Categories
psychoneuroimmunology self-help

I Feel Lousy – Isn’t that Great!

Do you ever listen to other people’s conversations? I mean when you’re standing at a bus stop, or having a drink in a café after a hard morning’s shopping. You know, those people whose voices are just a little too loud and you can’t really help listening; after all you are on your own, and other people’s lives are quite interesting.

What do they talk about? Their problems I’ll bet, with health issues being high on the list. And have you ever noticed how it’s a bit like a game of ping pong. One party will bat a little titbit “my back’s been playing up something awful”, and the other will respond with something ‘better’ and before you know where you are, you know all about all the cancers, and the hip operations, and the chronic chest infections, that their family and friends have had in the past ten years.

Sound familiar?

So illness seems important. If it isn’t, why do we spend so much time talking about it?

Have you ever noticed how you suffer with a bad cold, or dose of ‘flu, or possibly something more serious, when life itself is becoming tedious, work is getting you down, or your husband seems to have lost interest in you. Have you ever noticed how, when you are happy and life is full of joy and excitement, you rarely experience illness? It has been known for a long time that ‘stress‘ has a depressant effect on the ability of your body’s immune system to fight infection. Illness is the body’s way of saying ‘you’re not looking after you‘, and usually the way you are failing to look after yourself is in your mind – your emotional well-being is generally the part which is being neglected when you start to experience illness.

Now, the scientists say that disease organisms, viruses, bacteria, genes, and even your age, cause illness. They may be right. But if they are then those same ‘experts’ are your only hope for defeating illness. Yet with all the drugs and all the scientific advances over that last fifty years – shouldn’t the hospitals be emptying out by now? How easy is it to get an appointment with your doctor? How full was the waiting room last time you visited? All that science seems to be accomplishing is to change the nature of illness without actually removing it.

If illness is a necessary warning system to let you know that you need to slow down, or look at how you are living your life then this is exactly what we would expect to see with scientific advances; a change in the style of illness, but no change in the quantity or quality. Smallpox and bubonic plague have been eradicated, but doesn’t AIDS do pretty much the same sort of job.

So, how can this awareness help you?

Well it can help you if you want to feel better and be less ill. Because the first step to freeing yourself from this pattern of stress/illness is to recognise that the illness is helpful. Now, I know pain isn’t much fun, and I’m not suggesting that life-threatening problems should be ignored. In fact I’m not even suggesting that you stop visiting your doctor for treatment. I would actually strongly advise that you take all the help you can get if you have a health problem.

What I am suggesting is that if you want to be free of illness, you need to start by looking at what illness gives you, and welcome those gifts. You might get a few days off work, early retirement, forced retirement from a job you hate; illness may be the only occasion when anyone looks after you or gives you affection, if you are lonely then illness at least brings you into close contact with people (doctors and nurses) who touch you and treat you gently; if you are trying to cram too many things in your life then illness gives you a break and gives your body a much needed rest.

It would be beneficial then to see what changes you could make to your life so that this ‘benefit’ was no longer needed because you already had it. If you don’t like your job then consider the possibility of doing something you enjoy instead; if you are alone then open your mind to the possibility of this being different. If you are simply too busy then build relaxation into your schedule and see it as just as important a part of life as the ‘busy’ness.

But whatever you do, don’t neglect illness, it is your mind’s way of telling you it’s time for change. And if you decide that change is appropriate for you have a look at Herbert Benson’s excellent The Wellness Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Maintaining Health and Treating Stress-Related Illness which looks at simple techniques to restore health and well-being. Or Carl Simonton’s Getting Well Again: The Bestselling Classic about the Simontons’ Revolutionary Lifesaving Self-Awareness Techniques, which demonstrates the truly awesome power of the mind in the face of life-threatening and (from the medical perspective) incurable illnesses.

Michael  Hadfield    D.Hyp., MBSCH

Is a hypnotherapist who works with visualisation to bring about life changes

Tel: 01928 575784

Categories
self-help Stop Smoking

Is Nicotine Really Addictive?

