The ‘famous’ red spot

July 23rd, 2010

The sporting world was buzzing with excitement this week when a virtually unknown golfer won the biggest prize in professional golf – The Open Championship!

Louis Oosthuizen, a young South African golfer, defied expert predictions and held his nerve for four consective days to emerge victorious at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland. Oosthuizen eventually won by one of the biggest margins in history of the Championship!

So – how did he do it?

It appears that the unsung hero was sports psychologist Karl Morris.

He was asked by Oosthuizen’s management to work with the young sportman a month before the Championship and teach him how to control his concentration on the golf course to get the best out of his game.
The psychologist employed hypnosis to enable Oosthuizen to switch his concentration on and off as he toiled through the stresses and strains of competing with the world’s greatest golfers in the worst weather that Scotland could throw at them.

Louis was encouraged to relax, smile and joke as he walked around the course.

Then as he prepared to play a shot, he was to lock into a focused state (commonly known as ‘getting into the zone’) to produce the best result possible.

And to trigger that state, he painted a red dot on his glove. As he looked down at this hands, the red dot would activate the trigger in his mind, enabling him to block out any distractions and execute the perfect golf shot.

The effect astounded everyone. The results were truly amazing and he won by country mile!

Now club golfers across the country are busy painting red dots on their golf gloves in the hope of emulating Osthuizen’s stunning performance.

Sadly, most are unaware that without the help of a professional psychologist or hypnotherapist to set up the anchoring and triggering process, nothing particularly wonderful will occur.

The young South African’s success is really no surprise to me.

Hypnosis was credited with the early success of the young Tiger Woods who learned how to move in and out of ‘the zone’ at will.

Once again the sporting world has witnessed the power of hypnosis to produce amazing results.

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No flying in volcano ash

April 19th, 2010

A common problem that gets my phone ringing is ‘fear of flying’. It’s must be so frustrating to be unable to fly away on holiday or on business, and it’s a condition that afflicts people from all walks of life.

At the moment, with the Icelandic volcano erupting, there is not much flying going on.

Although I am a very infrequent viewer of the TV channel National Geographic, about a week ago I found myself in front of the television riveted by the re-enactment of a major incident that nearly caused the destruction of a British Airways flight from the UK to Australia in 1982.

Flying at night across the ocean, the 747 became engulfed in a ‘St Elmo’s fire’ lightshow, which would have been amazingly entertaining if it hadn’t also been life-threatening.  The flight crew were initially bemused by the firework display but couldn’t understand why it was not showing up on their radar.  They couldn’t work out what was causing this phenomena and understandably became more alarmed as the passenger cabin began to fill with acrid smoke and the engines cut out one by one.

The plane had effectively become a very large glider as captain and crew struggled to control their emotions and work professionally through the required procedure to re-start the engines.  Around 50 attempts later, with the plane steadily losing altitude and disaster imminent, the engines suddenly fired up.

They eventually managed to land the plane safely at Jakarta airport and the crew were quite rightly hailed as heroes for remaining so calm and professional throughout the incident.

So what happened to that plane?  What produced the firework display, sand-blasted all the paintwork and logos off the aircraft, and turned the windscreen into frosted glass?

Well, they had flown into a cloud of volcanic ash.

And that was the moment that the airline industry learned a salutory lesson about the danger posed by volcanoes.

Today I listened on the radio to the frustration of airline passengers demanding to know why the airports remained closed when there is scarcely a cloud in the sky which is a beautiful shade of blue.  They accused the authorities of over-reacting.

The reason why the airports are closed is because the airline authorities put safety first.  It’s dangerous up there at the moment!  We should be grateful that they always err on the side of caution!

So when phone rings in my office with another enquiry about my ‘fear of flying’ treatment, I can with clear conscience offer the caller the opportunity to learn how to be relaxed and to really enjoy the safest form of transport available in our modern world.

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Supermarket promotes hypnotherapy for weight control

March 31st, 2010

Hypnotherapy continues to make great strides in public acceptance these days.

