Walk to Calm

I have always enjoyed exercise, particularly aerobic classes. However, recently, I have discovered the wonderful benefits of walking and running outside.

There are numerous physical benefits to walking. It is great exercise, a fantastic to lose weight, it is free, it is low impact and an exercise you can do with friends. Exercise releases endorphins, which are your feel good hormones. If you do not do much exercise, walking is a great way to build up your fitness.

In addition to the physical benefits of walking, there are numerous psychological benefits. It alleviates stress. When we feel stressed our body releases adrenaline, preparing us to run or fight. Walking works your muscles, using the stress response in the way it was designed, thus alleviating stress.

Walking also allows you time to think. I find that going for a long walk is a very meditative experience. I think and resolve problems while I walk. The result being I feel calmer and more accomplished by the end. While you are walking your mind can drift and wander, often finding solutions to issues you had been struggling with.  It also feels good to see how gorgeous the world is. I appreciate that I am very fortunate to live in an incredibly beautiful part of the world, but almost anyone can find somewhere pretty to walk, reasonably close to where they live.

So how do you motivate yourself to get outside and go for walks?

1)      Start small. If you are very new to exercise then plan a half hour walk

2)      Make it beautiful. Walk somewhere with varied and interesting scenery.

3)      Make it social. Arrange to go walking with a friend. That way you’ll enjoy it more and by making a commitment to someone else, you are far more likely to stick to your plan.

So far we have talked exclusively about walking. However, running is also a wonderful form of exercise. It has all the physical and psychological benefits of walking. In addition, it also raises your heart rate so you are improving your cardio-vascular system.

Why not challenge yourself? Register for a fun run such as Race for Life. It will motivate you to train and you will feel an amazing sense of accomplishment when you are finished. I know I do after a race.

In September, I am taking part in a 25 mile walk, near Stonehenge, to raise money for Alzheimer’s sufferers. This is a wonderful cause. If you would like to sponsor me, please donate via the following link.
https://www.justgiving.com/Cat-Swatridge1

Are you struggling to lose weight? Or to manage stress? You can download great hypnosis MP3s for free (usually £10) to help with these issues simply by clicking the word "weight" or "stress" above. For more information about hypnotherapy get in touch on www.cs-hypnotherapy.co.uk

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Your Wealthy Mind

Your Wealthy Mind

Money is a big issue in many people’s lives. It is one of the areas of life, where many of us feel unfulfilled. It is not just about fancy cars, big houses and status symbols. Money also brings freedom. 

It brings freedom from worry, freedom to choose whether or not to work, freedom to travel, freedom to do what you want on your terms and freedom to make the best choices for your children.

Money is not the key to happiness and it does not solve all our problems. However, it does help to give more choice, alleviate worry and solves a lot of problems.

However, many people struggle with this area of their lives, often because they have distorted thinking patterns and behaviours when it comes to wealth.

These are very interesting, as they are often in conflict with each other.

We develop a lot of our thinking patterns as children. Did you ever hear any of the following phrases when you were growing up?

·         Money doesn’t make you happy

·         You can’t always have what you want

·         Rich people are greedy and arrogant

·         There is a finite amount of money in the world, so if one person gets more money, it means that another person loses it.

If we grow up with these sorts of beliefs ingrained in our subconscious mind, it is no wonder we struggle when it comes to money. We are constantly in conflict with ourselves. One part of us wants financial freedom and choices. Another part believes all the negative statements we have heard, and actively avoids wealth.

To become wealthy you must challenge and overcome these negative beliefs. Notice any negative beliefs you have about money and challenge them. Think of examples which prove those beliefs to be incorrect. Examine how logical some of those beliefs actually are.

However, it takes more than thoughts to make changes to our finances. We must also take action. Sometimes it can be difficult to motivate ourselves to step outside of our comfort zone and make the necessary changes. To order to make those changes, you need to associate pleasure with making those changes and becoming wealthy. You also need to associate pain with staying where you are financially.

A good way to do this is a technique called the Dicken’s Pattern.

Get yourself into a wonderful relaxed state and close your eyes. Now imagine how your life will be if you do not make changes to your financial life.

