Wednesday 7 December 2011

Hypnotherapy in the news - "Hypnotherapy helps golfer banish personal demons"

Star golfer, Frances Bondad, has claimed hypnotherapy helped to lift her game, after winning the Sanya Ladies Open.

The 23-year-old was quick to note how important her recent hypnotherapy sessions had been, saying that they had helped banish thoughts of her win-less past and sort herself out psychologically.

Bondad labelled it "unbelievable" how the professional hypnotherapy allowed her to change, leading to the victory which earned her a cash prize and a three-year exemption to the Ladies European Tour.

It is common for sportsmen and women to see hypnotherapists about sporting motivation or fitness, since many people work so hard on the physical side of matters that they forget about the mental aspects.

There are a number of fears that high-profile athletes often suffer from, including worries about being watched and concerns about looking foolish.

If you would like to find out more about how hypnotherapy could help YOU be at the top of your game, contact Christy on 01252 334377 or email: christy@christyhypnotherapy.com.

Friday 2 December 2011

Don't read this...

If you are still reading you will be able to associate with the power of ‘negative statements’!! Research has claimed that the subconscious mind cannot process negatives… think of all the times you were told NOT to do something or NOT to think about something. Did you manage it? Tell a child not to play in the dirt and what do they do?!

This effect has also been demonstrated by the “white bear” experiment… Participants were simply asked not to think of a white bear. They were told to note down how often they did think of it. Try it now for yourself…. Sit quietly for five minutes and try as hard as you can to not think of a white bear… The participants in the experiment thought of a white bear roughly every minute - in spite of their best efforts. We can confidently state that they probably hadn't had one thought about a white bear for some time - until then.

Another study showed that when under pressure golfers who were encouraged not to overshoot would actually do it more. Likewise, footballers when taking a penalty who were urged not to shoot at one particular spot found themselves looking at the spot more often than usual and the ball ends up heading straight for the spot they were trying to avoid. It would seem that what we resist, persists.

A similar thing happens if we’ve ever had an injury whilst playing our sport – the mind has a temptation to keep reliving the injury event in an attempt to come to terms with it and to understand why it happened. It’s the classic “I’d better not injure myself again” thoughts that linger in the mind. The mind holds an injury as well as the body. Unless you can change your thinking about it, you mind may turn it over repeatedly, sometimes when you are not even aware of it. This can act as a form of mental rehearsal however and you are actually deepening the pathway of thoughts and actions that led to the injury in the first place. When you change the way you think about the injury, you will also change the way your body responds to it.

Even after an injury has healed, people may feel hesitant ‘just in case’. Many people who start to play their sport again after an injury don’t seem to believe that they are completely healed. They are more hesitant and hold back… as any coach will tell you one way to get injured is to hold back because that creates a counter tension in the muscles, pulling them two ways at once. Ironically the hesitation is just making injury more likely, not less.

So how can hypnotherapy help to remove focus on the negative? Using a combination of sports psychology and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques, people can be introduced to some practical exercises to help them overcome the ‘mental injuries’ we experience after a physical injury or traumatic experience. When combined with hypnosis, these techniques provide a very effective and long lasting positive benefit to help cope with anxiety, lack of confidence and stress.

I also believe you can speed up the healing process by using imagery and I speak from personal experience. Some years ago I sustained an injury in my elbow – the elbow is a delicate place. The joints of our body are more prone to injury because they have to move and be flexible but there is the obvious danger of too much movement and in the wrong direction. Once my injury began to heal, physiotherapy helped enormously with the physical healing however I was aware I still had a mental injury which was holding me back and causing me unnecessary anxiety. By using imagery and healing visualisations combined with mental exercises to remove negative self-talk, I was able to not only heal in super-fast time, but also get back to my sport with more confidence than ever before.

If you’ve had a sporting injury and are feeling a little lacking in confidence or if you find your mind is interfering with you achieving your optimal performance, find out how hypnotherapy could help you by calling Christy on 01252 334377 for a free no-obligation consultation.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Hypnotherapy in the news - Joanna Lumley used hypnotherapy to overcome anxiety

Joanna Lumley has revealed how she used hypnotherapy to overcome her horrific anxiety attacks.

Whilst in her mid-20s, the actress' anxiety got so bad that when on stage, she convinced herself there were assassins in the audience trying to kill her. She said the issue put her on "the brink of utter insanity", but claimed she was able to completely overcome it - thanks to hypnotherapy.

Describing the condition in The Daily Telegraph, she said: "I couldn't cross the road, I didn't dare go into shops, I had to concentrate on breathing in and breathing out. It's panic attacks and you are on the brink of utter insanity. "I knew I was going to make myself waterproof against it. It would not happen again, not on my watch."

According to Mail Online, Lumley claimed that her anxiety attacks began because she was so worried about money. At one point, she was just living off Marmite and toast, such was her financial strain.

Lumley isn't the only famous face to have turned to hypnotherapy for anxiety problems or other issues. Many celebrities - including Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, actress Gail Porter and dance teacher Louie Spence - have recently explained how they have used it to overcome various traumas which occurred during their lives.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Hypnotherapy in the news

The Hypnotherapy Society has recently published an interesting article on how singer Claire Richards has chosen hypnotherapy to help in her struggle with weight loss. Follow the link below to read the full article.

http://www.hypnotherapysociety.com/en/2011/09/05/former-steps-singer-experiences-weightloss-hypnotherapy/

Thursday 15 September 2011

Hypnosis for Running – Introducing the ‘Power Trigger’

“It has been claimed we use only 10% of our brain cells. What if this is also true for our muscle cells?”
The following is an experience I’m sure many runners can associate with… you are participating in a race and you’ve been running strong and well, but those last few miles have started to drain your resources. You know the end is only a short distance away but you can feel your energy levels draining rapidly (despite the recent energy gel or jelly baby!). Some people are able to save a vital burst of energy for that final sprint to the finish line however for many of us it really does take some mental will-power to push that extra little bit more and ignore the physical feedback from your body telling you it’s time to stop!
This need for a ‘burst of energy’ is relevant in many sports - In some sports, success requires a large and carefully controlled burst of energy, for example golf requires high precision as well as strength whereas shot put requires a carefully controlled burst of energy and less directional precision. Running involves a similar burst of energy directed inwards to the muscles we need to help run faster. So what does all this have to do with hypnosis?
Hypnosis can aid our performance by bringing all the appropriate muscles into play and in channelling this energy burst. There are some extremely useful breathing techniques which can be used in hypnosis to help athletes get the most out of their performance however one particularly effective method which can be used specifically for running is known as the “power trigger”. A power trigger is something which can be used in sports that require sudden and controlled bursts of energy or power – such as that last few hundred metres of a race to cut those vital few seconds off your PB. The power trigger can be set up in a normal waking state however it is much more effective when combined with hypnosis. Anyone can set their own power trigger and I will now share the process which you can use to create your own right now…
Find a comfortable chair to sit in or lie down, where you will not be disturbed. Close your eyes and in your mind create an image of something which you associate with speed, energy and/or power. This could be a fast running animal, an athlete from the television or anything you with to create in your imagination which you associate with massive energy and power. There are no right or wrong images here – just choose something which is right for you. When you have an image in mind, make sure you can visualise it as vividly as possible – make it as big, bright and bold as you can. Really see it in your mind. Next imagine you are running in a race with only a short distance to go. As you run, imagine yourself then becoming the power image that you’ve created – feel the extra strength and energy from that image filling your body and visualise yourself surging forward with a massive injection of power and speed. The more vividly you can imagine this, the better! You can then anchor this image by giving it a name (or word) and also associate it with a physical trigger (for example create a fist, click your fingers or anything else you can do that will not disturb your running and be a natural movement).
The more you practice initiating your power trigger, the more effective it will be when you really need it. It can take some time to become fully established however the better your imagination and the more it is practised, the better the result you will get!
If you would like to find out how this technique can be enhanced using hypnosis – or to find out more about how similar techniques can help improve your running, contact Christy Hypnotherapy: 01252 334377 or email: Christy@christyhypnotherapy.com.