Your brain may be 40,000 thousand years old but have you updated it yet?

Did you know that the modern shape of your brain may be 40,000 years old? OK, I don’t mean your particular brain but all our brains are working on “coding” that was developed to keep us safe in the jungle! Happy Brain

This means that in many daily situations your brain and mine will often choose the fastest route to “keep you safe” even though our more modern thinking brain (prefrontal cortex) is crying out that we should use more logical options.

An important part of my work is developing simple ways my clients can take some control over their own autonomic (automatic) nervous system. This helps us make better and healthier decisions, helps us have better relationships with ourselves and the world around us and helps us feel safer and more supported in our own lives.

So here is something you can do whenever you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with thoughts and worries that you would like at least to quieten down in your own mind.

Just imagine how you might react if someone is talking absolute nonsense about something that you know is not true. You might not want to offend them but you would more than likely raise your eyes to the ceiling wouldn’t you? These eye movements instantly make powerful changes in the brain that help engage our logical thinking cortex.

Now why not do the same for thoughts that are not supporting you. Remember, in the jungle we need to be able to make a very quick exit if a predator is about to attack us. That protective part of the brain is programmed to instantly “kick in” if we are in danger. Unfortunately the old system is in effect still using the original software in all situations. It does not distinguish between a mild irritation or a life threatening situation.

So, any time you find yourself getting into a spiral of needless worry just rapidly move your eyes towards your forehead in just the same way. This is taking you out of your primal mind and into your rational mind.

Two or three strong upward looks toward the forehead will begin to dislodge the old pattern that previously put you into “fight or flight” mode every time you thought about it. With those three upward looking glances we are triggering ourselves into a different part of our nervous system and connecting to the “new” part of the brain.

Have a bit of fun with this as you continue to help reprogramme your “unconscious thinking cues” into a different and healthier set of responses.

You will find more information on my work as a Hypnotherapist, NLP and EFT practitioner at www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk and also please do explore my channel on YouTube

Need help? Wedding speech, business presentation, speech etc. – Hypnosis can help

Public speaking is well up amongst the top 20 in the list of common phobias. Whether it is giving a wedding speech, a business presentation at the office or to a group, anything that puts us in the spotlight can easily and instantly trigger our autonomic nervous system into fight and flight. Presentation

This response originates from the primal part of our brain and is there to save us from predators and danger when we are in the jungle. Well, we are not in the jungle now but we are in a different sort of jungle. In the actual jungle we need a system that will respond immediately and help us get to safety very quickly. The problem is, in modern life we rarely need it to operate this way.

This is a very powerful part of our autonomic nervous system and easily overpowers our logical thinking with adrenaline and cortisol. But all we want to do is deliver our speech or presentation in a calm, comfortable and easy manner? You would think it should be easy wouldn’t you?

But if we suffer from raised heartbeat, sweaty palms and weeks of worry before an event what options are there to help us?

Hypnotherapy is a powerful and favorite method that has for years, helped countless people through the ordeal of standing up in public and delivering a speech or presentation.

Our autonomic nervous system is actually designed to generate the uncomfortable responses automatically so we have time to run to safety. However using hypnosis is one of the ways we can actually begin to control this part of the system.

Using deep and comfortable relaxation while engaging the creative side of our brain helps bring more control to the logical and technical sides of our thinking. Calming the adrenaline rush and bringing down cortisol levels frees the brain to operate and perform comfortably with confidence and enjoyment. Hypnosis also helps us pinpoint any past experiences that may have contributed to how we have been responding. It also helps release these negative experiences from our system.

If you would like to know more about Hypnosis, EFT and Eye Movement Therapy and how it could help you please go to www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk or email me at rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com

Hypnosis for “shy” or frequent urination problems

If you suffer from any medical issues it is important to first see your medical practitioner

Have you noticed that often the sound a tap running water makes will trigger something in your body that suddenly gives you an urge urinate? Do you find that you can’t actually urinate when other people are around you? (especially for gents in public toilets) Hypnosis for shy

Often we may have “tried everything” but what can else could we do if we have frequent or “shy” urination problems? Hypnosis can help.

