Category: Mind Matters

1. What is Self-Hypnosis Anyway?

   Posted on 8:39pm Wednesday 23rd Mar 2016

   What is Self-hypnosis Anyway?

   Self-hypnosis is a much misunderstood phrase.  Some of that is because 'hypnosis' is  very much misunderstood too.
   
   

   Let's see what this hypnosis thing is all about

   If you imagine a spectrum stretching from you being fast asleep and gone to the world to the other extreme where you are bouncing around full of life, anywhere along that spectrum is a possibility for you.  More than  that, every point on the line is something that you pass through every day unless you have some restrictions that stop you like ill health or physical restrictions.
   
   

   Hypnosis does not take you away from that line and in fact the point at which hypnosis occurs is part of your everyday life.
   Just before you go to sleep and just after you wake up you pass through a hypnotic state.  For some it is a mere nano-second and for others it can be a few minutes.  Have you ever been drifting off to sleep and heard someone or something that you are aware of but that sounds far away and/or you feel just too tired to respond?  That's hypnosis.  Similarly upon waking do you ever experience a lack of coordination and orientation for a brief second or even longer?  This is especially true if you are not in your normal surroundings.  That's hypnosis.
   

   So if we do it every day and that's all it is how come we have to learn to do it?

   Ah well you see this is the magic about hypnosis.  It's not how to do it, better to say how to use it for your benefit.  It is not the actual hypnosis that you are using but tools that you can include in your experience in order to make that self-hypnosis impact-full for you.
   
   

   A self hypnosis course will teach you how to access that hypnotic state at will.  So that if you feel a 'power nap' would be beneficial you could use hypnosis to give you that restful period.  And when you are in that very relaxed state in a controlled way i.e. choosing to go there then it is far more refreshing than an actual 15 min nap.
   
   

   Wish fulfillment

    

   Self hypnosis is also useful when you want to plan ahead and aim for the things you want to achieve.  Unfortunately most people either wish for something without putting enough thought into it and taking the bigger picture into account or they wish for what they don't want. i.e. I don't want to eat cream cakes. which is focusing on the negative rather than the actual aims.
   
   

   So a big part of a self-hypnosis course would be to understand what you want, check it out and explore the consequences of this wish coming true.  If it is all okay then it is about learning how to embed that wish into your 'self'-hypnosis session.
   
   

   It is truly amazing that so many people use self-hypnosis wrongly and are reinforcing the things they want to leave behind or hoping for something without preparing the road effectively.
   
   

   Self hypnosis when carried out acturately can help you to:
   
   

   
   

   • Relax and be calm

   • Enjoy better quality sleep

   • Improve your confidence & self-esteem

   • Be a better public speaker

   • Improve your memory

   • Enhance your performance at work and sports

   • Become healthier and fitter

   • Promote rapid healing and recovery

   • Control or reduce pain without drugs

   • Learn faster and pass exams

   • Enjoy pregnancy and wonderfully natural childbirth (women only of course!)

   All that's left now then is to find a course and register.
   
   

   A Quick Word about Hypnosis Recordings
   

   You can of course buy or download a recording that gives you a guided visualisation or a gradual muscle relax.  Often they are themed.  This can sometimes be a problem as one size never fits all.  However, the biggest problem with these recordings is the skill of the people who made them.  If you are buying a recording you need to buy it from someone who has a reputation like Paul McKenna for instance and not someone who has just run a few recording off.  Paul McKenna, love him or loathe him will not risk his reputation by making mistakes in his dialogue.
   
   

   If you choose this option and play it regularly you will probably find that as you start to get used to the story you seems to drift off into your own world at a certain point and it is almost like you have drifted off to sleep but you have not as you awaken immediately the recording ends.  That is quite normal and you could imagine it as you mind getting fed up of hearing the same story and wandering to explore elsewhere.  This is not a problem as the recording is still registering in the correct place.
   

    

   My clients have told me about and brought to me several recordings by qualified therapists where they have given ill-though-out suggestions,  The client often eventually spots the mistake themselves and stops listening to it.  Sometimes it has caused a set back for the client that might take some time to reverse.
   
   
   

   Andrea Lowe
   

   Senior Hypnotherapist
   

   Course Tutor on Diploma Course in Hypnotherapy
   

2. You are What you Think

   Posted on 8:55am Thursday 3rd Mar 2016

   This week we heard about yet another person who has given up a safe job with regular money to plunge into the depths of self-employment after trying to manage a job and what could only be described as a hobby which will now be her source of income.  This follows not long after Rachael left the confines of working in a salon to branching out with her own place.

   It is a brave step to take - we know this and it is not easy - we know this too and you work longer hours that you would for an employer - oh yes we know this.

