may shed a tear. Thoughts alone are not the only issue; unhelpful thinking styles and ingrained limiting beliefs can affect the quality of life by creating the biology that could lead to depression and illness.

A depressed person often feels flat or sad and doesn’t get those exciting feelings that many take for granted. Hypnotherapy can alter that state bring about happier and more upbeat confident states, helping the person to more readily address the other parts of the problem.

Anti-depressants can be a life saver to people who need them and if the problem can be solved by medication, that’s great. Other people may not want to take pills, or the pills alone are not enough, for those people, thankfully there are alternative routes.

The Benefits of Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy for Depression:

• It empowers you to take control of your own situation;
• It works alongside any medication in a complimentary way;
• It builds confidence & self esteem;
• It teach the skills to manage and prevent depressive episodes;
• You learn how to manage and prevent stress;
• How to build and maintain good relationships;
• You learn acceptance of yourself and of others;
• How to focus on solutions rather than problems;
• How to look at things differently;
• You raise your frustration tolerance ;
• You learn how to control impulses;
• You become more aware of cause and effect.

Lift Depression If you would like to discuss or find out more, please contact me by e-mail or phone directly Get In Touch

Are You Still Struggling to Lose Weight, Get into Shape, and Maintain it ?

Let me help you to unlock the hidden power of your brain so that you can:

• Finally lose the weight and fat you deserve to lose
• Take back control and empower yourself to be healthier
• Feel like “the old you” again with bags of energy and vitality
• Regain your self esteem and self-control in every situation
• Get rid of cravings and compulsive eating
• Give yourself the best possible chance of a healthy life
• Get rid of your “fat” clothes for good
• Learn the tools and techniques of successful weight loss and weight management
• Feel more in control of your eating, your hunger and your emotions
• At last ditch the yo-yo dieting for good
• Make the right choices that put you in the driving seat
• Regain your confidence and let it shine
• Love yourself and your body

Weight Loss In this programme, you discover exactly what’s been holding you back from achieving your weight loss goals. It’s not lack of willpower, determination or laziness. Your brain holds the key, and once you unlock the secret power of your brain you can set yourself free.

Some people yo-yo diet most of their adult life, or go to extreme lengths to get rid of unwanted fat. Neuroscience has shown us an easier way. When you retrain your brain, you change habits of a lifetime. You can turn cravings around to work for you and not against you. You can free yourself of being a food addict.

Chris says: “I enjoyed the hypnotherapy, it was very relaxing and I always felt great afterwards. I learnt to take control of my cravings and keep the image of what I wanted to become in my mind which saw me through my weight loss. What is different is that I no longer have cravings for cakes and desserts and do not feel deprived when eating healthy food. Now I enjoy my healthy meals as much as I enjoyed cream cakes before the hypnotherapy. I’ve lost 1.5 stone and can get into clothes I haven’t worn for 10years. I would and have recommended you to others.”

When you Change Your Mind you Change Habits of a Lifetime

Don’t let destructive habits sabotage your healthy weight goals.

Are you familiar with any of these?

• Comfort eating
• Bored eating
• Joy eating
• Stress eating
• Sadness eating
• Loneliness eating
• Eating because it’s there
• Eating to please others

Changing you mind is easy when you use the latest neuroscience techniques that work from the inside out.

We can devise a plan that will be individually crafted to suit your needs, which will be:

• Specifically tailored to fit your lifestyle
• Measurable, achievable and realistic
• Made to suit your timescale

You don’t have to remain stuck with a shape or weight you are not happy with.

All it takes is for you to want the changes to happen, and be committed to making it happen.

You KNOW you are ready for change, when
the desire to change is greater than the desire to stay the same!

Benefits of a Personalised Weight Loss Programme

Apart from all the amazing benefits listed above, there will be some benefits that are only known to you, and these are the most important.

Your brain holds the key, your hidden desires will empower you to get in shape, lose the fat and be the best you you can be.

