HEALTH ISSUES These are a series of very short articles that were written for the local paper in Norfolk with limited space. [Aylsham & Reepham TSI} Each one is designed to give information and interest to COMPLEMENTARY - not alternative- therapies. You will see the first 4 on acupuncture under that title on the main menu ~ Stella

Part 5  - HABITS AND PHOBIAS 

HABITS like nail biting, over eating, smoking, things of this nature are embedded in the unconscious mind, and are what we might call a ‘safety valve' for our inner selves, a distraction.

Whereas a PHOBIA is an extreme reaction to event/s that have in the past caused distress. The conscious and unconscious mind has a duty to protect us all from harm, but sometimes doesn't choose the best way!

How can hypnosis work for you to help you make the changes you desire?

• Are you having trouble getting over a past traumatic event?
• Are negative emotions preventing you from progressing in life?
• Do you have a habit, which is affecting your happiness and/or health?
• Are you held back by a lack of confidence?
• Is stress or anxiety affecting your life and health or limiting your performance?
• Do you sabotage yourself every time you get close to success or happiness?
• Are you finding it hard coping with the loss of a loved one?

If you're one of the millions of people who aren't enjoying life to it's full potential, hypnotherapy may well be your way forward to the emotional renewal that you deserve. 

It is used for ... Sports performance - Pain Management - Public speaking - Drug addiction - Eating disorders - Excessive drinking - Sleeping problems - Relationship problems - Compulsions - Fears - Phobias - Panic Attacks

HEALTH ISSUES PART 6 HEALING & HYPNOSIS - REGRESSION

THIS LIFE REGRESSION We are used to seeing special effects such as time travel in our entertainment films, but what if you could actually go back in time and recall forgotten things that you need now, to help you heal the conditions of today?

I don't know what has happened in your life, but even if you can't seem to remember, that important information is stored in your memory somewhere, just waiting to be of use to you now.

What is this interesting therapy used for? To dissolve negatives from the past, which may be limiting and causing discontentment in this life: To discover a greater meaning and purpose in life now, when one seems to be waiting forever for things to improve. Finding the causes of illness now, which may be linked to the past: Feelings of guilt or anxiety that seem to have no discernable reason, such as phobias etc.

It is most thought of as a therapy perhaps in the context of PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. ‘Flashbacks' are a very real problem that can disturb people no matter what their cause. Stress and distress is not relived in any way, it is ‘viewed' as a tool that is serving a function - in fact we have techniques to employ that do not even need any details of a personal nature, if this is how you wish to proceed. Of course, only the experiences that are helpful are used, there is a very strict protocol for the well-trained hypnotherapist.

 It might be that the experiences of childhood are still seen through those eyes; through hypnosis we can see them through the eyes of adulthood and they no longer have the same impact.

PAST LIFE REGRESSION is not only for people to explore or be curious about a past life they think they might have had, or a belief they have of having lived before, but for people who have issues in this life and would like to explore the possibility that limiting beliefs from a past life have been brought foreward.

Did you ever feel, with a great affinity, that you have been in a place before, and yet know that you haven't? Do you ‘see' things as it were, in another time? A greater part of the world's population takes the matter of reincarnation for granted, and yet others still preach against it. Some say it is a metaphor for the unconscious mind to understand our lives in a different way. Whatever your opinion, it is a very interesting subject.

What is this therapy mosly used for?  It might be that a person seeks help through this form of regression because they know of no reason why their behaviour in this life is causing them to have negative thoughts or feelings. Sometimes the cause is further back in time than this life, past life regression can play a part in settling the conscious mind and bringing peace to issues that have so far lacked resolve. 

A typical case would be of aqua phobia - the fear of water - when a memory of drowning is brought from one life to another that fear is serving a mistaken purpose and can be put back where it is no longer a problem, back into the perspective of the past. Many things that are puzzlement to the thinking person are explained in this way.

There is a very strict protocol for the well-trained hypnotherapist, so avoiding any unnecessary upset. You can find out more as read case studies on my website www.hypnotherapy-in-norfolk.com or phone me at Reepham 01603 879126 for an informal chat.

HEALTH ISSUES Part 7 HEALING FREEDOMS - Thought Field Therapy

A round of TFT comprises a gently tapping on meridians on the face / body / hands, while focussing on an emotion; it might be stress or fear, any emotion at all. This tapping sequence is repeated twice, and between each round [the filling to the ‘sandwich' you might say] are performed some simple eye exercises - it only takes a few moments. When the initial problem that was affecting you has lost its hold, we move onto the next subject.

I have helped many people with varied issues using TFT and sometimes together with Hypnotherapy, from eating and smoking addictions to various phobias: From an engineer who suffered severe nerves before presenting his work to new clients, to a woman who hated a close relative:

From a child who was afraid to go on a train, to a beautician who didn't know how best to develop her business: From an OAP desiring to be open to new friendships, to a man in his fifties finally wanting to be free of a childhood trauma...

Everyone is different and no two sessions are ever the same. The results, however, are pretty consistent. TFT and / or Hypnotherapy enable you to look at issues objectively, understand where they come from, let go of them and move on. And the majority of cases can be resolved in just a few sessions; it's as simple as that!

Does all this sound good to you?

