It often amazes me the places and situations that Cognitive Hypnotherapy leads me. Earlier on this year, I met a gentleman called John Sayer who runs a breakfast business networking group called the Muesli Mafia. We spent some time chatting about what we do and after a short while he requested that I give a presentation to the Mafiosi, to which I agreed. I wondered for a while on what content to present. I wanted to give away something that would be useful for everybody and decided that some information and a technique on pain management would be a good idea.

This morning, at Oakley House in Bromley, I gave that presentation. I must say that a thoroughly enjoyed it. After a wonderfully warm welcome, I explained a little about why Cognitive Hypnotherapy is so effective and also demonstrated a technique called the “Sub-Modality Headache Cure” with the help of Sue Williams of Vital Maintenance . All went well and we successfully managed to reduce the pain level of her headache. I find that this technique is valuable in so many ways. It is quick and easy to teach anyone and at the same time can be simply adapted to other problems such as stress and negative emotions. From the feedback that I have had so far I believe that it is something that you have found interesting and I hope that it may have planted a seed of interest about the mind-body connection.

I would like to thank everybody at the Muesli Mafia for giving me this chance to speak for you but also make a special thank you to Sue who was brave enough to stand up in front of everyone to demonstrate the technique. I hope that you find the information useful in the future for reducing unwanted pain.

I look forward to doing more presentations soon. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them on the form below.

Mappiness

Happiness with Mappiness

Measuring happiness can be a difficult thing. Do you have an iphone or ipad? If you do, I urge you to download the free Mappiness app. I did just over a month ago and have found the results rather interesting.

Why should I do this?

You can gain detailed information about where and with whom you are the happiest. You also will be contributing to a research project for the London School of Economics.

How much time will this take?

Very little. You can download the app from Apple’s App Store and then it takes a couple of minutes to set up. You can set how many times a day you wish to give data so that it does not become intrusive. After a few days, you can look at graphs and charts that show you how happy you are and with whom and where you got that happy feeling. In addition, it can show you what you are doing that makes you happy. The results may be quite a surprise to you.

What is the point of this research?

They are particularly interested in how happiness is affected by people’s local environment — air pollution, noise, green spaces, and so on. This data from mappiness will be great for investigation into how we interact and affect each other. They hope to have results published in academic journals and elsewhere.

The research is currently only being compiled for the UK but anyone throughout the world can use the app. I suppose if there are enough users elsewhere, the research could continue for other countries.

Where can I find out more?

You can look at their website at http://www.mappiness.org.uk/ . There you can also find the Map showing the areas in the UK where people are the happiest with photos of the happy environment.

It is the brainchild of George MacKerron a researcher at the department of Geography and Environment at the LSE. Below there is a video of him speaking at TEDx in Brighton.

As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, I believe that the results of this will help you and me as individuals but also could help the happiness of the country as a whole.

Please feel free to make any comments you have below or share with others on the social networks.

Selective attention

When we look around, we could be forgiven for thinking that we can see a detailed and comprehensive picture of our surroundings and environment. However, our brains can often deceive us and allow us to see things that are not there or completely miss things all together. This very short video below is a great example.

Inattentional Blindness

It is amazing how we can miss what it right in front of us. Over 50% of us do not see the gorilla. This is because our minds do not always work the way we think they should, especially when our attention is on something else. We see our surroundings from our own perspective and can miss many things. So often, modern life can produce these everyday illusions. So, what is your attention on and what are you missing? Imagine what a difference it would make if you changed the things you focused on. As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, I see that we all can miss countless things in our lives and I have helped many use this to achieve the changes that they want. The Cognitive Hypnotherapy model uses this phenomenon to help create change by helping people notice more of what they want to see and less of what they don’t. What do you want to see more or less of?

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The video was created by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons. After meeting at Harvard University in 1997, they joined forces in their research and later received the Nobel Prize in Psychology for “achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think”. They continue to work together and have now produced a book called The Invisible Gorilla. You can find out more about them and also videos and information of their other experiments on their website “The Invisible Gorilla”. It is well worth a look.

Please let me know your comments below.

Our sleep has such a huge impact on our lives. After all, most of us sleep for approximately one third of it. It is not just the amount of sleep that we get but also the quality of it. All too often, our busy, hectic, modern life can cause the quality of our sleep to decline. One in three of us have trouble in sleeping at some point in our lives.

Why do we sleep?

Sleep is part of our survival strategy. As the amount that we sleep reduces, our cognitive abilities decline affecting our abilities to learn, solve problems and use our memory. In fact, studies have shown that by sleeping soon after we have learnt something, our memory recall is improved. By reducing the amount that we sleep, our mood can decline resulting in depression. Improving the quality of our sleep can help regulate our emotions – keeping us sane.

Sleep enables our bodies to recuperate and repair more efficiently. Our mind and body is not dormant during those hours that we sleep. We synthesise new proteins, our muscles relax and rejuvenate as our energy is renewed. Growth hormones are produced along with others that help regulate hunger and our metabolism. Sleeping well can really help you lose unwanted body fat.

How well do you sleep?

I have treated many different people to help them improve the quality and amount of their sleep and it seems to be something that is becoming more and more of a problem each year. It is not unusual to get phone calls and emails asking for help. I would be very grateful if you would let me know how well you sleep in the poll below.

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The Cognitive Hypnotherapy Sleep Program

Although I prefer to work with people on a “One to One” basis, many people who contact me are situated a long way from my hometowns of Reigate and Redhill in Surrey. Due to the amount of people that have contacted me with sleep problems, I have decided to write a short sleep program that combines relaxation, Cognitive Hypnotherapy, stress reduction and tips on helping you sleep more productively. I am currently in the process of completing this now.

If the Cognitive Hypnotherapy Sleep Program is something that you may be interested in once it is completed, please let me know by using my contact form here.

Sleep tips

Just for the moment, try these tips below. Many of you will know these already but few actually really try to put them into practice. They can make a very big difference – take some action now to change your sleep patterns for the better.

Try to set a regular bedtime and wake up time

By going to sleep at the same time each evening and waking up at the same time each morning, you are setting up your up circadian rhythm to sleep well. Try not to break away from this routine at weekends.

Make your bedroom as dark as possible

Light stops the stimulation of your pineal gland to produce melatonin and serotonin. These hormones will help you to help sleep well. Even just a small amount of light can be enough to disrupt your sleep patterns. Light is a signal to your brain to be alert and awake. If you wake up in the night, try not to turn any on lights as this will affect your ability to get back to sleep.

Reduce your fluid intake just before bedtime

It would be for the best not to drink at all in the two hours before bedtime. Make sure you go to the toilet just before you go to bed. This may well stop you waking in the middle of the night.

No TV in the bedroom

The television can stimulate you in the one place that you really want to be calm and relaxed. Keep it switched off or take it out of the room.

Keep your bedroom cool

Try to keep the temperature in your bedroom below 18°C or 65°F. You can still keep warm with blankets and duvets. It is the temperature of the air that you are breathing that can make a difference.

7 / 11 Breathing

When you are in bed, practice inhaling for the count of 7 and the exhaling for the count 11. The amount of time you spend on each breath is not important – it is the ratio that is relevant. This can help your brain waves change to allow you to fall asleep. It can be difficult at first but after a few minutes, you may find that you get the hang of it.

I hope that this helps you achieve a good night’s sleep and please feel free to add any comments you have below.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can help further.

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Cognitive Hypnotherapy meets the Muesli Mafia

Happiness – where and with whom are you the happiest