How does the pandemic affect your mental health and everyday life?

Mental Health

After Covid

Although many countries are back to relative normality after Covid close to the surface there are still major issues the pandemic has left behind. This means that many people still continue to experience both physical and emotional difficulties from Covid.

There are 3 words that I write on the initial notes for virtually every client’s first session.

AM I SAFE?”

From both a physical and mental viewpoint Covid has left us all feeling unsafe

If you are still experiencing these sort of issues and find that you have not found a way forward emotionally or mentally I offer a healing protocol using Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique and Eye Movement Therapy plus working with the Vagus Nerve (which is of prime importance in the healing process). I have been using these techniques for many years now with excellent success and offer clients on a daily basis the tools and strategies that they can begin to use to help turn their lives round.

Hypnosis has many facets of healing body and mind and a major one is helping us learn to relax again. If we cannot relax then the body cannot heal since it is using all its energy to keep us safe. Hypnosis will encourage the healing response through deep relaxation

Emotional Freedom Technique is now a very popular healing technique that my clients always love to use. Here we literally gently tap on acupressure points helping the body and mind release inner tension both physically and mentally. This helps us stabilise our emotions and release blocked energy stored in the body.

Eye movement Therapy has been available for many years now but it is only relatively recently that research has been done showing how our eye movements hold so much valuable information past and present.

The Vagus Nerve is another area that only relatively recently has been shown to have a much more profound effect on our body and mind than was originally thought. Using the latest scientific information we can make amazingly powerful changes to our lives using the simplest of techniques that will naturally help engage more healing and healthy experiences for our everyday lives.

If you would like to learn more about this work and how it could help you please feel free to contact me and I will be very happy to help.

For more information about one to one sessions online in English anywhere in the world please feel free to contact me

www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk 07970218451 rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com

How to “Stay out of the Jungle” folks!

Feel Happy

It’s tough living in the jungle isn’t it!

Well OK we don’t live in the actual jungle but we certainly seem to spend a lot of time in what feels like the jungle. So why, so often does it feel this way?

Anytime we experience a perception of danger our brain will respond in a primal way as if we are being chased by tigers. This is what it was designed to do. The words “fight and flight” are used these days to describe this experience but from a biochemical perspective we are being triggered into something closer to “life or death”.

We are all in effect still living in the jungle but in a different jungle. Whereas in the real jungle there is instant and present danger, in our modern jungle we are being constantly exposed to a “drip feed” of knocks, disappointments and worries that gradually build up until we are locked in full “fight and flight” mode.

Now fortunately if something really dangerous happens our brain knows how to instantly switch on everything needed to protect ourselves. The problem comes when we become “locked” into full “fight and flight” virtually every moment of our lives.

To find our way out of this self imposed jungle we need the tools to be able to regulate our own autonomic (automatic) nervous system in our everyday life. We also need the skills to upgrade our thinking and perceptions to help support us rather than frighten us.

Hypnosis to relax the body and mind, Emotional Freedom Technique to help release past build up of negative experiences and feelings, plus simple yet extremely powerful strategies to help build a truly positive and pleasurable future are just some of the very effective techniques I offer my clients on a daily basis.

For more information please email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com and I will be very happy to help.

EFT and Hypnosis for Sport

EFT and Hypnosis

All over the world EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and Hypnosis have been used for many years, helping professionals (and amateurs) release and improve mind and body issues in their game. Virtually every professional and also top amateur will be looking for that small but critical edge to help take them to the next level. In fact if we just want to enjoy our social round of golf or game of tennis then it will also be more satisfying if we can spend a little time pleasurably improving our skills.

However our skills can often be sabotaged by our thinking patterns and mental programmes getting in the way of our ability.

In Chinese medicine it is said that “when the energy is circulating we can deal with the difficult things and enjoy the good things” We know that hypnosis is a powerful way to help build a sense of relaxation and quiet within the mind whilst also creating a powerful vision for confidence and self belief. Add to that the energy clearing technique EFT, based around acupressure points, and you have tools that will really help you retrain your thinking and your connection with your body. The extra bonus in EFT is that you can “take it with you” and use it for whatever is going on in your game or your life at the time.

If you would like to know more about how EFT, Hypnosis, Eye movement therapy and other techniques I use can help your life in many positive ways please contact me.

www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk 07970218451 (UK) rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com

All sessions are available online or face to face

Have you been Forest Bathing recently?

Forest Bathing

“Forest Bathing” or “Bathing yourself in the forest atmosphere” is a Japanese term describing how taking a walk in the forest and connecting with nature is extremely good for your physical and mental health.

