National No Smoking Day 2010

National no smoking day 2010 has come and gone once again. Lots of help is available for those smokers out there who are thinking about change and wishing to lead a healthier and wealthier lifestyle by choosing not to smoke.
Contact your local GP or pharmacist to see what is on offer from help groups to nicotine patches. As an alternative why not book an appointment on our change your smoking habit programme , its chemical free, its wonderfully relaxing, and fully supports your lifestyle change. You could seriously affect your health and wealth why wait until national no smoking day day 2011 make a positive change now !!! A 20 a day habit can cost £42.00 per week;in real terms a smoker has to earn £61.00 per week before tax to be able to afford a 20 a day habit or a staggering £3726 per year!

The Holographic Brain

I picked up a book this week off the bookshelf off my "unread pile" called Imagery and healing by Jeanne Achterberg: a fascinating look at shamanism and modern medicine.It really gets to the heart of what is understood about shamanic practices and the relationship with western modern medical practices. An area of neuroscience which I had looked at at whilst studying for my masters degree is discussed which is that of the holographic brain. A fascinating subject, in particular in relation to hypnosis. The holographic model begins to resolve some of the brain behaviour paradoxes those that relate too the storage of memory and its retrieval. That,if the brain indeed operates like that of a hologram it is unnecessary to have leg to process leg information it is only necessary to have once had a leg or even thought about having a leg. The brain sets up patterns of storage. Similarly in the context of body boundaries: where do I begin and end? According to the holographic model we have a choice, so say for instance I decided to hug my wife from over 100 mile away my holographic brain begins to recreate what I have experienced about this event; the physical sensations, the emotions, and the symbols I have idiosyncratically adopted all of which are stored without reference to time and space . The image if strong enough will recreate the whole situation in my being. Karl Pribram who proposed the holographic model suggests that "imagery and feelings are like ghosts -but they are ghosts which inhabit my own and my patients subjective worlds they are our constant companions and I want to explain them" suggesting that words and behaviour are not enough to explain without recourse to a map IE an image of some sort. He goes on to say that when images are regarded in the holographic manner their omnipotent influence on physical function logically follows and that the image the behaviour and the physiological associations are a unified aspect of the same phenomenon. That is the the extant to which change can take place in the body and mind depends upon how much activity there is at the neural junctures and how many patterns are activated or in other words the belief system. If you do not believe that you have the ability to consciously effect mental and physical change with the imagination then you never even try! Healing requires work both physical and mental ; it does not happen accidentally. So lets just say for example a person was feeling stressed and anxious ; it would make sense to form an image of the body being relaxed and calm , and the precise body functions that would be required to bring that about so to attending to the breath, breathing deeply releasing tension in the muscles, remembering a time when they were completely calm and relaxed activates the neural patterns that are required to bring this about. This is where hypnosis and timeline therapy can be immensly helpful in allowing the mind to remember that it has all the resources required within to effect change in a postitive and meaningful way.
Best Wishes
Edd

Uptight,Feeling Stressed & Anxious?

A lot has been written in the press of late about the negative effects of feeling stressed and anxious both on the mental body and the physical, manifesting itself in many different and often unpleasant ways (see the Times Mind Body & Soul March 2.) Here are 5 simple tips that any one can do to help reduce those feelings

1.Take 4 or 5 deep breaths with the full capacity of your lungs using the diaphragm just like a baby breathes!

2.Tense all the muscles in the body....... hold that tension for a 2nd or two.... and then relax repeat the process 4 or 5 times

3.Sitting upright in a chair focusing the eyes straight in front imagine the points on a clock face, starting at 12 oclock move the eyes only round clockwise to 1 oclock, 2 oclock, 3oclock, till 12 oclock is reached then reverse the process anti clock wise breathing steadily all of the time repeat this process 4 or 5 times.