·         Which problems will be worse a few years down the line?

·         What will you miss out on in life?

·         How will you feel about missing out on these things?

·         What will you worry about?

·         What effects will worrying have on your physical and mental well being?

·         How will your time be limited?

·         What effect will this have on your relationships?

Really elaborate on this. Consider all the negative consequences of not having the wealth you desire. Feel the pain associated with this. Feel all the emotions and allow them to get stronger.

This allows you to really experience the pain associated with staying where you are in life.

As I said above, we are motivated away from pain and towards pleasure in life. Now you have experienced the pain associated with staying where you are, let’s experience the pleasure.

In the same way as you did before, get yourself into a nice relaxed state with your eyes closed. Now imagine how your life will be different when you are very wealthy. Experience;

·         what you will be doing

·         what you are wearing

·         where you are

·         the things you own

·         if and where you work

·         what you do in your spare time

·         where you live

·         what  you eat

·         how you can help those you love

·         how you can learn new things and work on your own personal development

Take a lot of time to do this. Make it as real and vivid as possible. Enjoy this exercise, it is a lot of fun. This exercise, The Dicken’s Pattern, allows you to really connect with the pain and the pleasure, which motivates you to make changes in your life.

It is wonderful to increase your motivation to make changes in your life. However, all the motivation in the world won’t make a difference unless you take action. The next step is goal setting. Having defined goals, is crucial to your success, in any area of your life. A vague goal such as “I want to be rich,” is simply not good enough. It doesn’t focus your attention enough. Design a goal which is specific and has defined time frame.

For example,

“I will have $1,000,000.00 in the bank before my 40^th birthday.”

 This goal, with a specific amount and time, increases your focus. Make your goal big. You’ll be a lot more motivated to make a million dollars than you would be to earn an extra $20,000 per year.

In addition to having a specific time orientated goal, attach an emotion to the goal.

 For example,

“I am very excited to have $1,000,000.00 in the bank before my 40^th birthday.”

Once you have your goal, write it down and read it aloud every day. I know this sounds a little weird! However, a high proportion of very successful people attribute their success to goal setting in this way. It’s important that you see your goal written down and also hear yourself saying it aloud. This allows you to experience the goal through two of your senses.

Now take at least one action every day which brings you closer to your goal. 

This is an incredibly broad subject and there is so much more to be discussed about the psychology of wealth. To find out more, I thoroughly recommend the following resources:

·         The Success Principles by Jack Canfield

·         Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

·         Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

·         YouTube videos of Tony Robbins and wealth

Would you like a free hypnosis MP3, worth £10, to help you to achieve the wealth you want in life? If so, click here.

If you have found this article helpful please share it and comment below.

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Hypnotherapy – a proven treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Hypnotherapy is generally associated with helping with issues of the mind, such as phobias, depression and habits.

However, hypnotherapy is also fantastic for helping with many physical issues, particularly Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The evidence to support the beneficial effects of hypnotherapy for IBS has been proven. It is one of the most successful ways of treating chronic IBS.

IBS is very common, affecting 10-15% of the U.S population.[1]  IBS is characterised by bouts of diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal cramps and swelling. It can be very painful. As well as the unpleasant physical sensations, people with IBS often worry about being close to a toilet. This can lead to increased anxiety and also limit where you can go and what you feel comfortable doing. Many people often feel down due to the effects of IBS.

It is unknown what causes IBS. There seems to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors. IBS tends to start in adult life and can, in some cases, start after a gut infection. IBS can run in families, with relatives of an individual with IBS being 2-3 times more likely to have IBS than the general population.[2] 

Unfortunately there is no cure for IBS and it is typically managed using a combination of diet and medication.

Hypnotherapy, as a treatment for IBS has been shown to be effective for about 70% of sufferers.[3]    

Hypnotherapy produces dramatic improvement of all the features associated with IBS (abdominal pain, abdominal distension, general wellbeing and bowel habits). In addition to producing dramatic effects, patients who receive hypnotherapy treatment for IBS do not relapse in the first 3 months.[4]

The evidence for the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for treating IBS is so strong that the National Health Service, in the U.K. prescribes hypnotherapy as a treatment for IBS in certain areas of the country.