So how good would it be if you could help promote your own happiness and mental and physical health in simple pleasurable ways like Forest Bathing? Walking in nature helps generate a cascade of feel good chemicals in our brain such as serotonin dopamine and endorphins.

Of course we can choose to get serotonin from a pill and doctors regularly prescribe anti depressants which help boost serotonin, not just for depression but also for other issues such as IBS, PTSD, Stress and ME. These issues and others can leave patients low on serotonin and serotonin is one of the “happy” brain chemicals that help support our sense of well being on a daily basis. However pills do not always work for everyone and what better than being able to manufacture our own positive brain chemicals.

We have all learned, especially over the last couple of years how important getting out and walking is. Walking in a natural environment such as the forest, helps us relax, releases stress and promotes these “happy” chemicals Serotonin, Endorphins, Dopamine and Oxytocin. Walking in a meditative state, listening to the birds, smelling the pine needles and gently soaking in the atmosphere all unconsciously direct the brain and body towards more relaxed, safer, connected and peaceful experiences in our daily life. And regular daily walking has been proven to increase cardio fitness, strengthen the body, and increase endurance levels plus many other important benefits.

There are many simple and powerfully effective ways that I use with clients to help release stress and anxiety. Hypnosis is also another extremely empowering and beneficial way to learn how to relax and EFT to help clear past issues that have been holding us back.

But how amazing it is that we can learn to change our own brain chemistry for the better on a daily basis by taking a simple walk. Body and mind are designed to work together in promoting our healthiest mental and physical experiences.

We were born with our own set of instructions and with the tools to unlock those instructions we can use and help build a better life of satisfaction and pleasure. Enjoy it.

Why you should address your stress and anxiety now?

Hypnosis and EFT are very effective ways you can release stress and worry

We may think stress is “all in the mind”. Even though it may appear to start in our mind there is no separating it from our body. That frightened feeling you experience in your stomach is cortisol and the fact your heart is racing so fast is adrenaline. stressed or relaxed

However these experiences are in fact designed to keep you safe. This means you can physically run for your life if you need to. But in our modern everyday life we are usually “imprisoned” in our experience when the brain signals to the body to produce a whole raft of “Fight and Flight” chemicals. This reaction to stress is part of our limbic system’s response to danger. However that response is primed for the jungle and in effect only has an “on/off” button. This means that once it switches on we have very few options to “turn it down” to a more realistic level.

Experiencing “happy” body and mind chemicals is great but they don’t last very long. So these feelings quickly become stored in the body. Recent scientific research has shown that physical issues can be exacerbated and even triggered by stress. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402162546.htm And stress has been cited as a possible trigger in Autoimmune diseases such as Chronic Fatigue, Fybromalgia and more.

Ongoing tension and chronic anxiety can lead to structural changes in the brain as well as physical issues such as headaches, IBS, rises in blood pressure and sleep problems. According to the research as the tension rises the body’s inflammation response finds it harder to heal our body in the way it would normally do.

However if you do want to be able to release and resolve stress levels in your life (wherever they come from) Hypnosis and EFT can make rapid positive changes in your daily experiences and help get you back on track for a healthier and more enjoyable future.

More and more professional mental health practitioners are now bringing physical and mental programmes together to help both body and mind heal. Using both body and mind we can start to engage in new patterns of thinking and healing. With tried and tested tools such as Hypnotherapy and Emotional Freedom Technique we have an effective and powerful opportunity to help match up the body responses together with the mind. This I know from my experience as a qualified hypnotherapist really helps bring about change that lasts.

If you would like to know more about the work I offer clients online all over the world and face to face in my office please visit www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk

How does EFT tapping work?

Emotional Freedom Technique (“Tapping”) and the issues that connect each tapping point to the meridian lines in the body

Lets look at the tapping points for EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and some of the emotional issue each point is linked to. EFT Technique

Clients often ask me what issue each tapping point stands for and although it is not at all necessary to know it is interesting to have an idea of some of the emotional connections of each meridian point.

I originally trained in TFT (Thought Field Therapy devised by Dr Roger Callahan) which is the technique that EFT grew from (developed by Gary Craig). In TFT there are certain combinations of points one would tap on for each particular issue, whereas in EFT we tap around all the points in order whilst verbalising (out loud or to ourselves) how we are feeling about the issue we are working on.

This makes it easy to use at home since it is very simple to remember the sequence. So whether I am helping clients tap to release past issues, to feel confident at work or take a driving test the basic sequence is the same.