Nicotine is a substance that is important to the economy of the planet. Yet it is a substance that even most of its users know very little about. For many years nicotine and smoking were pretty much the same thing, but now you can get nicotine on its own in the form of gums, patches, and inhalers. This is a substance that has high toxicity and is lethal in small doses – so why is it able to provide significant revenue for an industry, and for those governments that place high duty on the purchase of cigarettes. The reason is that nicotine is believed to be highly addictive. But it is believed to be highly addictive by only some experts, while other experts are convinced it is nothing of the sort.

There is a world of difference between being addicted, in the clinical sense, to something and to really liking it or liking how it makes you feel. Sex isn’t addictive, yet most people like it, enjoy it, and engage in it over a period of many decades. Those same people, if it isn’t available, may find themselves wishing for a suitable partner and thinking about it a lot. That’s not an addiction. That’s a desire. But as soon as you get engrossed in something that captivates your attention and interest, then thoughts of sex disappear.

I see a lot of smokers who come to me for help in stopping smoking. Around half of them believe they are addicted to nicotine; around a quarter believe it is part addiction part habit; and the rest see it as purely a habit. The interesting thing is that there is no correlation between the number of cigarettes a smoker smokes per day and their beliefs about it being a habit or an addiction.

No one doubts that heroine is an addictive substance. There is also no doubt that some heroine addicts commit crimes to fund their habit. Now it may be that cigarettes are so readily available, and smokers organise their smokes so carefully that a smoker never runs out of cigarettes – but still it’s difficult to imagine a normally law-abiding smoker who has run out of cigarettes breaking into the local tobacconist to pick up a packet of twenty because they’ll be insane with craving by morning if they don’t get a cigarette RIGHT NOW.

That must surely cast a shadow of doubt on the addictiveness of tobacco smoking.

One of the factors of significance in addiction is habituation. Habituation is what happens when the body gets used to, or tolerates, a drug that is taken on a regular basis. It means that the same dose, over time, gives less and less effect. So one of the characteristics of addiction is that the dose slowly increases. Those of you who have taken drugs like valium (diazepam), or other benzodiazepenes, will be familiar with this effect. The first few days of taking them put your world back to normal, but by the time you visit the doctor a week later you are suffering again and so he ups the dose. Then a month or two later the dose is increased again or the drug changed to one with a stronger effect.

Cigarette smokers have invariably smoked the same number of cigarettes per day for ten, twenty, thirty, forty years or more.

That alone must surely cast a shadow of doubt on the addictiveness of tobacco smoking.

When there’s a myth that’s so pervasive within the culture that it has become a Belief, I look to see who benefits. Clearly in my own country (the UK) four powerful groups benefit: the tobacco industry, the government, the pharmaceutical industry, and the National Health Service.

· the tobacco industry makes enormous profits for itself.

· the Government raises Revenue from every tobacco product sold.

· the Pharmaceutical Industry sells nicotine delivery systems and ‘anti-smoking’ drugs.

· the National Health Service attracts massive funding to treat smoking-related disease.

Just to give an idea of the huge size of the smoking ‘pie’; in 2004 Gallaher, third largest UK tobacco company, paid Duty of £5,500,000,000 and claimed a pre-tax profit of £429,000,000.

In the same year, Imperial Tobacco, the largest UK tobacco company paid £8,000,000,000 Duty, and claimed a pre-tax profit of £688,000,000.

In comparison to that the treatment of smoking related disease means the National Health Service can attract £1,500,000,000 per year from the Government – a drop in the ocean compared to the duty that tobacco sales raise. So from the Government’s point of view it makes more economic sense to keep smokers smoking and simply invest a small portion of the Revenue that they pour into Government coffers to pay for medical professionals to look after them when they get sick.

Could this have anything to do with the reason that when smoker’s seek medical help to quit smoking, they are offered nicotine replacement therapy, or Zyban (actually an anti-depressant)? These treatments don’t have a very good track record, but they do keep the Pharmaceutical Industry happy.