What would you change if you had the power that would enable you to live your life the way you really want? Maybe you want to achieve more in work or your social life, have more confidence, get over a fear, a phobia, or a traumatic event: Perhaps you want to lose weight, have more energy or stop smoking. It might be you just want to be free from stress and enjoy your life more. Are there sometimes thoughts from long ago that haunt you...?

The physical, emotional, mental and spiritual are all a part of the holistic approach that need to be addressed. What does this mean? When a person comes for help to a therapist, it is often the case that the primary issue has triggered the appointment - weight, wanting to become a non-smoker etc - but as we ‘follow the thread' of reasoning it so often leads to other things like disturbances in life.

Does that sound strange to you? Well, as part of being human we all have the ability to learn by example or experience; it is built into the 'software' of our computer-like brains. We also all have the emotions that these two learning processes stimulate (so that bad experiences are not repeated) unfortunately there is often an emotion that is so stimulated to an alarming degree that it overrides and can overwhelms all else.

So we remain with that alone and not just a lesson learned for the future simply to keep us safe, you could almost say it's an accident. We are left thinking, "what's going on?" Sadly the most memorable of these overshadowing emotions are the negative ones, the ones that hurt the most, a sharp slap in the physical, or a sharp word in the mental, these stay far longer than we would wish or need.

The unconscious part of us all is where these memories are stored, and long after they are forgotten, they can still disturb even many years later. That's what is ‘going on', and the answer is found through ‘talking' to all the parts of our being working in co-operation, so don't think for one minute that this is all academic, it's very practical.

I'll give you a typical example. Having a habit that is harmful to the physical body most often begins with a good reason, an intention not to be harmful, in fact the opposite, it's to protect or sooth the emotional body, a built-in programme. Smoking for example was not always considered harmful; it was just one way of relaxing the mind and body.

But why do people still even start to smoke now we know more about the knock-on effects? Because the emotional benefits are still there and they tend to override all else. What do we do to solve this tricky conundrum? We address the parts other thoughts cannot reach, (to coin a phrase.)  If this sounds a bit simplistic to you, I'm sure you have tried the DIY method.

Tell yourself to stop doing a thing and see what happens! The desire to do it gets increased, doesn't it? This is because you are not addressing the inner self, only a trained therapist can do this, but cheer up ‘cos even a trained therapist cannot do this for himself or herself!

With a unique blend of the new cutting-edge techniques such as Thought Field Therapy (TFT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) combined with traditional methods including life coaching, and confidence building, a good hypnotherapist can skilfully blend a range of methods to help YOU change what you want to change, and get exactly what you want out of life.

Costs vary according to the circumstances, so do call and find out what is available for you. Stella has an answer phone so that if she is with a client she will call back as soon as possible and have a chat with you, do please speak slowly and clearly leaving your name and number. We are in Yellow Pages. Why not call now? Reepham 01603 879126

HEALTH ISSUES Part 9 Healing with NLP ~ Neuro linguistic Programming

Is often referred to as the study of human excellence, and it so often goes hand in hand with hypnosis therapy because they are both the study of human mind ‘workings'. In particular, it focuses on the way we communicate and understand the world around us. It is the use of language to enable both the client and the therapist to achieve results in a speedy and efficient manner. Many institutes now teach this subject alone as a ‘self-help' programme too.

Communication is about language and representational systems - do you think in pictures or sounds? Used internally when we talk to ourselves ... yes, we all do it! ...  And also when we interact with others. The way we process the complex information received through our senses [pictures, sounds or feelings] structures our thoughts, influencing our behaviour and the way we communicate with others.

NLP is sometimes used in conjunction with hypnotherapy, it's the way we use language to our best advantage for a multitude of reasons. Let me give you an example, have you ever had a conversation with someone who just doesn't get what you are trying to tell them? It might be because you are using a pattern of language they are not familiar with. How can this be?

To put it simply  "I hear what you're saying" - is an audio persons way of talking. "I see what you mean" - is a visual person. "I'm getting a feeling for the plan" - is a kinesthetic persons way of processing language. So to have better communications [and avoid arguments!] notice which one your friend or work colleague is using, and go to that way of talking!

NLP is supported by its practitioners in the psychotherapy field and has influenced other forms of brief and eclectic interventions [therapies]. Its models and tools have been used widely outside of psychotherapy in business communication, management training, television media, teaching, executive coaching and motivational seminars. The strategies and methods so often seen there have many uses in the organising of our everyday lives, it's easy when you know how!

Taken from Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech:

"...Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves:
'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people around you won't feel insecure. We are all meant to shine as children do. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically releases others..."

Everyone has a philosophy, if it's only "Live and let live." Our Deepest Mind is an untold source of everything we will ever need to survive, every lesson from the beginning of our lives is recorded there. Some of it, the scientists are coming to believe, is not just recorded in the genetic pattern, but in the spiritual template of existence. Regression is a very interesting subject.

All scientists agree that existence is a combination of positive and negative, of light and dark, we cannot have energy without this polarity, the yin and yang of the ancients. Our own freewill comes in the choice of how we balance these energetic factors, how we make light or dark a predominance in our lives, its up to us. In living in the constrictions of a small life we limit our opportunities, we inhibit the opening of our minds to receive that which we are entitled to, as Nelson Mandela says, as children of God. It is for us all to reach out and grasp, it is for us all to be open in this way.