So starting with tapping on the “karate chop” point we have:

Side of hand Sadness.    This is also a general point where we acknowledge how we feel and the issue we are working on

Inner eyebrow Trauma, Hurt Sadness

Outside of the eyebrow Rage Anger Frustration, Uneasiness

Under the eye Fear Anxiety Worry

Under the nose Shame Guilt Grief

Under the lip Confusion Embarrassment Uncertainty

Collarbone Worry Stuck Indecision

Under the arm Insecurity Obsession Self esteem

Top of the head Lack of focus, Ruminating

For more information about my work using EFT, Hypnosis, Eye movement therapy and techniques to help improve your life please visit www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk or email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com

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

Is Dyslexia just fear and stress?

No, dyslexia is not just fear and stress however fear and stress are a large part of the issue. If fear and stress and past trauma are left unresolved the stress and psychological damage of dyslexia will be left lodged deeply in the mind and the body. This will then be consistently blocking attempts to help resolve the issue. Dyslexia

There are different levels of dyslexia as well as different forms. Fortunately there are many ways to help people with dyslexia improve their reading and writing skills with many well qualified clinicians with the appropriate skills to help.

Now a hypnotherapist is not necessarily versed in the various forms of dyslexia and available scientific treatments but one thing hypnotherapy can do is help clear past trauma and stress. The skills of a good professional hypnotherapist can significantly help clients relax and control their stress issues. Clients come to see me with many different issues and along with dyslexic clients regularly make more progress in two or three sessions than they have in their lifetime. How? By learning how to control their own autonomic (automatic) nervous system when in states of stress.

This helps dyslexic clients gain so much more control over their mental processes, confidence and clarity of thinking. I have seen quite remarkable changes in clients in their 50’s, who have just about managed to negotiate their lives with this almost crippling issue to university students whose whole process and speed of learning was significantly uprated in just two sessions within a fortnight.

How is this the case? In my experience as a therapist virtually all the issues I help clients with start with unresolved stress and trauma. Our logical prefrontal cortex will be overpowered every time by our mammal brain which is continually looking out for danger.

This part of our brain is literally 4 times stronger than our logical thinking brain (the prefrontal cortex). It’s primary purpose was to keep us safe when our ancestors were living in the jungle. And once it kicks in we will either revert to Fight or Flight, or Freeze mode.

In fight or flight we are literally thrown into a full defensive state of cortisol and adrenaline. This is required to prevent us from getting killed. Although that state will help us flee from a tiger it is definitely not going to help our brain access fine motor skills and clarity of thinking. On top of that the whole system might go into in freeze (where we are in effect feigning dead) in the hope that the predator will exit the chase and leave us alone. At this point we have no access to any higher thinking process whatsoever.

Yes, these are the basic responses we needed in the jungle and they are extremely powerful. But unless we can begin to take some control over our own autonomic nervous system we will forever be bounced around with no degree of control over the outcome.

This is why I help clients with Dyslexia and many other issues take back control over their own thoughts and feelings in what were very uncomfortable situations. This is the first step in moving forward and once more accessing our logical and organised thinking processes.

For more information please contact me at rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com or visit

www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk

“Look Up” and change your life

If you are a Snoopy fan, and I doubt there are many of us that aren’t, one of my favorites is a picture of Snoopy, head raised towards the sky with the words “keep looking up…that’s the secret of life”. Look Up

This is so true on all levels. When we look up we are opening our panoramic vision and when we open our panoramic vision we are engaging our parasympathetic nervous system. This switches our nervous system over from a closed, guarded body and mind state to an open and relaxed state of safety.

One thing we never have to worry about is whether or not our fight and flight will kick in whenever we need it. That part of us is hardwired into the system and is always ready to protect us if, and when we need it. The problem comes when we want to move easily between our relaxation state, into fight and flight, and then back again. Our primal brain will easily override our logical thinking cortex which explains why it is very hard to THINK our way out of these negative thinking and experiences.

However the simple change from physically looking down to actually looking up will trigger a whole chain of neurons and brain chemicals that will instantly take us closer to the state of relaxed awareness we would like to be in most of the day.

By consciously triggering this “looking up” and engaging your panoramic vision you will literally be tuning into a lighter, brighter more engaged part of yourself. You will be changing billions of neurons and connections with one simple adjustment.

According to Peter Grunwald’s excellent book EYEBODY 60% of the brain is involved in visual processing. This means our eye movements are continually connecting with virtually every part of our body and mind.

So, to make subtle and powerful changes in your daily life just –

LOOK UP”

For more information on my therapy work using Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique, Eye Movement Reprocessing with remarkably simple but empowering techniques to help reprogramme your life please visit my website

www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk