IBS. Irritable Bowel Issues

Irritable Bowel Issues

Do you have IBS

IBS is an issue that I regularly help clients with. Recently I saw a young man who had just left college and was now working in a local supermarket. Unfortunately he had been suffering from IBS since he was a teenager at school and it had become a more and more chronic issue that was not only very painful at times but had begun to restrict many of his activities socially and professionally.

Every journey away from home had to be calculated in advance and longer periods away and travelling long distances had become out of the question. He was finding the stress hard to manage which obviously exacerbated the symptoms so things like holidays and family reunions, unless they were close by, were becoming increasingly difficult to attend. His girlfriend was supportive but obviously she would have liked them to be able to spend more time out together and be able to go on holidays so this was also a restriction for her.

Now anyone suffering from IBS symptoms will most probably recognise what I am saying and working as a clinical hypnotherapist the story people give me is very much the same every time. They have probably had it for quite a few years and the discomfort and restriction in their lives is wearing them down and depressing them. The interesting thing is that I really can’t think of a client that I have worked with who has had IBS symptoms who has not experienced real change within the first session and after just two or three sessions has not returned to a virtually normal life style.

For IBS sufferers even the NHS website says that there is no cure for it. However there are many qualified professional hypnotherapists who are achieving really good results with their clients so if you are suffering from this it is well worth finding a hypnotherapist in your area who will be able to help you. It could make a big difference to your life and help free you from the restrictions and discomforts that are part of living with IBS.

Roger Foxwell is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, EFT and NLP practitioner. Contact Roger for more information and help.

[In the case of any physical issue always seek medical advice and get a professional medical diagnosis before embarking on any other treatment]

Depression is common but are we talking about it

Depression is common but are we talking about it?

There was an interesting documentary on BBC3 this week (09/07/13) about professional football and how even the top paid superstars can be at risk from depression. It was presented by former Premiership player Clarke Carlisle who has first hand experience of the emotional up and downs and highs and lows top sports people can experience. At one point he had attempted to take his own life and is now very much involved in helping maintain and improve the best support systems for professionals in any sport who are having difficulties in their lives with depression and dealing with the pressures that a high profile sporting career can bring.

The most important message to come out of this documentary was that depression is still something that many of us find hard to talk about and even harder to discuss with anyone if we have it. When Gary Speed the Wales National Football Team manager and celebrated footballer took his own life in 2011 not even the closest members of his family knew of his depression and state of mind.

Depression can be triggered by many things including loss and bereavement, anger or loss of a relationship, childhood experiences, drugs and other issues. For sports people and those in the public eye the pressure can be absolutely intense and belief in one’s own value, loneliness (even with so many people around) and isolation are just a few of the cocktail of doubts and insecurities that can begin to eat into an otherwise confident person’s internal thinking.

But neither do we do have to be a mega star to suffer from depression. It can hit anyone at any time in their life or career. If you think you or someone you know may be suffering from depressive symptoms a quick search on Google will find a lot of information from reputable sources to help find out more about it. Depression is an illness that can afflict anyone whatever their role in society but the message is always the same, don’t keep it to yourself and speak to someone you can trust. There is help out there and one phone call could make all the difference.

Roger Foxwell is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, EFT and NLP practitioner dealing in many areas including helping clients with depression get their lives back on track. For more information call 07970218451 email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk or visit www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk 

Got the Yips? Clench your left fist!

Got the Yips? Clench your left fist!

An article appeared in The Daily Telegraph today (yips tip) (10/07/13) with a tip that could help competitors in various sports “beat the yips”.

 

I work on a regular basis with both amateur and professional golfers and musicians and other sports people who suffer from the yips in various forms. Almost any sport or activity that relies on fine motor control can be a target for this issue whereby certain muscles refuse to cooperate thus sabotaging the intended movement. Darts players can find their fingers refusing to let go of the dart, a golfers putter hand can be hijacked by an uncontrolled movement at a crucial putt, musicians fingers can suddenly decide not to cooperate and as I noticed at Wimbledon the tennis player’s hand and arm tossing the ball up into the air can seem to go wildly out of control. At Wimbledon and on the golf tour these are all players at the top of their game with every facility available to them to hone their techniques to the finest degree. But the yips can strike right out of the blue seemingly from nowhere.

Now some of these issues can be put down to nerves and to a degree that can be part of the problem. Lack of confidence can easily lead to the body going into fight and flight mode, taking all finely tuned and organised movements out of the part of the brain that has set the sequence into the unconscious and throwing it back into the conscious mind putting us back into what feels like “beginner” mode.

In my opinion when working on this issue an important and vital part of the process back to muscular control has to be a real cleanup of the unconscious baggage that we carry around. Just imagine your brain attempting to carry out a finely tuned muscular sequence. To be able to repeat this sequence correctly we must practise the movement until it has become to all intents and purposes automatic. Now imagine giving that command to the command centre in your brain but suddenly a contradictory command appearing simultaneously! Total disaster ensues with no conscious understanding of why the movement was hijacked. Of course our unconscious knows why and also knows what this old programme is all about but it is a programme we won’t be able to think our way out of. Like a computer with a virus, until that virus has been removed the system will never return to it’s previous smooth operational state.