As we allow our true selves to grow in the light, like the universe we expand out exponentially, the energies of existence are used in this way, and the same rules of physics that govern this material planet still rule the worlds that are as yet unknown. We know that all physical things must have a plan, a blueprint, and this plan starts with thought, an idea of what might be. Any car you see everyday in the street outside started with a person at some time in the past visualising what might be possible.

Thought is an energy that is so powerful it is forbidden in some countries, it is punishable by death. Free speech and human rights have long been fighting in the dark to emerge triumphant into the light, since the first tyrant discovered the controlling strength of thought. The philosophers and teachers are the first to be destroyed.

Do we all allow ourselves to take all our thought power for granted? Do we become complacent, lazy? Not so much ‘hiding our light under the bushel' but perhaps letting the oil run low. We can train ourselves through positive thought patterns and beneficial habits to be the people we truly are when at our best, yes, even the people we are entitled to be. Perhaps it is our weariness that allows us to forget this heritage as children of the spirit.

The focus of self hypnosis and/or the help of a therapist, is to enable a person to generate solutions to problems, based on techniques learned which are more effective than simply conscious coping strategies, these other methods can involve months, even years, of other processes ‘digging out' the past and desensitising the mind and emotional sensitivities along a hard and troubled road. Hypnotherapy is an educational approach based on scientific principles, which help to understand the workings of the various ‘built in' survival systems we all have, and our own basic philosophy, again, as children of spirit.

Are there any people that can't be hypnotised?
No. Except persons with learning difficulties, although of course the degree varies from person to person. The only other exceptions would be persons 'high' on the effects of alcohol or drugs.

Will I remember what has happened?
Yes. Most people are surprised to find that they remember all that happens during the therapy, it is a state of heightened, not diminished awareness.

So I'm not asleep then?
No. Simply very relaxed.

Are there any causes for concern?
None whatsoever. Hypnosis is a proven therapeutic aid. The only time hypnosis could prove dangerous is whilst driving or using machinery. You should not listen to a hypnotic tape under those circumstances.

Can I speak whilst in hypnosis?
Yes and in hypnoanalysis you will be encouraged to do so. Particularly during Regression, and this is recorded for you to take home, and study at leisure.

How many visits will I need?
Simple problems, such as smoking and nail biting, I attend to in two sessions. The more deep-rooted nervous disorders require 'analytical' rather than 'suggestion' therapy, which usually consists of 6 or more weekly sessions, and the success rate is surprisingly high. I do not want to take up more sessions than are necessary for the clients benefit.

What does 'being hypnotised' feel like?
Common sensations can include feeling very heavy, light, tingling and complete mental and physical relaxation. Many clients report that it is the most relaxed they have ever felt in their entire lives.

I feel my phobia is silly!
No phobia, fear or anxiety is silly. Almost certainly a well-trained hypnotherapist will have seen it before and will be able to deal with it. No worry is silly if it is affecting your life and it is worth doing something about it.

Can I be influenced to do anything against my will?
No, and in fact you would be shocked out of the hypnotic state should such a thing happen.

Can 'normal' people be hypno-analysed?
Not only can be but should be - for an insight into yourself it has no equal.

Can anyone get 'stuck' in hypnosis?
No.

Can I drive after having hypnotherapy?
Yes.

Are any drugs or tablets used?
No.

Costs vary according to the circumstances, so do call and find out what is available for you. Stella has an answer phone so that if she is with a client she will call back as soon as possible and have a chat with you, do please speak slowly and clearly leaving your name and number. We are in Yellow Pages. Why not call now? Reepham 01603 879126

Holistic, simply put means whole. An holistic human being is one in whom all the parts working well. Those parts are physical, mental, emotional, and some would say also the spiritual.

How do we assess this, how do we get the sense of self-wholeness? How do we know if something is going wrong?  There are clues sent from the various parts mentioned, firstly the physical, clues here are symptoms that might come and go or be a ‘background' noise' that we have got used to over the years, skin complaints and backache are quite common. 

Mental clues could be out of the ordinary behaviours for that person, the ‘walk-about' syndrome, the statistics for missing persons that do not want to be found are difficult to separate from those who do, here an extreme emotional clue would be a ‘breakdown'. Spiritual crisis have been written and talked about in come circles since the first written word. 

These are all strong urgent clues, we could call them signals, distress flares sent up from our non physical parts, this is the unconsciousness, so-called because it's the built-in part that needs no consciousness at all, it looks after us all the time in a tireless way, we don't have to get up in the morning and remember to keep our hearts beating, do we?

The warning signals we ignore at our peril! Emotional disturbance is a very common and some say the major, cause of ill health. Sometimes we have a good idea what is it is that's affecting us. It can be due to a slow wearing down of inner strength, or a ‘sneaking up' behind us after an illness, maybe a short sharp shock that upsets the whole system, a death or car accident for example. All these scenarios are possible in the modern world, and it needs to be understood that they serve a purpose.

What do we do if the whole, the holistic system breaks down?  There is medication for the distress flares in all departments. But what to do when the cause is still hanging about after the course of pills is finished, what action can be taken then? 