4. Go for a short walk,walking steadily and rhythmically again taking notice of the breath.

5.Place a pen or pencil width ways in the mouth gripping gently in the teeth then making an eeeeeh sound..... smile and hold that for a few 2nds... then repeat again 4 or 5 times (this is best done in private in front of a mirror for obvious reasons!!)

You may want to try just one of these techniques or any of them in combination. Hypnosis and Timeline therapy are excellant interventions for helping to "get to the bottom" of what is the underlying reason for feeling this way.
Best Wishes
Edd

Back pain Its all in the mind say scientists

A recent article in the Daily Telegraph (front page Friday the 26th of February) suggests that back pain might be all in the mind and sufferers should seek psychological help, researchers have suggested. This is following a comprehensive piece of research by Sarah Lamb professor of rehabilitation at Warwick University. During the research 468 patients were given six sessions of cognititve bahavioural therapy in a group situation and 233 were not. Those receiving therapy recorded twice as large a fall in their pain and disability the findings were published in the LANCET. The scientists believed that the therapy worked by changing the way that the patients felt. This following a recent article on pain in the Times where a professor of anesthesia at Oxford University was quoted as saying that "for too long pain has been seen as sensory when really it is an emotion".Hypnosis & Timeline, Therapy, are really effective interventions in dealing with emotions that are not working to our advantage. It is possible to feel real immediate benefits of reduced pain and also in the longer term dependence on medication.
Best Wishes
Edd
www.telegraph.co.uk , www.timesonline.co.uk

Slim Quest

Lori is launching Slim Quest at the Kettering Park Spa Hotel on the 11th of January places are limited to 10 places per course. This is a first for Northamptonshire where the latest hypnosis techniques are employed in a group environment (maximum of 10) to help clients achieve their goals. Many celebrity's have utilised hypnosis and hypnotic techniques in their personal programme to lose weight.Recently the singer Lily Alan was reported to have gone from a size 12 to a size 8 after consulting a hypnotherapist and is said to be totally motivated to exercise regularly, enjoy healthier foods and have moderated her intake of alcohol. Model Sophie Dahl singer Geri Helliwell and the Duchess of York have also consulted a hypnotherapist to enable them to lose weight as well.
The Slim Quest 6 week group course helps you;
control cravings
break habits
gain motivation
lose weight
We will be continuing to offer 1-1 sessions for our wieght loss clients at our practice in Islip Nr Kettering Northamptonshire.
Edd

Exercise? a fat lot of good if you want to lose weight

At our practice in Northamptonshire nr kettering I am sat reading an article in the Times by Helen Rumbelow www.timeslonline.co.uk regarding new research that has discovered that exercise is not the universal panacea to losing weight. That's not to say that exercise isn't good for you as it has been well researched that exercise can reduce depression, heart disease, some cancers, diabetes, increase muscle mass, increase bone density to mention a few benefits of a healthy exercise regime.
Its the "thorny" question of weight loss. In 1932 Russell Wilder a leading obesity expert lectured the American college of Physicians saying that his patients lost more weight on bed rest than on an exercise regime. The article describes several studies in America which have found that it is obesity that is leading to inactivity not the other way round. It has been found that diet (not dieting) is the key to effective weight loss. Interestingly on BBC3 yesterday evening a programme featured the amount of hidden sugar in our food; the recommended daily intake being around 60gs of sugar for an adult which was exceeded just by eating a Big Mac. Statistical evidence has demonstrated that supermarkets promote "junk food" more often and more aggressively than healthy foods and inferred that the responsibility is on the purchaser of the food to read labels and understand the amount of hidden sugar in it. I agree to a point, we do need to be individually more responsible for our diet and exercise, however I do think that supermarkets have to play their part considering that they are responsible for supplying over 70% of the food that we consume and consumers will literally eat what is put in front of them. We have found that using a blend of hypnosis and other techniques has been hugely successful in allowing our clients to gain control of their diets,enabling them to lose weight safely and in their own time without resorting to "giving anything up" by increasing their motivation to change their lifestyles and supporting the emotional issues that many have over eating. As well as seeing clients individually regarding weight issues we are about to offer a new service which you can book onto now, called Slim Quest it will offer a group environment for a 6 week programme of motivation and support without dieting or weekly weigh ins