Now I’m not suggesting conspiracy here. Just economics. We all know, just like when governments decide that wars are to be fought and individual lives and suffering become meaningless, that with economics money is all that matters, people don’t (except when we need your vote). Just like wars, the economics of smoking is filled with propaganda.

If somebody tells you something enough times, then you may begin to believe it.

The main propaganda that is promoted in relation to smoking is that nicotine is physiologically addictive.

I have treated plenty of 20 a day smokers who happily sit on a 10-12 hour transatlantic flight, enjoying the book, movie, view, conversation… and only ‘crave’ a cigarette the minute they get off the plane and into an area where smoking is allowed. I have never met a smoker who gets up in the middle of the night for a cigarette. Even after they get up they shower, enjoy breakfast, and it isn’t until they sit down to enjoy the mug of tea or coffee that they light up – at last! Yet they can be lighting up at the rate of one an hour throughout the day.

This isn’t addiction – it’s a habit.

Hypnosis could well be the very best treatment to break a habit, because a habit is purely a mind thing.

Hypnosis makes it very easy to just change your mind.

You will agree that tobacco is big business. The Tobacco Barons, the Pharmacy Kings, and the Men from the Ministry are not going to allow Billions to slip through their fingers. If smokers believe that they are addicted to something that isn’t an addictive substance, then the only people who are going to suffer are the smokers. Misinformation means Revenue. Setting the record straight is only of benefit to smokers. Setting the record straight is detrimental to vested interests. So you have a choice if you smoke. You can choose to use hypnosis break the habit and then spend your hard-earned cash on something enjoyable.
Michael Hadfield  D.Hyp., MBSCH

Categories
Happiness self-help

Keys to Happiness: Self-Appreciation

By Michael Hadfield

Appreciation, or rather the expression of appreciation, is essential for emotional health and well-being. Appreciation is a skill that we can all learn. But it has to start at home. It has to start with appreciation for you.

Appreciation of self may not come easily. I don’t know about you but I grew up with the sense that to ‘blow my own trumpet’ was a bad thing – something I shouldn’t do because I wouldn’t be liked if I did. Being liked was important to me – so I didn’t blow my own trumpet – ever.

I also rarely felt good about myself.

In my seeking to understand me I discovered that a powerful connection exists here.

If you don’t already feel good about yourself, and you seek happiness, then learning the art of self-appreciation is the key to unlocking the good feelings you’d like to feel inside of you. With that in mind I have some exercises for you to complete. I would like you to make a chart of your life. Write down a list of numbers that represent ages from 0 to your current age – one line for each. Then just allow your mind to drift over each of those ages briefly and note down anything significant to you in the way of a success, or an achievement – something you felt good about at the time, or you feel good about now. Things like starting school; passing some exams; getting a job; getting a job you wanted; kissing someone you liked; first-time sex; riding a roller coaster; taking a picture; first pay check; growing a plant from seed; eating something you’d grown; fulfilling a dream; healing. It really doesn’t matter what it is, it definitely doesn’t matter if the rest of world would see it as insignificant, what matters is that it was important to you and made you feel good, or excited, or happy.

Now when you’ve been over the list and filled in all the major events, look at the gaps and see if you can possibly find something to put on every single line. That’s a bit of a challenge I admit, and there is certainly no failure if you have big gaps, but you will find that as you move your mind towards thinking in terms of achievements and successes that more and more memories will come up.

Now, buy an expensive frame, and frame this ‘certificate’ of achievement and hang it on your bedroom wall. If you have a computer and like to play around, type in all the information and turn it into an impressive and attractive certificate and print it on some quality notepaper. As you look at it every morning and every evening and see just what a wonderfully successful person you are, you may find that any gaps will soon be filled as your mind switches its focus from failure to success. Pick one item each day, fetch back the memory, and fully appreciate the importance of that event in your life.