This exciting programme is run over number of weeks, to include both conscious and subconscious brain retraining therapy, using the power of hypnosis, and coaching that will suit your lifestyle.

Includes personalised hypnotherapy audio designed specifically for you, plus support.

Click here to arrange your free consultation

Benefits of a One-Day Weight Loss Workshop

Would you like to dedicate a whole day to get you going?

You can book a one-day workshop to kick start your journey, BREAKTHROUGH THE BARRIERS and supercharge your motivation.

The next workshop will be held in Milton Keynes – details on request. Limited numbers.

• Prioritise your health and put yourself first, for a change
• Learn the science behind healthy weight loss
• Learn the tools and techniques for losing weight and long term weight management
• 3 separate sessions of hypnosis to re-programme your subconscious for success
• Relaxed and informal atmosphere
• Positive, interactive and empowering
• Understand how your brain can sabotage you and find ways of making it work for you instead
• Learn to connect with your body and understand its language
• Begin to overcome emotional/comfort eating/cravings
• Get your subconscious mind on your side so that weight management is easy
• Renew your belief systems, your thoughts and your eating habits
• Regain control, motivation and confidence

“I would definitely recommend Mary for hypnotherapy for weight loss. Since starting the sessions it changed my outlook on food and really made me think about what I was eating and when I was eating it. The weight started coming off and I really felt like I wasn’t trying and it all came easy. I still feel like I enjoy food and am not restricted about what I eat, I just know about making better choices and not to eat for the sake of eating.”

Holly – February 2020

Weight Loss

Why Weight? Why not get in touch right now?

Let the transformation begin…

Click here to arrange your free consultation

• Stress Free Do you suffer from mental and/or emotional stress?
• Are you familiar with the fight/flight/freeze response?
• Do you often feel worn out, tired and fed up of feeling overwhelmed?
• Are you ready to do something about it?

Stress Free We can help you to switch off the hormones of stress, physically relax, become mentally calm and emotionally tranquil, whilst you learn the skills of effective stress management.

Who gets stressed?

Stress can affect people of any age, children and adults alike. We now live in a society where most people have mobile phones or smart phones, receive e-mail instantly, are on call for family/friends/work, surf the internet anytime, anywhere. We are bombarded by information which can lead to overload. Many people work longer hours, most women have careers and bring up a family, most men are expected to provide every new type of convenience or gadget to make things easier and better, having a greater amount of responsibility placed upon them. We often over commit ourselves to taking on too much and end up running our batteries down to almost empty. Is it any wonder that stress and anxiety has become so widespread?

Super Stress

Some stress is normal and exciting. Life could be boring if everything always went along smoothly. Our bodies are hardwired to cope with stress, but we are biologically ill-equipped to deal with the high levels of stress that has become the norm for many people today.

The hormonal surge of adrenalin, our instinctive fight-or-flight response, can often be triggered so many times a day that it stays on almost permanently. This type of Super Stress can result in very serious symptoms like immune deficiencies, high blood pressure, weight gain, insomnia and more. Think of how Stress is holding you back from enjoying life to the full. What would your life be like without the stress? How would things be different?

Stress Can Upset Your Sense of Balance

Many people who come to see me for stress reduction are negatively affected by the behaviour of other people around them, and as a result they find themselves at the receiving end of the hormonal surge of adrenalin, one of the hormones involved in the fight-or-flight response.

If this response is triggered many times a day, on a daily basis, it can stay switched on almost permanently. One of my clients described this feeling as if they were “fire fighting”, always ready to put out the next fire, finding it difficult to switch off, waking up with a feeling of dread in the pit of their stomach. Other people have reported bowel problems; sometimes lying awake in the middle of the night worrying, going over things in their minds again and again. People who are suffering from stress often react strongly to external events and this can upset their sense of balance.

How can you remain physically relaxed and mentally calm when others are behaving badly or creating a fuss around you? Think about this story for a moment…

Is There Really A Lion Chasing Me?