How We Talk To Ourselves

Walking around our garden at our premises in Northamptonshire where we practice as Hypnotherapists using hypnosis to help others create change in their lives.
I was talking away to myself inside my head and making a list of gardening jobs which needed my attention and being a little cross with myself because something I had planned had not worked properly.Noticing that internal conversation and taking note of the tone of voice I was using, then noticing how I felt, then taking a moment or two to reflect on those thoughts.It occurred to me do we listen often enough to how we talk to ourselves? How can the tone and quality of what we say to ourselves (in other words our internal dialogue) impact on our lives in both a positive and negative sense?
Consider this statement
THE WAY WE TALK, IS THE WAY WE THINK, IS THE WAY WE FEEL,
by considering that statement and listening honestly to your own inner voice how do you talk to you? How does what you say to yourself impact on the way you think and others think of you? How do you feel, and how do others feel about you?
At Sahasrara in Northamptonshire we use Hypnosis,and Hypnotherpeutic interventions to help create change, enabling our clients use their internal voice to have a positive and motivated effect on themselves and others.Change is an option available to everyone! In the words of the Jedi you do or do not - their is no try -just do it contact Sahasrara today and boook your hypnosis session.
Edd

Magic, Snowballs, & Hypnosis

Hypnosis, Hypnotists,Hypnotherapy, Hypnotherapeutic interventions what are they and I am often asked "just how does hypnosis work"? my answer is, its "magic" or in many cases it can be just like a "snowball effect". Lets look at the two effects separately.
The magical effect is when a client has an hypnosis session and its as if a magic wand has been waved over them and their presenting issue has gone instantly- fantastic! - as if by "magic"!
The snowball effect is experienced by a number of hypnosis sessions each session reinforcing the previous session thus creating a "snowball effect" - or in other words a momentum or gathering together of new behaviour over a period of time.
Both effects have created real change permanently,reinforcement ensures that change lasts.
At Sahasarara in Northamptonshire in the midalnds all our clients are given a personalised CD or MP3 download to help the process along.
Hypnosis, hypnotherapy, is a truly amazing method to rapidly change responses and behaviours.
All behaviour and responses are learned, hypnosis rapidly allows the process of unlearning and relearning so that new behaviours and responses are automatic.
Rapid learning is allowed by bypassing the conscious critical factor of the mind/brain,(the critical factor is thought to be a relic of evolution in that it slows down the process of learning for survival purposes),hypnosis does this quickly effectively painlessly and safely.
Sometimes learning something new can take a little time, remember learning to ride a bicycle, drive a car, swim or read and write. Generally speaking you were shown the basics and the methodology then with practice this was reinforced until it became automatic.
In conclusion; hypnosis enables rapid and permanent change, learning anything new requires practice or reinforcing so hypnosis can be both "magic" or "snowball gathering snow" Begin your practice at Sahasrara consultancy for hypnosis, hypnotherapy,NLP,TFT,And Timeline Therapy
Edd
:)