What form can these distresses take? I remember one man told me he started with a simple rash on his arm, and it progressed to sores all over his scalp, it took a while for him to get good advice and take a long hard look at his circumstances at work, which were ‘stressing him out'. Another case was a young girl with eating problems, and she wouldn't or just couldn't say what was the cause; this can be quite common with teenagers, (or people who feel its too painful to "go back there"). She learned through gentle holistic healing how to deal with the emotions that seemed to be insurmountable. And that's the beauty of holistic healing; it does not need to know everything that has happened in a person's life, only that they wish to get better.

Addressing the inner self, which only has our best intentions at heart, we find that things can go awry at times. IBS and many other such disorders can be dealt with in the holistic way. There are many disciplines for the therapist to get to the root of problems. Thought Field Therapy with the use of acupressure points is one, Neuro Linguistic Programming is another.

What exactly is an holistic healer? S/he's a therapist who is incorporating as many different disciplines as are needed, the most useful of which can hypnotherapy, which uses the relaxed state of focussed inner awareness, this allows changes to be made so much more easily and naturally. You're not simply telling yourself to "pull your socks up" or "get over it" from your usual conscious / thinking state, DIY in this case just doesn't work as I'm sure you've found out for yourself!

Hypnosis is contacting that other, deeper part of our mind, where you can get in touch with your true self, the healthier you, it is highly effective for stopping smoking, exam nerves, relaxed childbirth, fear of flying, weight loss, pain control, driving nerves etc. So often the client says that the lifting of ‘weights off the shoulders' is tremendous. This might be accessed through regression of this life, or even sometimes past lives, which is a very interesting subject.

Do you want to feel more confident? Are things in general getting you down? Do you feel as if your ‘batteries' are getting flat? Want to move beyond an issue that you've been struggling with for a while? Or overcome a fear or phobia? Stop smoking? Lose weight? Why wait to feel positive about your life?

HEALTH ISSUES ~ Part 13 ~ WEIGHTY PROBLEMS  

Do you have a weight on your mind, and for that matter your body too? Do you find that food is constantly an issue? Just why do some people have weight problems? Be they lack of, or too much body weight, it can be a tricky situation.

Well, we all have a built in need to eat, it is part of the 'primitive brain', if we didn't the human race would surely have died out long ago. We know that people kill other people for food in dire circumstances. The very thoughts and feelings that go with this basic essential need, sometimes are established from as far back as babyhood, and have of course to be pleasant, this is part of the healthy survival instinct too.

You probably can't remember, how you behaved in those early years when eating patterns were established, but the information is stored in the ‘library' of our unconscious minds just waiting there, and collecting around these memories might be good thoughts, or sometimes they could be uneasy or even destructive thoughts, this information has been miss-filed.

The subject of food is so emotive, but it needs to be in kept perspective so that it definitely is a pleasant experience, and not an obsession. The extreme of overeating to the detriment of our health - diabetes etc - might be masking something else entirely, a fear perhaps. In some circumstances the error in the ‘filing system' might cause rejection of food as in anorexia nervosa. Sadly, unpleasant thoughts are good at masking those much needed pleaasant emotions. 

Whatever the habitual association with food, with a little time and patience these thoughts can be re-filed, thinking about food and worrying about it a lot of the time uses lots of energy, and can even be debilitating, bad habits are so much easier to get into than good ones, aren't they?

Through the gentle methods of hypnosis and holistic healing, habits are re-filed into their original healthy places, and the upsetting ‘inner voices' which whisper guilty things, and upset those happier voices of confidence and self assurance, soon fade away.

A deep hypnotic trance is not necessary, in fact we all have plenty of practice of a light trance, and go into light trance states any time that we're absorbed in or focusing on, for example watching television or reading a book is a form of trance.

Because hypnosis is a fast-track to the sub-conscious "emotional trigger" the therapy can take a few hours rather than years as in conventional psychotherapy, which works mainly on the conscious level. This is a great bonus because so many people need speedy results for many reasons, waiting for the safest weight for an operation is just one example I deal with quite often.

This is what the trained therapist helps the client to do, but if the will to change is not truly there, there will be no change. We cannot, any of us, talk a person into doing a thing that s/he is not ready to do at that time. A slight resistance to change is soon overcome, with patience, skill and understanding, this is why it is so important that a therapist is well qualified. The use of Thought Field Therapy and Neuro Linguistics in recent years has given the profession so many more ‘tools' to work with.

HEALTH ISSUES ~ Part 14 ~ ADDICTIONS 

The term of ‘addiction' is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, or excessive physical dependence. In medical terminology, an addiction is a state in which the body relies on a substance for normal functioning and develops physical dependence, as in smoking, alcohol, over eating and drug addiction etc etc.

The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, i.e. psychological dependence, such as excessive gambling and so-called computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is describing a recurring habit turned compulsion, formed by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, to his or her individual's health, mental state or social life.

What is the holistic thinking on this increasingly common trait of modern society? Is the answer "Pull yourself together!" perhaps? No, the reply to that is so often: "Had I the ‘strings' I would have pulled them long ago!" Any one can tell you that the more we tell ourselves not to do a thing, the more we want to do it!