These experiences can often be driven by the power of unconscious suggestion. You have probably heard of Pavlov’s dogs who were trained to salivate at the sound of a bell. We all have unconscious programmes running in the back of our minds. They can be programmes we have inherited from our ancient ancestors (the sounds of streams and waterfalls ), programmes from our childhood or issues that have affected us at different times of our lives.

Whether a medical issue, a mental issue or both, this worry and embarrassment can become overwhelming, changing and affecting many parts of our life and self esteem. In these circumstances hypnotherapy really helps calm and quieten body and mind bringing more confidence plus a healthier state of relaxation in these and many other circumstances.

As we learn how to relax this helps our autonomic nervous system and the mind adjust old unconscious programmes releasing past distress and constant worry around the issue. Installing new healthier thoughts and programmes into your life will help your autonomic (automatic) nervous system support you rather than govern your everyday life.

Even if you have a physical problem, lowering the stress around this issue can help you make powerful and worthwhile changes bringing more confidence and freedom into your everyday life.

For more information on this subject or anything connected with the work I do please email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com or go to www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be happy to help you.

SMILE

What happens to the brain and body when we smile?

What happens to anxiety and stress when we smile?

When we smile we instantly generate a happy flood of “feel good” brain chemicals. Neuropeptides that relieve stress and anxiety, neurotransmitters such as serotonin (an antidepressant) and endorphins that are pain relievers are all instantly activated, giving the whole body and mind a quick, smiley happy workout!  Smile Lady

And these are just a few of the positive changes the body makes for us.

As we grow older we are less likely to smile as much as we used to. However each time we smile we will appear more friendly and reliable and people will find us more attractive. They are also more likely to mirror our smile back to us which makes everyone feel good.

Now we don’t even have to generate a huge grin to get these benefits. Just an almost microscopic lifting of the edges of the lips will set off this natural cascade of “happy” chemicals.

And the people around us will very likely be unconsciously joining in with their own smiles.

To feel the benefits all you need to do is to engage your facial muscles with a little outward stretching of the mouth and a little pulling up of the cheek muscles.

Well you don’t need me to tell you how to do that do you!?” 😃

This is so simple and is something vitally important to our physical and mental well being. A tiny magical move that brightens up our own lives and also everyone around us.

Just “check in” with it every now and then throughout the day and enjoy the difference.

For more information on Hypnotherapy, EFT and EMDR and how I help clients achieve their goals and improve their lives please email or call and I will be very happy to discuss how I could help you .

Are you looking on the bright side?

Your memories are stored in your eyes and a simple way to let go of negative memories.

Did you know that when you remember an event your eyes are running it through in the same sequence it happened? A study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex discovered that the brain and the eyes used the same sequence of connections and movements just as they happened in the original event. Rapid Eye Movement Therapy

Using the original sequence of eye movements and the brain’s original response all the different parts of that memory are condensed and connected into a replay of what originally happened

The various eye movement therapies such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) and Rapid Eye Movement Therapy make use of the eye movements to help clear trauma such as PTSD

When working with clients with PTSD and trauma and those with and stress and anxiety I use various forms of eye movements to help release the memory of the original trauma and discomfort. This can be done with minimum need to cognitively go through the whole event which can often be very uncomfortable for the client. Our unconscious mind knows all about the traumas we remember, the ones we don’t remember and the ones we could never remember. So why not let the unconscious mind do the work?

I often notice how many of the issues we are experiencing are reflected in our language such as “If you keep looking in the same place you’ll get the same result”. So try this for yourself by thinking of a past event (choose something happy for this!) and notice whether you look down and to which side (left or right) you look.

Most of us, but not all will probably look down and to the left for what’s “left in our memory”. So if your preferred side is the left try looking to the right any time you find yourself thinking of something stressful.

When I ask clients to look to the other side and “tell me that story again” it’s amazing how many clients either find it difficult to verbalise their feelings from the side they don’t normally use. And often they can’t even tell me what the issue was!