Heart Attacks Plummet after Smoking Ban

Sat in my office in Northamptonshire in the midlands where we practice as Hypnotherapists I am reflecting on a conversation with a client who has recently stopped smoking having had a hypnotic intervention.A recent article in the Times newspaper (wwww.timesonline.co.uk/news) reported a larger and sharper fall in the incident of heart attacks since the smoking ban was introduced in England in 2007. Causing rates of heart attacks to fall by about 10%, the percentage gain is even higher in Scotland which introduced the ban a year earlier. There, rates of heart attack have fallen by about 14%. According to the Times this is one of the most significant gains to public health that Britain has ever seen! Although less is known of cigarette smokes ability to to trigger heart heart attacks than its role in lung cancer its contribution to its effects are beginning to be better understood, Ellen Mason a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation said "Exposure to cigarette smoke induces rapid changes in blood chemistry ,making it prone to clotting.In someone who has narrowed or damaged coronary arteries, smoke exposure can cause a heart attack."
At Sahasrara consultancy in Northamptonshire in the Midlands we have had great success helping individuals overcome their cigarette habit using Hypnosis Hypnotherapy, and Hypnotherpeutic techniques without our clients feeling that they are giving anything up, only gaining a healthier and wealthier future!
Edd

Back To Study?

Back to study after the summer holidays? Sat in my office in Northamptonshire in the Midlands I read many studies on Hypnosis,Hypnotherapy, Hypnotic techniques and trance states of hypnosis.
Have you experienced the moment when you have read something and then thought "what on earth have I just read"? This sometimes is the minds way of escaping from physical or mental overload resulting from intense mental concentration over too long a period of time, when this happens its possible to experience a hypnotic trance. Its commonly known that we experience trance as an everyday experience like when you are driving and arriving somewhere without knowing how you got there, or putting your keys down at not being able to find them only for someone to find them "right under your nose" where they have been all the time.
Its important to have a strategy for success and to eliminate unproductive study time. Research has proven that after 40 or 50 minutes our minds begin to wander our concentration begins to wane and we find it difficult to retain information.This has nothing to do with intelligence but is the minds way of signaling take a break , to do something different. A good tactic would be to build in a rest or something different every 40-50 minutes to maintain concentration and aid integration of information .A great way of doing this would be take a short walk or go and have a cup of tea or if your feeling particularly energetic a light stretching session.Use the alarm function on your mobile phone to divide your study time up into manageable chunks.
Not enough attention is paid to diet when studying, its important to maintain a steady blood sugar level by eating sensibly, and maybe having a bowl of fresh fruit on hand to snack on, as an alternative to crisps, chocolates and sweets. This will help prevent hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia which is to little or to much sugar in the blood stream and also making sure that by drinking enough fluid dehydration is avoided another obstacle to effective study.
Some may find it helpful with their studys to book one or two sessions on focus and motivation to really sharpen up their study skills or pehaps look at coaching over a longer period of time to really "add the edge" especially when studying. Hypnosis NLP and timeline therapy are really useful tools to helping with a postive outcome around study. At our therapy room in Northamptonshire in the Midlands we are able to help many focus and relieve the stress of study using hypnosis, hypnotherpay, hypnotic, and hypnotherpuetic techniques and suggestion.
Edd

Hypnosis and relaxation

Sitting in my office in Northamptonshire in the Midlands having completed a hypnosis session with a client who calls me her hypnotist not hypnotherapist,some clients still insist in calling us hypnotists rather than hypnotherapists in the profession of hypnosis there is a very distinct difference
A recent article brought to my attention in the independent newspaper www.independant.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families Advising that relaxation is key to good health and well being advice which has been known by practitioners of yoga and meditation alike for thousands of years
Its only recently that science has been able to provide "hard" evidence that relaxation methods used by long term practitioners of yoga and meditation have indeed increased disease fighting genes, those who practised no form of relaxation at all were found to have very few of these beneficial genes at all.
Professor Herbert Benson who lead the research at the Harvard medical school reported "we found that a range of disease-fighting genes were active in the relaxation practitioners that were not active in the control group" they describe the protective genes that control disorders such as pain,infertility,high blood pressure,and even rheumatoid arthritis as "switched on" or "induced" by what was described as the relaxation effect.
Hypnosis is seen as a particularly effective method of deeply relaxing. By deeply relaxing we are able to reduce the negative effects of the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol, which raise the heart rate and blood pressure, weaken the immune system and can lower fertility, by deeply relaxing we are able to counter stress which is linked to the sympathetic nervous system or the "flight or fight syndrome" and instead introduce higher levels of feel good chemicals hormones such as serotonin and growth hormone which promote the repair of cells and tissues. When we are in a state of "flight or fight" or stress, muscles which are useful to be used for danger tighten and contract and processes which are deemed as non essential like the immune system and digestion are ignored.
One can use hypnosis as a very effective technique to switch on the parasympathetic nervous system which operates when we are relaxed to promote health and well being . To gain full benefit from relaxation techniques including hypnosis it is important to practice them regularly on a daily basis for a minimum of 15 minutes.As part of our service to our clients we are on request able to teach them self hypnosis to enable them to fully benefit from our hypnotherapeutic sessions, and continue to practice hypnotic states as part of their strategy to help them relax.
Best Wishes
Edd