Hypnotherapy can also be used in conjunction with traditional treatments such as medication. The advantages of hypnotherapy as a treatment are:

·         Hypnosis is pleasant

·         Many people prefer not to take medication and hypnotherapy provides a viable alternative

·         Hypnotherapy helps with the psychological aspects of IBS, such as anxiety about going out

·         The effects of hypnotherapy last well after treatment is complete.

·         There are no side effects

Hypnotherapy is wonderful for treating IBS, both the physical symptoms and the emotional effects. If you would like to try this wonderful treatment, get in touch on cs@cs-hypnotherapy.co.uk and I will send you a free MP3, usually only available for my one to one clients.

Here are a couple of additional techniques you can use at home to alleviate the symptoms of IBS.

The warm hand technique

This technique is designed to alleviate the pain and discomfort of IBS. You may be familiar with using a hot water bottle to relieve pain. This technique works on the same principle.

1.       Enter a state of hypnosis using the Enter Hypnosis MP3 available here.

2.       Imagine that you are in the most comfortable room with a fireplace, lying on a luxurious couch or bed.

3.       Imagine a fire burning in the fireplace, reasonably close you to.

4.       Imagine putting your hand near to the fire, so that your hand gradually warms up. Take some time to really feel your hand getting warmer and warmer. 

5.       When your hand feels really warm, move your hand to rest of your abdomen. Really do this, don’t just imagine it.

6.       Allow that warmth to spread from your hand deep into your abdomen.

7.       As the warmth spreads, any pain just melts away.

The River Technique

IBS is characterised by a bad flow through the digestive system. Either, the flow is too slow, causing constipation or it is too fast, leading to diarrhoea. Our minds have a lot more control over our bodies than we may realize. Even parts of our body that seem to work without any conscious thought, such as our blood flow, heart rate and digestive system are all affected by our minds. When we remember an embarrassing event we can blush again. This is an example of a single though affecting the dilation of the capillaries in our face. When people are anxious about something they often experience this anxiety in their stomachs.

The following exercise uses the mind body connection to help you with your IBS.

1.       Enter a state of hypnosis using the Enter Hypnosis MP3 available here.

2.       Imagine, sense or feel your gut, your entire digestive tract.

3.       Using your wonderful imagination, imagine your digestive system is a river.

4.       Imagine the beginning of your digestive system, where your food enters your stomach. See the river as flowing easily and smoothly. Take the time to really visualise this as clearly as possible.

5.       Now leave that part of the river and become aware of another part of the river, further down, which is not flowing well. Perhaps it is blocked, or the river is very choppy.

6.       Imagine you can modify the banks of the river. You can change the shape of the river to widen the river and let it flow more easily. You could add some meanders so the river flows more slowly. You can widen the river so it flows more slowly. Take your time to modify as much as is right for you.

I hope you find this information useful if you do suffer with IBS. If you would like a free hypnosis MP3, specifically for alleviating the symptoms of IBS then please get in touch on cs@cs-hypnotherapy.co.uk.

If you would like more information about hypnotherapy, well-being and personal development, please subscribe to my newsletter in the top right.

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[1] http://www.aboutibs.org/site/what-is-ibs/facts/

[2] (The Role of Genetics in IBS Yuri A. Saito, Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2011 March; 40(1): 45–67. )

[3] (Hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: The response of colonic and noncolonic symptoms,

Peter J. Whorwell, Journal of Psychosomatic Research 64 (2008) 621–623).

[4] (Whorwell PJ, Prior A, Faragher EB. Controlled trial of hypnotherapy in the treatment of severe refractory irritable-bowel syndrome. Lancet 1984;2:1232–4.)

How to increase self-confidence

People often associate hypnotherapy with weight loss and giving up smoking. However, in my years of practice, I have seen far more people for confidence and self-esteem issues.

Low self-confidence and self-esteem is a very common problem. For some people it’s a general feeling of not being good enough, or a fear of being found out. For others, they feel a lack of confidence in certain situations, such as social events, or in meetings at work.