So next time you find yourself stuck in a negative thinking loop notice where your eyes are and switch over to the other side!

Why might we have “burgers for brains!” ?

Eating burgers for your brain is no better than eating burgers for your body.

Burgers for brains? What on earth am I talking about? Well probably most of us are guilty of doing exactly that with our choice of words. And whoops, I’ve just done exactly that in the previous sentence by using the word guilty. Oh dear, there I go again! Burgers for brain

Yes the word is GUILTY ! Everything we say about ourselves and others is being monitored by our brain and nervous system.

The title of the excellent book “Your body believes every word you say” by Barbara Levine describes it perfectly. Our bodies and brains are constantly exchanging messages to alert and signal to our body chemistry to take the appropriate action for a positive message or a negative message.

This is a primal response that is hard wired into the system to keep us safe when we’re in the jungle. If there is even a subtle scent of danger in the air my body will need to respond immediately to escape.

So what is going on that triggers the body into this negative state?

One thing is that the three vertebrae at the top of your spine, C1 C2 C3, are sitting one on top of the other. In a dangerous situation, and also with negative thoughts these 3 vertebrae will instantly respond by shifting slightly to close off some of the blood flow to the brain. Well it makes sense because if I’m confronted by a tiger I don’t want to think, I want to run! The “Fight or Flight” response is immediately activated and the muscles get more blood and my body gets more adrenaline and cortisol.

Unfortunately fed constant negativity, whether from outside sources or from our own internal thinking begins will over time lock us into a negative state. Then the vertebrae will find it difficult to move back to their parasympathetic relaxation resting place because we are continually triggering them into “fight and flight”. This is extremely wearing for our whole body and mind system.

The other point is that we can get dopamine hits from negativity as well as positivity. Imagine if we are constantly “liking” comments on Facebook because we agree with someone’s negative point of view. Then we become addicted to “unearned dopamine”. This negative dopamine makes us feel “one up” but like any drug we will always want another hit.

Dopamine is great when we earn it by achieving something worthwhile and working towards a goal. But just like being addicted to drugs, cigarettes and anything else, we can soon become that “rat in the lab” pressing the lever to get the next hit.

Gossip, arguing, negative self talk, negative words are all keeping us locked in that lab as our own actions try to get our next hit.

Physically feeding our bodies with burgers all day doesn’t keep us fit and mentally feeding our mind and body with negative thoughts has the same effect on our whole system.

Here are a couple of simple strategies we can put in place to help “clean up our act”
One I regularly give clients is the phrase “That thought is not available”. Any negative thought and you just say that back to yourself as many times as you need.

This works because the conscious mind doesn’t understand what it means but the creative mind does. Soon the conscious mind will get tired of trying to work it out and then your creative mind can do what it does best, create positive alternatives. Even saying to yourself “the weather is crazy out there” is much better than “it’s really miserable outside”

You could also use the elastic band on wrist favourite, and give yourself a quick reminder by flicking it against your skin any time you think something negatively.

Even better swap the band to the opposite wrist each time you have a negative thought. I can tell you from experience this becomes pretty tedious and it’s easier to just drop the negative words! We won’t clear them all out but your brain will soon begin to get what this is all about and you will literally start thinking, saying and using more new positive patterns in your everyday language.

Have Fun cleaning up your selftalk vocabulary.
For information about my online and one to one work
www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com

Why it’s hard to lose weight only using will power and what you can do about it

Weight Loss

Hypnosis – Emotional Freedom Technique – NLP

It takes a lot of energy and continued vigilance to use the conscious mind to help with weight loss, and the chances for long term success are, as we all know, not good. Dieting is notorious for being able to achieve short term results but not necessarily so good for the long term. Counting calories is difficult and it is hard work to keep the momentum going.

Although making any worthwhile change is likely to need some will power finding the most efficient and successful option is especially important for weight control.

Hypnosis is a favourite way to change old habits and replace them with new healthy ones. However we have to know how to engage the brain chemicals we want and disengage the ones we don’t want.