Creativity

Can we all learn to be more creative? Using Hypnosis, hypnotherapy,and hypnotic techniques. Why is it important to be creative? Does creativity deserve to be cherished ?
The answer is of course yes we can all learn to be more creative, it is a skill like all other skills which requires regular practice. Why is creativity important?
It is important on both a personal level and commercial level because being creative is a usual human process and in many ways is a healthy part of our natural personal development, being creative fulfills a basic human requirement of existence and of feeling happy and healthy.
Mention the word creativity to some people and it can be a very negative word for them, the past possibly conjures up an experience where creativity has been dealt a blow by an inappropriate comment at school,or "put down" in a meeting at work resulting sometimes in a feeling of inadequacy, or feeling unfulfilled or undervalued . Does creativity deserve to be cherished ? I think so, in a world that is presented to us in a format that could be considered to be almost totally "prepackaged" being creative and being flexible in thought is a premium asset to have. From the ability to think at a strategic level in business to perhaps what could be considered the more mundane skill of being creative with a weeks shopping budget, from writing a score for an orchestra to writing a song for your own amusement, cooking in a Michelin star restaurant or baking a cake for your child's birthday. Creativity does have real value, the techniques both I and my wife use in our business are very successful with individuals and groups at enabling and developing this skill. We are able to work from our office in Northamptonshire in the Midlands Remember the old adage "give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for a life time" Food for thought!
Best Wishes
Edd
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome

At our therapy room in Northamptonshire in the Midlands where we practice as hypnotherapists, using hypnotherapeutic techniques, and hypnosis we often see clients who suffer from IBS. Research has shown that 18-20% of women and 10-12% of men suffer in the UK from irritable bowel syndrome this figure could be a lot higher as many sufferers (mainly men) do not report this to a Doctor through fear of embarrassment or Doctors diagnosing in many different ways.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)which is an independent organisation, dedicated to promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health in 2008 identified how hypnosis, hypnotherapy and hypnotherapeutic techniques can play an important part in reducing the symptoms of IBS. This was a met analysis of research carried out in the UK and the USA from studies taken over a 4 year period. In one study it was reported that the overall improvement of symptoms and welling scored weekly on a scale of 0-3 (where 0 is no improvement and 3 is maximum improvement)showed that patients in the study receiving hypnotherapy increased from baseline 0 (no improvement) to a mean weekly value of 2.95 which is statistically significant or in other words hypnosis nearly achieved maximum improvement. Similar success was replicated in reducing the symptoms of bloating the benefit being that overall quality of life was improved . Although in some quarters hypnosis remains a controversial intervention a body of evidence would suggest and indeed support, that along with a sensible lifestyle programme, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, hypnothepeutic techniques can be very effective indeed in reducing the symptoms of IBS.
Edd
:)