Although a lack of self-confidence is very common, it can also be crippling. Before coming to see me, many of my clients had been held back from achieving their full potential. People who lack confidence in social situations often get very anxious about them and therefore avoid socialising. This can make them feel lonely. Others, who lack confidence in a work environment, have often not progressed as far as they could have in their careers, because they avoided interviews or speaking up in meetings.

However, there is no need to feel like this. You can easy build your self confidence. Here are eight simple steps to take to increase your self-confidence:

11)      Download your hypnosis MP3 to Build Self-Confidence.

A freebie just for you guys. You can have a hypnosis MP3 (usually £10) for building self-confidence. Simply email me on cs@cs-hypnotherapy.co.uk with the message "I want to be super confident." 

22)      Accept compliments  

What happens when you receive a compliment? Do you immediately deflect  or dismiss it? It’s very common to push compliments away when you have low self-confidence. From now on accept compliments with a simple “Thank You.” Also, make sure you accept the compliment in your own mind.

3)      Do something every day just for you.

 Plan something every day that you enjoy. This is not something you should do, or need to do. It’s something that you want to do. This lifts your mood and is great for your self-esteem as you are putting yourself first.




4)      Speak to yourself as though you are your own best friend  

Notice how you speak to yourself in your own mind. We often speak to ourselves in a very negative way. Are you ever critical about yourself in your own mind? Often we say things to ourselves that we wouldn’t dream of saying to a best friend. Speaking to yourself in a negative way has a detrimental effect on your confidence. From now on, talk to yourself in an encouraging and motivational way. It’s amazing how quickly this will make a difference to your self-confidence.

55)      Learn from others.

As children, we learn by copying the behaviour of adults. This learning continues when we are adults. We can learn negative or positive behaviours from others. Think of someone who is confident. Choose someone who is quietly confident, and has an air of calm and being happy in their own skin. Don’t choose someone who is overly loud or brash. These people often lack confidence too. Once you’ve thought of someone who has an air of inner confidence, notice how they behave. How do they speak? How do they walk? How do they use eye contact? Once you’ve noticed these things, start incorporating them into your own behaviour patterns. At first this feels a little artificial, but it soon becomes second nature.

66)      Challenge yourself.

If we are anxious about certain situations, if certain situations are beyond your comfort zone, it’s very easy to avoid those situations. The problem is, that by avoiding certain situations, your comfort zone becomes smaller and smaller. As you avoid things, you become more anxious about less challenging situations, and avoid them to. Until, you become very limited in what you can do. Challenging yourself reverses this process. Push your boundaries. Do something every day that scares you a little. This is a great thing to do. It puts you back in control. You also show yourself that you can handle various situations.

77)      Write down three good things about yourself

When we have low self-confidence and self-esteem, we often fail to see the good things about ourselves. We can be very hard on ourselves. Every day write down three good things about yourself. These could be things you like about your physical appearance, talents you have, or things you have done well that day. At first this can be difficult, particularly if you have low self-esteem. However, over time it becomes easier.

88)      Surround yourself with positive people

 We are influenced by those around us. If you spend a lot of time with people who are anxious are depressed, it will naturally affect you. Spend more time with happy confident people and it will bring you up.

If you would like more information about hypnotherapy, well-being and personal development, please subscribe to my newsletter in the top right.

How to have a stress free Christmas

Christmas should be a fun time of year. However, with the pressures of present buying, entertaining family and industrial scale food production, Christmas can turn into a stressful time of year. Not to mention the dreaded work Christmas party, loved by the supermodels of this world, loathed by the vast majority. So, how do you relax and enjoy the Christmas season?

Here are five simple ways to have a stress free Christmas.

1)      Notice the good things about yourself. Christmas parties can bring out many people’s insecurities. Instead of focusing on the negative, find five things about yourself that you like. Imagine what your best friend would say to compliment you, and say the same thing to yourself. It’s amazing how this shift in perspective boosts your confidence.

2)      Don’t catastophize. Sometimes, when we’re feeling stressed, small problems seem bigger. We sometimes imagine the worst case scenario. When you notice yourself catastophizing, stop! Challenge your thoughts. Will you be hated by the whole of humanity if you over cook the sprouts? –Unlikely. If you can’t buy the exact present you wanted for your partner. What’s the worst that can really happen? Make you sure you keep small issues in perspective.