In fact the DIY method has failed to get anywhere near the solution. This subject can best be approached in an indirect way, through what could almost be described as the ‘side door' to the problem. So, what's the answer? Have you guessed yet? It's the door to the other self, the unconscious part that other therapies simply cannot reach (to coin a phrase) - hypnosis.

Because hypnosis is a fast-track to the sub-conscious "emotional trigger" the therapy can take a few hours rather than years as in conventional psychotherapy, which works mainly on the conscious level. This is a great bonus because so many people need speedy results for many reasons, waiting for the safest weight for an operation is just one that comes to mind.

A gentle guided visualisation, might bring all the emotions up to the surface, and a little restructuring of the thought patterns shows so quickly how special techniques causing no distress, soon get rid of those unwanted sensations, and peace and harmony are brought back into a persons life. 

This is what the trained therapist helps the client to do, but if the will to change is not truly there, there will be no change. We cannot, any of us, talk a person into doing a thing that s/he is not ready to do at that time. A slight resistance to change is soon overcome with patience, skill and understanding, this is why it is so important that a therapist is well qualified.

The use of Thought Field Therapy and Neuro Linguistics Regression and other techniques in recent years have given the healing professional so many more ‘tools' to work with, and dealing holistically with all the levels of understanding, physical, and emotional bring those seemingly scattered parts together again in a kind and gently way.

Chronic stress is stress that lasts a long time or occurs frequently. Chronic stress is potentially damaging. The list symptoms of chronic stress include: upset stomach, ulcers, headaches, backache, insomnia, anxiety, depression, anger, hypertension, haemorrhoids and varicose veins.

In the most severe cases it can lead to panic attacks or a panic disorder. It has been discovered that there is a huge upsurge in the number of people who suffer from this condition. A very large number of these new cases suffer from insomnia.

In a review of the scientific literature on the relationship between stress and disease, researchers found that stress plays a role in triggering or worsening depression and cardiovascular disease and in speeding the progression of many illnesses.

There are a variety of methods to control chronic stress, including exercise, adequate rest, and relaxing hobbies and stress management through visualisation, meditation and hypnotherapy incorporates these together with NLP, TFT and many other techniques.

The link between emotions and physical illness is a two-way door. If we ignore the physical stresses the emotional will rebel, e.g. abuse of the physical can cause a ‘nervous breakdown', conversely stress of the emotional/mental kind can result in the breakdown of the physical body by restricting nourishment, stomach ulcers, bringing on pain and/or malnutrition and loss of weight.

What is the answer to this most modern of complaints? Look at the symptoms, the life style, and decide to do something about the entire picture.

Hypnotherapy will circumnavigate the thinking part of the brain and go straight to the nitty-gritty, the unconscious part that guides all ‘bodily particles' breathing, heart beats, fluids and solids movement etc. Here is where it all is happening, here is where the re-programming takes place to direct the energies into constructive forces that enliven and enrich our lives, they may have gone astray, but they can be redirected with a little help from a friend.

Having a friend is what therapy is about, the therapist as well as being a friend also explains that we all are our own best friends, inside us all is a built in survival ‘fight, flight, feint' system that has ensured the human race's existence so far, and it is used efficiently in hypnosis.

HEALTH ISSUES ~ Part 16 ~ The Ego 

Firstly, the term "ego" is simply the Greek term for "I" or "me" or "myself."  In this, it is a neutral term.  If you open up a Greek New Testament, Jesus used it all the time.  "Ego eimi ho poimen ho kalos."  "I am the good shepherd."  In itself, there's nothing negative or bad or untoward in the term "ego."  It is our ability to think, understand, reason, and therefore to choose ways of coping and eventually master the challenges of life, we develop the inner strength so that we have resilience - the power to bounce back after we have been knocked down. In modern parlance a person who has a ‘big ego' or is on an ‘ego trip' is one with a bad case of selfishness, but it's a miss-name in truth.

We can see that ego is acquired, when we look at babies because they don't have the mind or consciousness to know that they are separate from another person, so the differentiating process that begins with birth actually takes several years.  When the child ventures out into the big wide world the ego is mostly under-developed, or you could say weak. Strength of ego is the ability to consciously face life without falling apart, giving up, or reacting to stress with the primeval ‘fight or flight'.  The ‘nature / nurture debate' comes in here.

A healthy ego is having: Self-esteem - and this is healthiest when it is unconditional, it ‘s the sense of "I am valuable, significant, and have worth because I am a human being."  Self-confidence - your sense that you have "power" or "control" to be able to do something that you can take pride in and that you can trust yourself to accomplish.  Self-identity - is your self-definition, how you define yourself in your roles and relationships. 

An unhealthy ego is ill-formed, under-developed, or distorted by misunderstandings and miss-beliefs - it is an ego that is loud, boisterous, and constantly getting in the way. Without a solid sense of unconditional value, your ego keeps getting in the way because you keep having to "prove" yourself. You constantly feel insecure and needing support and attention.  If your value, worth, and dignity is evaluated as "low" or "high" then it goes up and/or down according to whatever criteria you're using to judge it, money, status etc...