consciousness

I have just finished reading a really interesting article by the philosopher Roger Scruton published in the Sunday Times magazine on the 5th of July regarding how we view neroscience and the subject of consciousness. Beginning the article with his understanding of the smallest word in the language which is "I" and what does "I" mean, am "I" seperate from my body or a part of it and how that reflects on our understanding of the self has the "I" been reduced to a function within the brain. He describes the advances in medical science which can capture the activity of the brain on an MRI scan and show which part of the brain is responsible for moving an arm and the belief that amongst some neurosurgeons and pyschologists that the self is "located" in the "mirror neurons" which fire when people instinctivley imitate the expressions and gestures that they observe . The neurons responsible for intentional activity trigger before we are conscious of "making up our minds" therfore there is no free will. He goes onto discuss that it assocciates ideas with parts of the brain but says nothing about the self about free will,about spiruality or the magnificence of the world around us, it just tells a story of neurons!Brain imaging or neuroscience will not help to understand the emotion surrounding a beautiful piece of music or a tragic event in our lives, it will do nothing to lead to a better understanding of personal accountability and the ability to change our behaviour, it will never give us what it means to be truly motivated which is why I am so curious how altered states of consciousness,through hypnosis and timleline therapy can have such a positive effect on our lives.If you are reading and would like an appointment to see us our practice is based near Kettering Northamptonshire.
Edd
:)

Stress

At our practice in Northamptonshire, Northants using hypnosis, hypnotic techniques,usually called hypnotherapy We have been working with great success on clients recently who have been stressed out and anxious. Timeline Therapy and TFT ( thought field therapy) in combination with hypnosis hypnotherapy and hypnotic techniques have been really successful .We have had some great outcomes for our clients both physiological and psychological reducing blood pressure considerably in some cases and creating enabling strategies for stressful situations.
Best Wishes
Edd

Holotropic breath seminar

As part of my studies towards an MSc in Transpersonal Psychology and also of my continuous personal development I attended a workshop recently on holotropic breathwork. Both Lori and I believe that it is important both develop as therapists using hypnosis as our main therapeutic tool but also intergtaing new learnings as well so that we can offer a special experience at our hypnotherpay practice in Northamptonshire sometimes known as Northants.What is holotropic breath I can hear you ask? Holotropic breathwork is a pyschotherapeutic process developed by Stanislov Groff MD Phd and his wife Christina which gives access to non ordinary states of consciousness. It is a technique which allows for self exploration and healing involving intensified breathing during which evocative rhythmical music is played really loud and you experience body work and expressive drawing. It was a most intense and at the same time enjoyable experience for me. Groff believes that "during this process you activate the inner radar which automatically brings into consciousness the contents from the unconscious that have the strongest emotional charge, are most pyschodynamically relevant at the time and most readily available for conscious processing" . What was most interesting for me was the concept of what Groff calls the "systems of condensed experience" or COEX systems. The theory is that each system comprises of emotionally charged memories from different periods of our lives that resemble each other in the type of emotion and or physical feeling that they evoke and are common to each other. Each COEX can have a basic theme which goes through all its layers and has a common denominator. Each layer has the potential to have variations on a theme that can occur in an individuals life. Therefore many COEX can exist and the number and themes vary from individual to individual. Its possible for a COEX to retain all the humiliating and degrading experiences which have damaged self esteem or in another system to have all the experiences which can lead to uncontrollable anger and frustration.
The idea of this in a therapeutic sense I found very interesting to compare and contrast with a technique we use at Sahasrara therapy's which is Timeline Therapy. Timeline also takes the notion that we store memories around powerful emotional events in our lives,and these also can have many links and and layers to them as well, now these can be both negative and positive emotions. Our minds just go ahead and store these, not paying any particular attention to whether an event is positive or negative or if the event is identical just so long as it evokes a similar emotional response or is an S.E.E. or significant emotional event . In a positive sense an S.E.E. is fantastic, as you experience the positive event plus all the associated events which makes it powerful and very memorable. The downside to this of course is that you experience negative emotional events in exactly the same way, which can for some people be a source of constant pain. Using Timeline as a therapy is a quick effective technique to overcome negative emotions in your past whilst at the same time engineering your future to be even more positive and fulfilling!