It’s heartening to see that the lead item in a major article on ‘weight loss’ in the April edition of Sainsbury’s Magazine trumpets the benefits of hypnotherapy. “Hypnotherapy helped me change my bad habits” exclaims a university administrator describing how successful it had been for her.
A number of high profile celebrities and movie stars have recently become fans of hypnotherapy which has helped them overcome a number of problems. Not surprisingly, this new level of interest is now being reflected in a wide variety of magazines.
Thinking back just a few years, the doctors and consultants I spoke to were fairly sceptical – still locked in the ‘swinging watch’ stereotype. Nowadays that’s the exception rather than the rule.
This week St Mary’s University College in London announced a new 3 year degree course in Clinical Hypnosis.
It can’t be long before the NHS automatically refers patients to hypnotherapists, particularly for complaints such as IBS. It is not only clearly seen to be an extremely effective therapy, but it has the added benefit of saving the Health Service money, which according to politicians of all stripes, is top-priority in these cash-strapped times.

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Nothing ventured, nothing gained

February 10th, 2010

Last night I was in a room full of people with a common purpose. It was a regular meeting of the local speakers club.
As I sat there observing this eclectic mix of enthusiasts drawn from all walks of life, it struck me that around the country on every night of the week, groups of people meet up to socialise (in pubs, clubs or restaurants), to learn new skills or improve existing ones (at evening classes), or to play sport or indulge in their favourite hobby with like-minded folk.
Others congregate together to pray to their God.

We are intrinsically social animals – we find comfort and purpose in being part of a group, a tribe, a nation. The football terraces are a graphic example of the tribal instinct in action.
This social need is not optional, it’s absolutely part of ‘being’ a human being.

If you’re defiantly thinking that’s not me, I prefer my own company thank you very much, you might want to reconsider. Perhaps there’s a reason why you feel that way, you might be short-changing yourself, and by doing so you might be missing out on some personal happiness.

Should you find yourself feeling a bit down on these chilly winter evenings, maybe feeling a bit left out of things with the world passing you by, that’s your cue to go online and search out a group to get involved with. The common interest you share with them might be an existing one, or you might find yourself curious to try something you’ve never done before.

Apparently the country is awash with wannabe ballroom dancers all stepping on each others toes, and hopeful Olympians pounding the pavements in preparation for 2012.
Hey, there might be a basket-weaving group out there just waiting to welcome you.

An ancient saying wisely states, “A change is as good as a holiday”. Another advises, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
Maybe now is the time to take a vacation!

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The snowbound hypnotherapist

January 6th, 2010

Today the countryside looks like a scene from a picture-postcard as it nestles under a beautiful blanket of pristine white snow.

The local roads are pretty much impassable, so this therapist has been busy contacting his clients to re-arrange appointments and schedule them for another day. Nature in all its beauty is reminding us of our place in the order of things.

My wife and I took a walk through the ever-deepening whiteness up to the village, admiring the stunning views down across the rolling fields and then rising up to the steeple of St Denys Church in Rotherfield. The roads were almost traffic-free.

A man in a 4×4 with French plates pulled up next to us, wound down his window, and asked if we were ok and enquired as to whether we needed a lift. The few people we passed in the village smiled and exchanged friendly remarks about the weather and the forecast for the weekend.

It’s noticeable how people feel closer to each other when nature reveals its might. That tribal spirit of working together and helping each other, which often seems to be missing in the maelstrom of modern life, comes to the surface.

It’s a great day to be alive!

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Using hypnotherapy to boost your job search

June 29th, 2009

Recently a national newspaper published a chart listing the jobs that were most susceptible to the economic downturn.  Top of the list was Architect.  A friend who is a practising architect was delighted to tell me that his business continues to thrive in the face of this adversity.

Why?  Maybe his practice is located in a particularly affluent area and his clientele are largely unaffected by the recession, or maybe it’s simply that his excellent reputation ensures his continued prosperity.   Or it might just be luck.

Others are not so fortunate.  Many, through no fault of their own, are being made redundant and face the prospect of job-hunting in a difficult market.  Some of them won’t have faced a job interview in years.  Quite a few will have had their confidence badly knocked by being deemed surplus to requirements.

Self belief and confidence are essential to turn things around.