EFT is a technique that has in my experience and according to a study at Sheffield Hallam University a good track record in helping amateur and professional golfers overcome the yips. When working with my clients on the yips I use EFT, Hypnosis and NLP plus various mental programming techniques that I have designed to help reprogramme the internal emotional thinking and the external physical movements. So that is where the idea of clenching the left hand to activate the right side of the brain, as the article in The Daily Telegraph suggests, makes a lot of sense because the negative messages have found their way into a space in our minds that we don’t want them to be in. By doing this we are making a positive change in our mental programming system.

Below is a review from one of my clients and I know it worked because I went out and played golf with him after just three sessions. I could see no sign of a yip and he beat me!

“I had suffered from the yips for over twenty years … I tried all possible strange grips and combinations … today I am free of the yips and shot a 72 on my par 69 course…”

Roger Foxwell is a qualified Hypnotherapist, EFT and NLP practitioner. If you would like to contact him for more information just call 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk or visit.www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk

Musicians and Golfers do you need 10,000 hours practice

Musician

It has been accapted for a while now through research by best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell that to achieve mastery in a subject or discipline 10,000 hours of study or practise is the magic number that will help bring the requisite rewards. However a recent study as outlined in Time has come up with new research that doubts whether this is the whole picture. Of course even if we take the 10,000 hours as read then there are obviously factors such as physical and practical suitability and genetics that would be taken onto account.

However further research by Zach Hambrick and colleagues at Michigan State University have found that the10,000 hour rule really only applied to between 30% and 34% of musicians and chess masters that they studied. In fact they found that two thirds of the difference was unrelated to practice with massive differences in the time it would take one person to reach an elevated level in their field as against another in the same area of expertise.

So, as most professional musicians, golfers or anyone developing high level skills will know the whole issue is extremely complex as the researchers testified.

As someone who has trained to a high professional level in music (violin) with copious amounts of practise I have always taken a great interest in what is the difference that makes the difference in successfully achieving goals? Since I work helping professional golfers, sports persons and musicians get closer to discovering their own personal formula that will help bring out their best potential it is fascinating to actually be using my insider knowledge to help develop my own skill sets and pass that information on to my clients.

Some of the key strategies include:

• An intense desire to achieve a successful outcome
• A discipline ethic that will carry one through even when things are tough
• An ability to convert that work ethic into a pleasure so that it no longer becomes work but something you just can’t stop doing
• A linking of the creative mind with the analytical that produces a synthesis of artistic and technical skills.

Now there is much more to this but knowing how to take our skills to the next creative level is a skill in itself. However once we can tap into this whole process it can hugely accelerate our progress and maybe we won’t need 10,00 hours after all? Or maybe we will use much more than 10,000 hours because nobody can stop us since we enjoy developing our skill so much.

If you are ready to move to the next level I can help you. Using Hypnosis, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) plus a fascinating range of techniques that my own knowledge in this area has helped me develop you really could find yourself in another level of expertise and pleasure in your chosen skillset.

For more information just call me on 07970218451 or email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com or visit www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk

Suffering from insomnia? Hypnosis can help you sleep and so can these 3 tips

Suffering from insomnia

Suffering from insomnia? Hypnosis can help you sleep and so can these 3 tips.

I work regularly with clients who suffer from poor sleep patterns and as anyone who is in this situation knows it can have a devastating effect on the day when you don’t get at least a reasonable night’s sleep.

Just last week someone came to my office with chronic insomnia and he really could not remember when he last got any sleep at all apart from the occasions when he became so exhausted that his body and mind could just not stay awake any longer. This seemed to cycle in four to five day patterns of no sleep then one night’s sleep due to sheer exhaustion.

If you are struggling getting to sleep or you are waking in the middle of the night try these three tips:

• Avoid checking your clock to see what time it is when you are in bed. If each time you wake up and check the clock this can set up a trigger to awake at the same time every night.

• Lie on your back in bed and try tensing your body for 30 seconds then completely relaxing for 60 seconds. Do this three or four times in a row. It can be pretty effective.

• While lying quietly close your eyes and then visualise yourself relaxing every part of your body very slowly and in order. Start at the toes and go methodically through each toe and each leg focusing on each part and each muscle relaxing individually. You may find yourself falling asleep before you get very far.

My client used these techniques, and along with the work we did in the session was soon sleeping right through. I hope they help you. To find out more just contact me for help.

Roger Foxwell is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Personal Change Coach and NLP and EFT practitioner. For more information email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com or visit https://www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk

Planning to Stop Smoking. Then make a plan!