   However, the mental freedom that you gain from being your own boss, creating your own business, using your many latent talents and discovering the need to learn even more are exciting, challenging and rewarding - we know this.  They can also be daunting and downright heart stopping scary when you enter the big bad world.

   Of course it all depends on how you look at it.

   It is very telling that during the peak years of the  recession more people than ever (at least in our circle) left well paid high pressured jobs and went it alone.  They decided that they could forego a few foreign holidays and camp in Ashworth Valley in the rain instead and believe it or not it can be just as good fun if you look at it in the right way.

   So it is about the way you look at things and when you look in a positive way you are open to opportunities that come your way.  However, when you look at it from a scary position than you see all the possible dangers and threats and miss the opportunities.

   Whether it is about leaving your job or about your approach to life, finding a partner the positive and opptomistic outlook is always best.

   Stopping this positive outlook are memories and learned behaviours from the past.  You feel guilty about enjoying your life, you believe life should be a struggle, youthink you don't deserve to be happy, you feel responsible for others.

   As the Froxen songs says 'Let it go'.  Be happy

   If you want to talk about some of these issues informally I offer free consultations so just emails for an appointment.

   Andrea Lowe
   Senior Hypnotherapist and trainer

    

3. Where is Serendipity

   Posted on 8:52am Sunday 10th Jan 2016

   Have you ever been to serendipity?

   Let me guide you there. 

   As soon as you walk into serendipity it feels like one of those magical enthralling places that captured your heart in story books from childhood, like Brambly Hedge and other favourites.  Those magical memories remain and stay with you in adulthood.

   Serendipity feels different  for everyone but for me it mmediately reminds me of beautiful illustrations of  wonderful little cosy homes hidden amongsts the roots of the trees.  As soon as I step through the door into serendipity I feel like I have stepped into a fariytale whisking me to the wonderful memories of those magical stories that are always there,  waiting to be accessed and brought to life once again.  Even adults deserve a little fairlytale magic.   Once you enter there are interesting corners of magic to explore and cosy  places to nestle down and relax. 

   Then all you have to do is relax and wait for serendipity to happen ... and it always does .... though you have to be patient and dedicated.  Ask all the people who have encountered 'coincidences' and got just what they needed in serendipity.

   Serendipity is a place called Zen

4. Book review - A Question of Guilt

   Posted on 6:24pm Friday 1st Jan 2016

   If  you want to be taken through a rollacoaster of emotions, questions and opinions.  If you want to discover that you can't trust your own mind then read this book.

   The author is a lawyer and the book is about a lawyer defending an innocent man.... but is he.  The lawyer goes through twists and turns in the plot - questionsing her own decisions, unsure of her client.  But finally thinks she has the final proof she needs of his innocense.  She gets him off but that final knowing smile, should she take that as a heads up that shes been conned>

   Very well researed and accurate in detail as you would expect from a real life lawyer.

   Though provoking

   Author Frances Fyfield

5. Book Review - Fallen Women

   Posted on 6:14pm Friday 1st Jan 2016

   As you might imagine this book is mainly about a girls from a wealthy background whose behaviour has resulted in her being repeatedly rejected.

   It is a story unfolding and gives an interesting insight into women living in period New York.  As with anyone who ill considers others there are many innocent people dragged into the nightmare.  Her sister, who naively believes only good about her siste,r travels to New York to work with the police in solving her murder.  Gradually all those around her open up and it is revealed that the girls wasn't the innocent that everyone wanted her to be.

   So it's a murder mystery with whore houses, drug dens and ore thrown in.  Most of all it is very isightful about relationships and how we believe what we want to believe based on our own value systems.

   Recommended for anyone studying therapy or interested in the human mind and emotions

   Author is Sandra Dallas

6. Book Review - Let's Dance

   Posted on 6:01pm Friday 1st Jan 2016

   Well you might think the title would be enough for me to pick up that book!  You'd be wrong though.  This book by Frances Fyfield is a study in relationships between mother and daughter.  Love and hate, pity and anger all have their place.  As the story unfolds as a lot of history is revealed. 

   The mother is suffering from alzheimers and although in the early stages it has made her moody and unpredictable.

   The daughter has gone 'home' with a charitable do good heart she thinks... she gradually finds that she isactually looking for the love she never experienced as a child.  Disturbing and real it is a very good read.

   I have reviewed a book by this author previously, you maight re seems to spend a lot of time getting to know the characters and their experiences ecall, she is a lawyer and that occupation is reflected in her research and writing.  as she tends to have what seems to be very accurate knowledge of each topic she writes about.

   Recommended if you like to study people or if you are a therapist.