With an unhealthy ego whatever you do, it's always likely to get in the way-because you are using your false criteria to prove yourself.  This undermines your leadership, your ability to connect with people, and everything.  If you're a public speaker, you make it about you, about your image, intelligence, charm, not your audience.  If you are a coach, you make the experience about your success with the client.  If you are a CEO, entrepreneur, businessperson, you make things about your degree of success or money not the value that you add to the whole  In all of these instances, the ego is in the way.

To get the ego out of the way requires developing a healthy sense of self.  You are unconditionally valuable just because you're a human being and simultaneously wonderfully fallible and mortal!  By asserting that your dignity and lovability is a given, you don't have to prove anything, but you get to express everything.  You have incredible potentials within to unleash. You have a fallible brain, heart, and body.  It is made of flesh-and-blood.  You are from dust to dust.  And you are also made of the stardust of the universe.

In conclusion: When you focus on what you can do and contribute. When you embrace life as it is and the cards dealt you, and when you acknowledge your being self with awe or esteem, you settle the question of your value. It takes a lot of self-esteem to be humble and modest.  This frees you from having to prove yourself or to become a ‘somebody'.  You begin with the declaration that you are already somebody without all the trappings. Now you can, if you wish, experience the full unleashing of an ego set free from needing to be right, maybe with a little help from a friend. Help is at hand, the unconscious mind has all it needs in reserve to re-align the mistaken shape of ego, but the will to be free has to be there to activate it - even through hypnosis.

Humour is part of a healthy ego too, in the words of the song: "Oh lordy it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't stand to look into the mirror, I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a heluva man. O lordy it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can!"

Eastern and western medicine have come together a bit more in recent years, the west is beginning to understand what the ancients have always known - that the body, emotions, and mind, are all inseparable, in fact ... the holistic approach is going to be fashionable! Hooray!

Please excuse me if I sound frivolous, but it's my experience that nobody can separate any of these from each other, as a healer, to me it seems so obvious, that if we ignore the needs of one part of ourselves another will protest, simple.

Physical abuse, if ignored, often results in a breakdown of the emotional aspect; alternatively emotional abuse can just as easily have a detrimental effect on the physical, skin problems and common here.

If we look at the organs of the body as houses for different emotions, as in Traditional Chinese Medicine, an interesting picture emerges. Family relationships are used to illustrate the organs and positions on the Chinese medicine charts; the two ‘partners' are described below.

Liver = Anger - "What a gall that person has!" - ‘Partner' Gall Bladder: Heart = Hysteria - Dad worked himself up into a heart attack - ‘Partner' Small Intestines - a heart attack can be mistaken for indigestion and visa-versa.

Spleen = Worry - Ulcers commonly caused by over work - ‘Partner' Stomach: Lungs = Sorrow - Pining away for a loved one is very common - ‘Partner' Large Intestines, malfunction results in starvation when the organs cannot absorb the nutrients, IBS.

Kidneys = Fear - Children's nightmares - a wet bed with ‘nightmares' / fright - ‘Partner' Bladder:

So, what do you think? Is it possible to die of a ‘broken heart'? Of course it is!  What is the cure?  Look to our whole situation when we become unwell, if it's ‘sick of heart' or aches and pains in the joints, what is your body trying to tell you? Eating habits not good? Food sensitivities? Detox?

Costs vary according to the circumstances, so do call and find out what is available for you. Stella has an answer phone so that if she is with a client she will call back as soon as possible and have a chat, do please speak slowly and clearly leaving your name and number. We are in Yellow Pages. Why not call now? Reepham 01603 879126

The term of ‘addiction' is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, or excessive physical dependence. In medical terminology, an addiction is a state in which the body relies on a substance for normal functioning and develops physical dependence, as in smoking, alcohol, and drug addiction.

The term addiction is also sometimes applied to compulsions that are not substance-related, i.e. psychological dependence, such as excessive gambling and so-called computer addiction. In these kinds of common usages, the term addiction is describing a recurring habit turned compulsion, formed by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, to his or her individual's health, mental state or social life, and can thus continue after the dependency of the drug has been eliminated.

What is the holistic thinking on this increasingly common trait of modern society? Is the answer "Pull yourself together!" perhaps?  No, the reply to that one is so obvious: "Had I the ‘strings' I would have pulled them long ago!" Any one can tell you that the more we tell ourselves not to do a thing, the more we want to do it. In my family that's call ‘the opposites'!

But joking apart, when the DIY method has failed to get anywhere near the solution, the subject can best approached in an indirect way, through what could almost be described as the ‘side door' to the problem. So, what's the answer? Have you guessed yet? It's the door to the other self, the unconscious part that ‘other therapies simply cannot reach' (to coin a phrase) - hypnosis.

Because hypnosis is a fast-track to the sub-conscious "emotional trigger" the therapy can take a few hours rather than years as in conventional psychotherapy, which works mainly on the conscious level. This is a great bonus because so many people need speedy results for many reasons, for example, waiting for the safest weight for an operation.

A gentle guided visualisation, and a little restructuring of the thought patterns shows so quickly how special techniques causing no distress, soon get rid of those unwanted sensations, and peace and harmony are brought back into a persons life. 

This is what the trained therapist helps the client to do, but if the will to change is not truly there, there will be no change. We cannot, any of us, talk a person into doing a thing that s/he is not ready to do at that time. A slight resistance to change is soon overcome with patience, skill and understanding, this is why it is so important that a therapist is well qualified.

The use of Thought Field Therapy and Neuro Linguistics Regression and other techniques in recent years have given the healing professional so many more ‘tools' to work with, and dealing holistically with all the levels of understanding, physical, mental, and emotional bring those seemingly scattered parts together again in a kind and gently way.

HEALTH ISSUES ~ Part 19 ~ CHILDBIRTH 

Hypnosis for pregnancy and birth empowers the mother to take control of her childbirth. To give birth peacefully, comfortably and joyfully:

When ladies become pregnant they find a real connection of 'self'. But often excitement can be followed by fear. Did you know that pain is the product of fear, and sometimes fear can be born not just out of misinformation but also negative conditioning? Conditioning that we might have no conscious memory of, reflexes and habits are all in the unconscious parts of our minds.

Unfortunately many stories we have heard about birth labour are of it being a negative experience. It is these stories that have been passed down over the years, and they are doing nothing to dispel the fear and pain!

Giving birth is the most beautiful and natural thing in the world, but why is the fear condition so easy to get into?

Fear is a tool of our unconscious mind that is very useful when the need arises; for example, survival of the fittest means that whoever is able to ‘fight, flight or feint' is going to last longer than the ‘freeze' person trapped in the headlights when danger is imminent.

Picture the scene; pre-historic Britain, woman about to give birth, dinosaur pops up for a tasty meal. What is the most sensible thing to do? Stop giving birth.

How is this achieved in the fastest possible way? The body activates a massive wash of instantaneous chemicals stopping the ability of the muscles to contract (and push) out the baby. Bingo - no baby just now. So we see that there is a time and a place for this fear emotion and the function that follows. Fear is the friend here!

The hypnotherapists job is not just to give reassurance so that the mother can trust herself on this emotional journey, but also to show the tools and resources for this true labour of love. How nice will it be when you can tell your child that their birth was the most beautiful and joyous experience in the world?

Enjoying life? Do you have a plan? Do you overstrain or try to save too much?  Do you simply not have enough of anything?

Life is good and rich with things worthwhile and things to enjoy. Don't miss it. There's more to "wealth" than just money. There's also wealth of mind, emotion, relationships, and much more.

WORK of any kind, for the self or others, will become the best friend you've ever known if you use it as an opportunity to enjoy living. Do you take the attitude that only slaves work? That means you have decided to be one of those slaves, free yourself! Give any and all work your best efforts. Turn it into fun by looking at how you do enjoy it even if its only sometimes - you can make those ‘sometimes' happen more often, gaining satisfactions that only need a mention to grow into full blown enjoyments.

FRUSTRATION can kill your dreams and can change a positive attitude into a negative one. The worse thing a negative attitude does is wipe out self-discipline, and when that discipline is gone, the results you desire are gone. You know, people get paid very well to handle frustration. The more frustration you can handle, the more you can be paid. Success is buried on the other side of frustration.

FEAR is the greatest inhibitor. The fear of "no" stops most people from taking action. Learn how to strip it of all of its power! Refuse to turn failures into Big Events! How many "no's" can you take? You give it power through how you represent it to yourself. With hypnosis you can learn Remember There are no real successes without rejection.

I truly believe that the secret of successful living is giving, and we have to give first. It's a circle and to get on it you start by giving in the physical mental or emotional - we can all find one of those with a bit to spare.

We can learn how to get and how to give, how to earn and how to save and how to learn to give back to the world-to create value, to act from the position of abundance, to become that kind of a person, to expand our sense of appreciation. Giving back teaches us more fully what money can do and what it cannot do.

If you're just accumulating money for you, to lord it over your own small world, you are not really a success, and you don't really have power, nor do you have true wealth. Just think of success as a process, a way of life, and a strategy for living.

WITH HYPNOSIS and its sister therapy NLP you can learn how to handle frustration, fear, and all the other day-to-day encumbrances, so working effectively and actually getting useful energy in the process.  NOTE: Willpower is not required - just your commitment.

HEALTH ISSUES ~ Part 21 ~ THOUGHT SPIRALS 

We realize that we have forgotten someone's name just as we're meeting them, and then feel stupid and incompetent for forgetting the name, thinking, "it's such a simple task". Next we're wondering what in the world is wrong with us, and then maybe the thought comes into our head that we are in some way responsible for all that is seemingly wrong around us, and our thoughts turn to embarrassment and feeling inadequate, that the other person thinks we're stupid; nobody else has this problem but us.

Is this familiar to you? It's called a downward spiral. Are you locked into the goings-on inside yourself?  Nobody likes rejection, but knee-jerk reacting with more and more of the same thing over and over needs to be recognised.

Then step back and view the situation from a little distance, because when our thoughts and emotions are about something out there, and external to us, then that's much better. These are signals to let us know how to alter and redesign future situations. Emotions draw us in, or push us out; therefore being aware of the pushing and pulling makes us better able to alter the process. We can so easily turn our own habits of thinking against ourselves.

How To Make Things Worse: Fearing our emotions, anger, joy, sexuality, tenderness, playfulness, assertiveness, etc. Being angry at our fear, our frustration, our stress, etc. Rejecting and being contemptuous of our failure, weakness, fallibility, etc. Shame-ing and Guilt-ing ourselves over our fear, anger, frustration, etc, and so on, and so on.

How To Make Things Better: First, take these things into conscious awareness. Be aware that all the emotions of anger etc are only a temporary state, and it's OK to feel things. Next, evaluate whether the current feeling/state is appropriate or inappropriate, current or dated, information to take counsel from, to face with courage, etc. Then we are able to effectively master our thoughts and emotions, and so use them in an intelligent and thoughtful kindly (to ourselves) way.

As we learn how to observe the state we're in, and then handle that state, we learn how to make our minds work in the way that we want, the way that's healthy. And when we do that, we're able to bring control into our lives in such a way that even a dose of frustration will trigger positive solutions not negative actions, with practice of course, because nobody said it didn't need a bit of effort!

Developing our understanding of our experiences is crucial to being contented that we are doing our best on life's journey and growing in good ways.  It provides a conscious understanding of the mechanisms of our own minds and it opens up new domains for discovery and creativity. It stops the spiralling down and actually starts the spiral upwards, now there's a happy thought!

So how do we stop the downward spiral? By using specific strategies that are constructive, there are many that are available through the use of NLP, TFT, etc, in or out of the hypnotic state. Relaxation is part of the therapy that heals, the treatment that gets to the parts that other methods just cannot reach.

So relax in the knowledge that with a little help from a friend you too can get into the upwards spiral, and change your life for the better, whatever your wants and needs.

HEALTH ISSUES  Part ~ 22 ~  Healing & Recovery 

Would you be surprised to know that a loss of dignity can trigger grief? The loss of property through a burglary you might think has little to do with grief, but the attached memories lost and the violated feelings do set off the this very real process. Grief is loss and as such might be a part of ourselves, physical mental or emotional, and yes spiritual too.

Both physical and emotional issues have a debilitating ‘knock-on' effect and the rehabilitation and recovery from illness or medical operations is a particularly good example of how holistic healing therapy can speed the recovery process.

It is commonly acknowledged that the stress of modern living aggravates such conditions as eczema, psoriasis and other allergy / toxin related problems; the symptoms of these unpleasant conditions can be most successfully treated with many different disciplines.

PTSD. The common assistance is to alter our unwanted behaviour, like giving things up that have become a habit, other help can be given with phobias, fear of heights public speaking - spiders etc. The fear of flying can be very disruptive in the business context, not just going on holidays. Also for example stress related emotional issue, which is ‘tied' to past event - the ‘instant re-play' of memories, commonly known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

IBS. One area where it is recognized for achieving massive success is indeed with the problem of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Hypnotherapy routinely produces positive results in over 80% of the people who use it. Hypnosis has been so successful for improving IBS symptoms that Adriane Fugh-Berman (MD), chair of the National Women's Health Network in the USA, says that hypnosis should be the treatment of choice for IBS cases that have not responded to conventional therapy.

Over a decade of scientific research has shown hypnotherapy to be an effective choice for alleviating the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The main theory behind the success of hypnosis for IBS is that the relaxation improves blood flow to the gut - something that stress tends to inhibit - and so improves digestion and the movement of food through the bowel.

It's both safe and enjoyable. You might have picked up a sensationalised picture of hypnosis from the media or stage shows. Please put that out of your mind, you should have a really enjoyable as well as powerful experience, during which you are always in control.

At every point the therapist will ask if you are willing to let go of old habits; everything needs your permission. S/he is just there to be an experienced guide for you, who knows the territory, and is there to take you only where you want to go, at the pace that is right for you, and by the most pleasant route possible. You're in charge. 

One definition of hypnotherapy is: "Using a light trance state for positive change". Each time we visualise in our own mind an event in order to recall it, we go into a light trance state so we can draw that memory out of our 'store-house'. Visualisation is the lightest form of trance, which is just like being taken on a journey with a friendly guide.

What does it feel like? You might well say, "I didn't feel hypnotised" or "I heard every word". Usually it feels as if you could get up straight away if you wanted to, but you just can't be bothered. You're not going to a hypnotherapist to be 'hypnotised', or feel as if you've had a good sleep, the therapist's job is to create positive change in you, not to knock you out!

What can it help? The common assistances are to alter behaviour such as smoking or weight control, other help can be given with phobias, fear of heights - spiders - flying, and post traumatic distress.

Some Popular Uses The stresses of modern living can aggravate eczema, psoriasis IBS and other allergy related problems, the symptoms of these unpleasant conditions can be most successfully treated with Hypnotherapy.

When there is a long-term problem with weight there cannot be a ‘quick-fix'. So the dieter who truly wants to be in a new phase of their lives will be putting in some work to achieve their goal of a better and more comfortable lifestyle. Below you see the first suggested step in the programme for weight reduction of a good therapist. Habit reversal - Behaviour change - Increasing confidence in self  - Dieting skills - Building up willpower and motivation - Installing appropriate self control mechanisms.

Peter Naish, at the UK's Open University, says that the understanding of hypnosis has moved away from the popular misconceptions created by showy stage hypnotists. "We have a technique that has now moved towards evidence-based treatments," he says that research work "... is showing for sure that the brain is doing quite different things under hypnosis than in normal everyday existence."