Stop Smoking

When you are ready to stop smoking an important part of the process is to make a plan. Making a plan and writing it down will greatly enhance your chances of success. If you intend to cut down gradually mark the numbers you decide on in your diary and tick each success off. To stop smoking completely and immediately mark down the day you made or are going to make that decision so that it becomes registered in your mind. Some people like to tell friends and family to help focus on taking responsibility for getting a result and others just like to quietly go about it with no fuss or peer pressure. It is your choice and the clearer in your mind the steps you take the easier you will find it to get your result.

Planning will make it a lot easier and will help keep you focused. If you would like more help to quit smoking using hypnosis then call me on 07970218451 or email rogerfoxwell.therapy@gmail.com and I will be happy to help you kick the habit.

How these voice tips and hypnosis can help you speak confidently in public.

Public Speaking

Public Speaking with confidence

In my hypnotherapy sessions I work with a lot of business people who are having difficulties with public speaking and giving presentations. Hypnosis and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) are ideal vehicles to help make powerful and lasting change very effectively and rapidly. However when dealing with these issues an important part of a session will almost always include some simple voice projection exercises. In my opinion these are vital to giving a confident and well projected speech. We may have all the confidence in the world but if no one understands or hears clearly what we are saying then our message will not get across. Now I am not a voice coach and voice coaching could well be something worth following up but I do offer in my sessions as a bonus some very simple voice exercises that will really help get your message across in any situation. I originally began looking for some simple but effective voice development techniques at a time when I felt my voice could be more assertive in certain situations. It is one thing having the ability to produce a smooth and soothing hypnotic voice but trying to order a drink in a crowded bar or give a presentation to a hundred people is another!

To give you a taste of some of these simple exercises try pointing to your nose and saying “this is my nose.” Then do the same thing with your lips, your throat and your chest. Interestingly you will probably notice a change in voice tone that bears a resemblance to where you are pointing especially when you point at your nose. As you become more aware of this you can begin to develop the resonance and timbre in your voice that is required to command attention when it is needed. I soon noticed once I started practising these techniques was that as my own voice developed in resonance and the actual feedback I was getting inside my head from my voice helped add to my speaking and personal confidence.

How rapidly we speak and how much variation in tone and pitch are also important for best results. Remember you know what you are saying but people listening will need extra time to process it. Speaking just a little slower will help this and also give you more time to organise your thoughts. Every positive change you make will add to your confidence whilst diminishing the anxiety and this will help you achieve the results you are looking for. Like a lot of things in life once we know where to start and which techniques to use it really is possible to make positive and lasting changes very quickly. Yes, you really could be getting your message across clearly and confidently in just a few weeks.

If you would like to develop your confidence, your presentation and public speaking skills with the help of hypnosis and the power of your own mind please call me on 07970218451 or you can email to either book an appointment or to find out more.

I haven’t got time!

No Time

How often do you find yourself saying “I haven’t got time”? We all do it don’t we. Life and Success Coach Bob Proctor says “Everybody gets exactly the same amount of time and that’s all there is.” Time won’t change but we can “make time.” If we wait for another year we won’t have a minute more or a minute less.

If you would like to know how my unique and empowering hypnotherapy and EFT techniques can help you reorganise your life and personal confidence just call me on 07970218451 or email and I will be very happy to chat through whatever issues you would like to work on.

Flying Phobia

Flying Phobia

One of my posts deals with Flying Phobia so it is always nice to get a text back from a recent client when they arrive home from their holiday and no phobia. A recent client wanted to go to Spain with her friends but was absolutely terrified of flying and had already backed out of a previous holiday for that reason.

We had one initial session a few weeks before she was due to fly and she immediately found that she really was not worrying about it anymore at all. However as the date got closer she began to experience some of the old feelings so thought she had better come and see me for a back up session.

It is interesting working with something such as flying since the conscious mind is often not quite sure whether any change has occurred. Until you experience stepping onto the plane you don’t know consciously if the therapy has worked. Although our conscious mind knows that our fear is irrational and unfounded it is interesting that when our unconscious allows us to let go of the fear the conscious often still needs proof and is still not always totally convinced. This is where we need to trust this creative part of ourselves and avoid too many internal questions as the positive change becomes a natural experience.

Hypnosis allows us to bypass our conscious questioning and that is exactly what we did in the session just a couple of days before her holiday. It also allows us to visualise a sequence of events in such a way that they become, in a sense, real. Visualising the flight and other important details whilst connecting it to feelings of relaxation and calm can, according to research, be as powerfully compelling as experiencing the real thing.

Oh yes, and here is the text she sent me when she got home:

“Hi Roger just bk my hol was absolutely fab i was gr8 on plane was a bit nervous at 1st then completely went away quite enjoyed it defo do it again i even fell asleep on the way back … thanks very much”

The initial “bit nervous at 1st” is an example of the conscious mind still not quite believing that it really can feel safe. However when the unconscious has been reprogrammed powerfully enough the conscious mind is then able to take a back seat and just relax.  Somewhere within us we really do know how to make these changes and by allowing that part to do what it needs to do and change what it needs to change  the new feelings will naturally become fully integrated into our actual live experience.