Sounds complicated but with the right information it can be done. Serotonin, Dopamine, Endorphins and Oxytocin are all “feel good chemicals” being constantly triggered in the body. We just aren’t always consciously aware when they are operating and how to make them work to our advantage.

Dopamine gives us a “feel good” hit. But what we don’t always have is a buffer to first check if this is a healthy dopamine fix or just a short term gain? The question we must ask is am I going to enjoy that hit in a healthy way or am I just fuelling an addiction? Our brains are wired to look for dopamine hits but our brains are not always listening to our cognitive thinking process. We need to be able to weigh up whether something is healthy for us or not and be able to act on that information.

By eating that chocolate or doughnut when we feel sad, disappointed or bored we have been getting our shot of dopamine. But that is a fake hit that literally will continually need feeding. And unfortunately it will be followed by regret and an unpleasant shot of cortisol that tells us we have failed again.

The key is knowing how to recognise these “feel good chemicals” (feelings) and be able to respond appropriately by using them to our advantage. If we can do this then we will start to have some control over our unconscious thinking processes and achieve much better results.

Hypnosis, EFT and NLP are great tools to help us engage in this sort of work. They help our mind and body coordinate and connect so we can make powerful unconscious changes. This does not mean that we just close our eyes and it all happens. An important part of exploring these good feelings is our own engagement in the process.

So knowing how to engage your happy chemicals you will be able to engage your will power. This will really help you achieve the results you have been looking for. Knowing how to use these brain chemicals in the best way for your personal health and satisfaction will help you make more of the healthy choices you deserve.

The PROBLEM with Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

The problem with Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

Is there a problem with hypnosis and hypnotherapy? Not at all, as long as it is done ethically.

The problem in our mind comes when we muddle hypnotherapy up with what we see on television and with stage hypnosis. A short clip of someone resolving an issue on television or YouTube is just that. It’s short, and it is a only a clip. So we are not privy to the actual work done backstage and the time and the techniques used to elicit trance.

Hypnosis is a remarkable tool that gives a skilled hypnotherapist the opportunity to help clients make rapid and lasting change. However there are many other tools a hypnotherapist must have if they want to work with the wide range of issues that clients bring to their office.

Another factor equally important is the client. The client is not just someone who is going to be told what to do and how to feel. Like anything we learn in life it involves the active participation of both therapist and client. To get the most from a hypnotherapy session we must be willing and ready to engage in the process.

Watching from the comfort of our armchair as a hypnotist taps a line of participants on the shoulder and says “sleep” can be very entertaining as one by one heads nod forward and they are put into trance. But this is stage hypnosis not hypnotherapy and only about 1 in 10 people are able to reach that state as rapidly as we see on stage. Even on stage as a third of the audience run forward to be “hypnotised” most will be sent back to their seats. A skilled hypnotist knows instantly the ones who will naturally and rapidly respond to their commands.

However virtually anyone can go into trance. In fact it would be difficult to operate in our daily life if we couldn’t. We are all experiencing different trances throughout the day. Driving, socialising, watching TV are all forms of trance that help us enter and engage appropriately with each experience we are in at any given moment.

Hypnotherapy is a two lane highway where client and therapist work alongside each other to help achieve the client’s goals. This work is a process of connecting new empowering and positive neural pathways just like learning any skills. We practise any skill not just with our muscles but with our mind.

Your mind, given the right keys to release the changes you are looking for, already has that knowledge and it is available to you now.

Addiction – Is there a hypnotic loop that drives us?

Addction

Addiction and Dopamine

Addiction can be one of the hardest things in our lives to turn round. We may be able to rapidly “switch off” a phobia using hypnosis. And we may be surprised how quickly and effectively it is possible to release ourselves from anxiety and stress once we have the right tools to do so.

So why do addictions often take more time to resolve?

One reason is the complex neural and mental programmes working beneath our awareness and continuing to drive us however hard we try to resist.

We all live with addiction of some sort. Food, TV, Facebook, Video games, Alcohol etc. These are not bad habits as long they are under a certain amount of control. But when they are accompanied by negative changes in our daily life then it really is time to address them.

Do you recognise a warm relaxing feeling of pleasure and reward that your addiction gives you?

That feeling is the brain chemical dopamine and it plays a large part in the reason we get addicted. Addiction will follow the easy way to get dopamine hits. A dopamine hit that we have to earn is not as attractive as a dopamine hit we can get instantly. And soon we are locked into a cycle that takes over the brain and literally starts rewiring it!

Think this dopamine model doesn’t apply to you?

To change an addictive behaviour it is important to recognise what is happening on an unconscious level and bring it to a conscious level. For instance I just walked away from my computer to take some washing out of the machine. Nothing abnormal about that but…I then realised that emptying the machine gave me a little more dopamine reward than writing this post. When I have finished this post I will get a feeling of satisfaction and reward. But I will have to wait for that reward until I have finished.

Emptying the washing machine gives me feeling of satisfaction and reward that I can get NOW! And the point is that it is fractionally more than I get from relentlessly typing on the computer keyboard!

Just start to notice these subtle triggers in your daily life

Now is the time to start controlling any destructive habits. Hypnosis, NLP, EFT and EMDR are powerful tools to help you kick the old habits.  As you start to recognise these subtle triggers you may be very surprised at what is happening.

Knowledge is the first key to achieving change. The second is having the tools to make the change. A good professional therapist will have the tools and knowledge to help guide and support you all the way.

Roger Foxwell MBSCH Dhyp DHP

Hypnotherapy, Emotional Freedom Technique, NLP, EMDR

Covid-19 stress and anxiety

These are troubling times for all of us and there will be very few people in the world not experiencing some form of stress or anxiety over the Coronavirus situation. One of the hardest parts is the “not knowing”. Not knowing how long it will go on for, what the future will bring even after it is over and of course how best to keep ourselves and loved ones safe and healthy.

Unfortunately there really are no quick and easy answers to these questions but in the meantime the priority is to look after ourselves and those around us as best we can.

Below I am offering a relaxation sequence that will only take 3 minutes or so to do but in my experience will help you reach a level of relaxation that hypnosis and meditation would normally take 15 to 20 minutes to reach.

I put it together this January (2020) from material I had been using very successfully with clients and was pleasantly surprised at it’s effectiveness plus we don’t always have 20 minutes or so to do the longer hypnosis sequences.

I hope you enjoy it. I will be putting out a YouTube video in the near future but here are the instructions.

 

3 Step 3 Minute Deep Relax

(Use when in a safe relaxing place and do not use when driving)

1.

Sit or lie comfortably. Place your right hand over your heart

Close your eyes and take 10 slow, easy abdomen breaths (lips closed in and out if you can) noticing the breath starting from the abdomen and the gentle rise and fall of your chest

2.

Continue slow breathing for another 10 breaths, this time breathing in through the nose (if possible) and out through gently pursed lips with a “Pheeew” sound on each out breath. (Lips as if you were slightly about to whistle on each “Phew”)

3.

Continue with another 10 slow abdomen breaths, eyes closed, and gently whisper and repeat to yourself or out loud, numbers starting with I on the out breath then two on the second out breath and so on up to the 10th breath.

With each number sounding like a ball bouncing less and less until it comes to rest it will go like this –

Breath in – then on out breath say– 111111111….. 

– Second out breath say 2222222222…….

– Third breath say      3333333333….

4………

5……… Etc. .

……and on up to 10

You can of course extend the number of breaths or reduce them depending on how long you have.

I recommend using this 3 times a day for the first week or so, and then when you begin to experience more relaxation throughout the day use it once a day 3– 5 days a week. (or of course any time you like)

Also use it to get to sleep or if you wake up and want to get back to sleep or just sitting or lying down.

 

Until the CV issue is past there are no face to face sessions at my office though online and telephone sessions are always available as usual

www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk                   roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk

Copyright 15 01 2020