3)      Say No. We often want to please everyone. However, it’s OK to be a little selfish from time to time. If you feel too busy to attend an event, say No to it. If you have got too much on your plate, (metaphorically speaking!), then ask family members or friends to help. It’s important to look after yourself and not to get swept up in putting everyone else’s needs before your own.

4)      Do something every day just for you. Plan something each day, which you enjoy. This is not
something you have to do or should do, it’s something you want to do. It could be something like reading a book or magazine, meeting up with a friend, or going for a walk. Do something every day just for you. This is a great way to relax, feel happier and also to boost your self-esteem.

5)      Download my free Wash Away Stress MP3 (usually £10) here.

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A Balancing Act - How to achieve balance in modern life.

This topic is one particularly close to my heart. This month I have been working long hours, looking after my two daughters on their Summer holidays, while at the same time trying to find time to do some exercise and see friends. As for keeping my house clean....... it's fair to say Channel 5 could do a documentary about the state of it!
I've been feeling quite overwhelmed by the amount I have to fit in to  typical week. I'm sure I'm not alone as these feelings are familiar to many of you.
On one particularly hectic day, I remembered a wonderful technique, which is used a lot in Life Coaching. This is the Wheel Of Life. It is great for helping you to see things in perspective and to identify your priorities.
First of all, draw a circle, divide it into sections and write a different area of your life in each section. The below is just an example. You know what is important to you.




The next step to assess how much attention you are giving to each area of the wheel, and score each area of the wheel from zero to ten. Ten being the all your attention and zero being none.
Now review each area and decide how much attention you would like to give each area. The object is not to give all parts equal attention but to establish what is important to you.
Where there are discrepancies between the two scores, take some action to change things.

This simple technique is a great way to review where you are in life and to put you back in control.

To find out more about how I can help you get in touch here.

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Falling at 100 mph

I was lucky enough to recently do something I had always wanted to do. I l jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet. It was wonderful. Do feel free to watch the video. http://youtu.be/3pvYwfO8QBI

 I appreciate that it is not everyone’s cup of tea. In fact many people said they felt nervous just watching the video. I, however, felt only excitement about the jump.  Many people actually commented about how cool I seemed to be. Being a hypnotherapist, of course gives me an unfair advantage, when it comes to overcoming nerves. Naturally, I used certain techniques to remain unafraid. The good news is, that you can easily use these same techniques to overcome any nerves you have. Whether that is overcoming a fear of flying or being able to do public speaking, these techniques can help you.

A great technique that you can do without hypnosis is Systematic Desensitization. This technique works by pairing the feeling of relaxation with the scenario (e.g. a skydive) in your mind. It's impossible to feel relaxed and anxious at the same time, so the association of relaxation replaces that of anxiety.

Systematic Desensitization – Pairing Relaxation with the Trigger

  1) Get yourself into a lovely relaxed state, by closing your eyes and taking deep slow breaths.

2) When you feel very relaxed, double that level of relaxation, perhaps by counting from 10 to 0 and allowing yourself to go deeper into relaxation with each number that you count.

3) When you are really relaxed imagine yourself in the situation which you feel anxious about. Really imagine it as vividly as possible, as if you're actually there. Notice what you see, hear and feel.

4) All the time concentrate on relaxation and hold on to that level of relaxation.

5) If you start to feel anxious, then let go on the trigger and focus once again on relaxation.

6) Imagine the whole scenario all the way through to the end and see yourself successfully handling it.

7) Repeat as often as possible, gradually increasing the severity of the trigger, e.g. imagining progressively higher heights.

When we feel anxious about an upcoming event we often think about it. The problem is we often think about the most frightening part. Or we imagine ourselves coping badly. From now on, whenever you imagine a nerve wracking situation, imagine it through to the end, when you are once again safe. Also imagine yourself coping in a calm way. This teaches the brain that the fearful situation actually turns out ok.

I hope these tips help. Please do leave comments below if you use any of these techniques.

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