Once upon a time, there were three goats who saw a terrified horse running away as fast as it could. The goats were struck by the strangeness of the situation and they started making fun of him, calling him names and laughing.

The horse felt embarrassed, but thought to itself “If only they knew there is a lion chasing me, then they would understand why I am running so fast and feeling so scared”.

This fable was written thousands of years ago by Aesop and it can still work today as a useful metaphor.

Other people’s behaviour can often appear rude, unpleasant or even idiotic. The next time you see someone behaving in a way that you don’t like, ask yourself this question: What if they believe they are being chased by a lion?

Different Approaches to Manage Stress

There are three approaches to manage stress effectively.

1. Take action – confront the problem head on and do something about it, if it is within your power to do so.

2. Manage your Emotions – change your interpretation of the situation, look at it in a different way, like the horse example above.

3. Accept the things you cannot change – accept that it is outside of your control and you have no power to change things.

And finally, remember the 3 ‘P’ words, Permanent, Pervasive and Personal and ask yourself these questions about the situation you find yourself in:

• Is it permanent? will this situation last forever?
• Is it pervasive? does this affect every aspect of my life?
• Is it personal? is it happening because of me or am I wholly responsible for this?

• Are you lacking that inner personal confidence that seems so easy for others?
• Do you avoid situations or opportunities that require you to push forward?
• Are you missing out on opportunities because you believe you don’t have what it takes?
• Would you like to have more confidence so you can live a more fulfilled life?

A lack of self confidence can spoil you life in so many ways and you may already have missed out on good opportunities because of low confidence. Self confidence and self esteem go hand in hand.

Low self esteem can be self-worth or identity related and it can negatively affect your self image.

Using Positive Mind Positive Brain Therapy, I can help you to change for the better, build the neuro-muscles for confidence and upskill your mindset so you can feel calm, confident and in control, see yourself in a good light and boost your self image.

The level of confidence you have now is controlled by sub-conscious patterns that were set up early in life and reinforced over time. These patterns might include negative self talk, avoidance, self-doubt, anxiety symptoms or low self esteem.

Confident people radiate a powerful positive energy that other people can sense, just by being near them. This vibrant energy radiates from within and speaks volumes. It says “Yes, I can…..”

The Benefits of a Confidence Building Programme

Our programme is designed around you.

We use advanced techniques to help you to re-programme your subconscious mind, so you can:

• access and amplify the confidence you already have
• build and strengthen the neuro-muscles for confidence
• overcome any psychological blockages
• release or resolve any trauma or negative experience
• increase your ability to take the necessary actions steps needed
• move towards success in all areas of your life

Ask yourself, how would it really feel to:

• follow the path you choose in life without letting other things get in your way
• heighten your performance at work, at home and in your social life
• be the best you can be, in whatever you choose to do
• speak to anybody, anywhere, with confidence and ease
• feel integrated and balanced within yourself
• automatically think in a helpful constructive way
• speak to yourself and others using positive empowering language
• live in accordance with your values
• be authentic and feel comfortable showing your true self to the world
• finally become the person you want to be

Our programme can help you to do just that.

Types of Confidence

Performance Confidence refers to your general beliefs about what you are able to do. People who are high in performance confidence believe they are capable of achieving things generally. They are often high in mental toughness. Before a match, the footballer, Wayne Rooney, is said to find out what colour shorts, socks and shirt his team will be wearing, so he can enhance his psychological preparation in advance of the match. According to an article in the Telegraph on 22 January 2014, Rooney lies in bed and imagines himself scoring goals and doing well. He is literally creating a future memory, so that his brain sees it as “already happened”. By using all his senses, Rooney can imagine the feel of the ball on his foot, the sound it makes as it flies through the air, the smell of the grass and the sound of the crowd cheering. Rehearsing positive mental imagery is a good practice and builds inner confidence so that when it comes to the real event, it feels right.

Our programme helps you to perform at your best in exams, tests, interviews and at work.

Social Confidence is all about how we think, feel and behave with others in social situations. Low levels of social confidence can manifest as anxiety or negative self image. Thoughts like “am I underdressed or overdressed”, “what if I don’t know what to say?” “What if nobody likes me?” It’s as if people with low social confidence are trying to read the minds of others and hoping that everyone will approve of them. By focussing on themselves rather than what’s going on around them, they often miss out on having fun. High levels of social confidence allow people to mix easily and speak freely and confidently amongst others. They are not thinking about making mistakes, they are going with the flow and if they make a mistake so what, they move on. They appear more interested in others than themselves. When you have social confidence you can enjoy life more, do better at work, make more friends and feel more fulfilled in life.

Our programme helps you to socialise, have more fun and get on better with others.

Physical Confidence refers to how people view their physical bodies, attractiveness, appearance and body image. Low levels might show up when someone thinks they are ugly, fat or unattractive to the opposite sex, even though they may be just average. High levels of physical confidence allow you to believe in yourself totally, no matter how you look. It literally is all in the mind. We know that attractiveness has many different ingredients and low self confidence, or low self esteem is counter-productive to a healthy happy life. When you develop a strong personal sense of physical confidence you win at life.

Our programme helps you to build and integrate all three types of confidence so you can be at your best.

Practice Makes Permanent

Self confidence is reinforced by successfully achieving your goals, however small, and acknowledging them.

Our programme helps you to build upon your positive attributes and see yourself as the master creator of your life.

Your brain learns the skills of confidence and soon it will become the default.

Just like any other habit, when you practice being confident, you become more confident. Practice makes permanent.

Talk to me about building your confidence, don’t waste any more time, you deserve to be confident!

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Do you struggle with anxiety or panic attacks?
Does it sometimes feel uncontrollable?
Does anxiety spoil your life?

Understanding anxiety helps. If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, you are not alone. According to anxiety UK, 1 in 6 people suffer from anxiety and 1 in 10 people have a debilitating anxiety disorder.

Anxiety can be seen as a normal and useful emotion designed as a warning to protect us from danger. It can also be seen as a focusing mechanism to pay attention to what’s going on around us. People usually associate anxiety as a negative state to be in. It can manifest as a gut feeling, a sense that something is wrong, a feeling that we need to get away or run from a situation.

Fight Flight or FREEZE

Faced with a real threat to survival, stress hormones kick in and take over, so we can fight back or run away from danger. Unfortunately, sometimes the result is sheer panic as the body freezes and the mind is flooded with thoughts of disaster.

A normal amount of anxiety is a helpful emotion as it can focus your mind and help you to prepare for events ahead as well as improving your performance, just as an actor about to go on stage may feel the sensation of nerves as he/she gets ready to perform in front of an audience. Then, once the actor is there on stage, the “part” takes over and the actor forgets all about feeling nervous. In this case, anxiety has been used as a primer and it has done its job effectively. Most famous actors report feeling anxiety before performing.

Understanding anxiety helps us to deal with it more effectively

Anxiety is a conditioned response, it is activated before we know it, triggering an unconscious biological response that manifests in the body when there is perceived danger – physical, psychological or emotional. It can be triggered by thoughts, memories, worries, sub-conscious beliefs and/or past experiences or something in the environment.

The first time you experience an anxiety or panic attack, it may be very frightening and some people think they are having a heart attack. Many people go to hospital thinking the worst but are reassured it’s anxiety. Even though it’s scary, no-one has ever died as a result of anxiety.

Anxiety can spoil your life in a number of ways and you might be familiar with some of these:

• worrying a lot
• a sense of dread that doesn’t make sense
• a pounding heart
• irregular breathing or shortness of breath
• a tight nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach
• feeling sick or getting sick
• weakness or jelly legs
• can’t think straight
• tunnel vision
• a desire to run away
• wanting to avoid something
• fearing the next anxiety attack

These are common symptoms of anxiety that are completely natural and are triggered by the part of your brain responsible for survival.

If anxiety becomes severe and intense in a normal day, it is no longer useful, it reduces the quality and enjoyment of life. At this point the anxiety has become disproportionate. If you feel a lot more anxious than another person would in the same circumstances you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.

Phobias, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Panic Attacks all have anxiety symptoms at their core

Anxiety is a bit like the wind, you can’t see it but you can feel the effects of it.

It is created in the brain and it has an effect on your entire system.

Anxiety is not your fault. It can happen to anyone.

Our programme teaches you how to take control of anxiety so it doesn’t control you.

The Brain Holds The Key

We use the latest techniques in neuro-psychotherapy to reprogramme your mind for success, removing or significantly reducing the symptoms of anxiety and building your self-confidence. We work with the early part of the brain, where anxiety is created. Our techniques work from the inside out.

You will also learn:

• The neuroscience behind anxiety and how to control it
• Specific skills and techniques that disable anxiety
• How to stop negative thinking patterns
• What to do if you are under pressure
• How to manage stress
• Physical relaxation
• Mental calmness
• Emotional resilience
• How to find inner peace

This empowering programme runs over a number of weeks, includes support audios and exercises to reinforce the work we do in the session.

“I’m not afraid of storms for I’m learning how to sail my ship.”

Louisa May Alcott (1868)

When YOU KNOW YOU ARE READY TO CHANGE, the desire to change is greater than the desire to stay the same.

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Anxious about being anxious?

Often, the fear of having an anxiety attack brings on even more anxiety and so it becomes a vicious circle. This is called ANXIETY EXPECTANCY . It’s a fear of experiencing fear.

We teach you the cognitive principles to overcome anxiety and help you to live a balanced emotional life without having to worry about when anxiety is going to strike next.

Phobias

Phobias can be about anything. By nature they are irrational.

Some people however know exactly when an attack is going to happen, they can give a blow by blow account of what will take place when a phobic response is triggered by a certain stimulus, for example public speaking, driving on the motorway or seeing a spider.

Phobias are extreme forms of anxiety. A phobia is characterised by an overwhelming fear or dread of certain objects, animals, events or situations. The phobic person may understand that it’s an irrational fear but feels completely powerless to control it.

The symptoms of a phobic response can include sweating, trembling, feelings faint or dizzy, nausea, palpitations, hyperventilation and panic attack. It can be accompanied by a huge amount of embarrassment so people often go to great lengths to avoid being in any situation where they are likely to experience a phobic reaction or panic attack.

Some Common phobias

Agoraphobia – fear of open spaces;
Arachnophobia – fear of spiders;
Dentophobia – fear of dentists or dental procedures;
Hydrophobia – fear of water;
Trypanophobia – fear of needles;
Xenophobia – fear of strangers or foreigners;
Zoophobia – fear of animals

Our programme is a completely safe and natural way of dealing with all types of anxiety

We use special processes to make contact with your subconscious mind, the part of the brain that is below conscious awareness, the source of many limiting beliefs and also the source of great strength and untapped potential.

Many people find that they can overcome anxiety in a few short sessions as they learn to reprogramme the subconscious mind to work for them utilizing the skills and practices they are taught during the session.

Free your mind from unwanted anxieties and enjoy life more. Get in touch if you want to find out how.
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Hypnotherapy is not just about therapy, you can give yourself the gift of a mental massage. My Deep Relax hypnotherapy session is designed to help you to switch off the hormones of stress, relax to a deeper level, let go of worries and take a break from the concerns of daily life.

We live in a time of uncertainty and the pace of life seems to get faster each day. There are more demands upon us than ever before which can cause us to feel a bit overwhelmed sometimes.

My Deep Relax Hypnotherapy session is beneficial to mind, body and spirit, recharging your batteries, restoring a sense of inner calm, balance and harmony and soothing your mind and your nerves.

You can book a Deep Relax session as a stand-alone session or as part of a package.

Why not book yourself a treat or give someone else the gift of a Deep Relax Hypnotherapy session.