If you’re in that unfortunate situation, if your confidence is shot, your self belief low, or if you simply need to feel mentally stronger, now is the time to act.  You’re not alone.  There are many others in the same boat.  The longer you delay taking action, the higher the mountain you have to climb to re-establish yourself.

It’s easy to forget that life is full of ups and downs.  That’s a truism, but it’s not rocket science.  Quite simply it means that if you find yourself ‘down’, around the corner there’s an ‘up’.  And as it’s ‘around the corner’, you can’t see it just yet.  But it’s there!

Perhaps this is the perfect opportunity for you to take stock and re-define your goals.  An opportunity to re-visit the dream you had when you started out. To re-evaluate and rediscover yourself.

If you find it a bit difficult to re-ignite that fire, to unearth that self-belief, consider getting some help.

You could consider hypnotherapy.  Not only is it effective in restoring self-belief, it could give you the confidence you need to deliver the goods in that job interview – to present yourself as a stand-out candidate to your prospective employer!

Life is full of investments.  You invest time, you invest energy, you invest money.  If you’ve ever invested in a house, the stock market, or a property portfolio, you’ll know how those investments can go up or down.  Sort of like life itself.  Whatever the success or failure of those investments, the best investment you can ever make is most definitely in your own well-being.

So take action now and get yourself ready for the new challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

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Be like an Olympian

June 28th, 2009

The other evening, a friend of mine was talking about the Olympics, and the amazing commitment displayed by those talented athletes, enabling them to perform at such high levels. It got me thinking about commitment and talent.

Perhaps like me, you were ’sold a lie’ when you were just a young child – were you told that to be an outstanding sports star or an accomplished artist you needed to be born with a particular talent? Were you told that all the successful people in the fields of music, theatre, movies, painting etc were blessed with some sort of artistic gene? And if you weren’t lucky enough to be born with it, you were stuck with what you’ve got?

And when those voices of authority told you that, did you believe it?
I did! And it took a long time before I began to realise that there is only a tiny grain of truth in that belief.

Yes, there is such a thing as intrinsic talent, but a far greater component of outstanding performance is a belief in yourself, your ability to learn, your commitment to a goal, and your willingness to change.

We all have talents and resources that go unrecognised, both by ourselves and others. And once we unlock those resources and put them to work, our lives are tremendously enhanced. So it’s never too late to wake up to the realisation that you HAVE got what it takes, to make changes, and to enrich your life.

All it takes is that first step. You can take it yourself, or with the help of a hypnotherapist, but as they say in that famous sports ad, “Just do it!”

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Choosing a Hypnotherapist – crossing that bridge

June 27th, 2009

As an established practitioner of hypnotherapy, I am always reminding myself of how it feels to be a potential new client – someone who believes that hypnotherapy can help them overcome a problem, but has absolutely no experience of hypnosis and what it entails. Should I dial that number? What’s hypnosis like? What if I don’t like it? It can be a daunting bridge to cross – a step into the unknown.

If you’re in that position, consider this.
Every practising hypnotherapist (myself included) started exactly where you are – with no knowledge, just curiosity and a desire to discover what it can do. With knowledge comes understanding.

So the solution is simple – ask questions. Once you learn the facts about something, the mystique disappears and you can make an informed decision.

Right then – ready to take the plunge.

Start by checking out their website (if they have one) and find out what they’re saying about themselves and which problems they can help with. Here’s an example http://www.christopher-stone.org.uk/hypnotherapy-treatment.html. Then pick up the phone, and call them. Don’t be surprised if you reach their voicemail – therapists tend to work alone, and if they’re busy with a client they won’t answer the phone until the session is over.

Once you’ve got them on the phone, where do you begin?
Just begin at the beginning:

- Give the therapist a brief outline of your problem and ask him/her whether they can help.
- Listen to how they respond. You’ll very quickly and instinctively know whether they’re right for you.

Like every profession in life, there are ‘excellent’ and some ‘not so excellent’ practitioners. Ask questions, how long have they been in practice, how many sessions would it take, what does it cost, and anything else that you would like to know about them and how they can help you.

You’ll find the hardest thing about consulting a hypnotherapist is making that first phone call. Once you’ve crossed that bridge you can start looking forward to resolving your problem and moving on with your life.

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