One other activity I’d like you to engage in is another simple exercise. At night, just before you drift off to sleep, I’d like you to wander through your day in your mind and find between 1 and 5 things that happened that day that you appreciate. It doesn’t matter how small these items of appreciation are. There is always something good in a day. If the sun came up this morning then that’s a good thing. If you put food in your mouth, and water in your belly – that’s a good thing. If you enjoyed the food and drink – that’s even better. If you saw a flower, or enjoyed its scent, then make note, if you were lost in its beauty for a moment – then that’s a miracle. If your car started, or your bus turned up; if you have a job, or lots of free time… if you took a breath and were still alive to enjoy breathing it out again… the list of ordinary, mundane, incredible things that happen to us each day, and that we take so totally for granted, is endless. Start to notice them and continue this exercise until you feel that appreciation and sense of wonder at the time you are experiencing the event.

Make this conscious effort to agree to spend a moment or two each day to express sincere appreciation and thanks for the miracles that exist around you and within you. Learn to appreciate the wonder of you, for none of these experiences could exist without you the Experiencer to enjoy and appreciate them. Your experiences are unique to you. When you experience joy the planet has more joy in it. By the simple act of appreciating those simple, yet wonderful, things that you experience, you will change your world for the better.

Michael J. Hadfield MBSCH is a registered clinical hypnotherapist.  Visit http://www.hypnosisiseasy.com/ for a help & support

Categories
Uncategorized

Essential Training

I’ve spent today with the lovely Sara Lou-Ann Jones (Master Trainer in NLP, Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching) who was running her 1 day Effective Marketing Course for Therapists, at the Hypnotherapy Centre of Excellence in Manchester.  It was certainly a feature packed day with practical exercises, tons of useful information and even a visit from a web design expert to ensure that this aspect of marketing was included in your marketing strategy. Blogs were mentioned, naturally, so I was happy to own up to already having one – even though I’ve only been blogging for a week and am not aware of anyone actually reading my words just yet.

I’ve taken stacks of notes that I need to sort through and put into some sort of action plan, and Sara also provided a very useful handout which I was pleased to see was full of additional material and not just a copy of the material covered during the day.

You can find out more information at

http://excelwithhypnotherapy.com/hypnotherapy-courses-manchester.html

If you could do with more clients, then you would do well to consider attending this course.

Author: Michael J. Hadfield

Source: Hypnosisiseasy

Categories
Uncategorized

Hypnosis or Magic?

I find myself in a strange occupation – hypnotherapy. I consider it strange because even people who come to me for my expertise in it don’t really have any idea about what it is or what it can do. Many of them expect something akin to magic, and even though I go to great pains to explain that magic it isn’t, I sometimes find myself producing magical results. And that gets me to think about magic. True magic is akin to what religious people might call miracles. Only mere mortals, like myself, are not allowed to perform miracles, that is the realm of God and his/her/its minions.

Yet on occasion I have indeed produced results that if I proclaimed myself as a messiah, might well be termed Miracle. I must admit I’m much happier calling it magic. But what exactly is the difference between miracle/magic and something else?

I believe that the only difference is TIME. If I take six sessions to bring about a change and some progress is visible between each session then that is therapy. And it looks a lot like physical healing. If I take ten minutes to bring about the same change then that is miracle/magic.

It does not seem to matter that the result is the same either way, fast is what gets the praise, fast is what gets people talking.

And yet I know from my experience working with people that fast is frequently the very worst way to bring about profound change. The problem with fast is that there is no adaptation. If you have had a problem for a long time, then you have adapted to it. You live your life around it, you adjust your activities based on the problem. If in a moment the problem is gone then all of the coping strategies are instantly redundant and there is a psychological chasm now. This is an inability to deal with life without the problem.

When change time is slower, it is much easier to adapt. You do it quite naturally a little bit at a time.

Another aspect of the Time problem is that most of us have been taught that nothing worthwhile comes easily. So although we might all want instant healing, if we get it, effortlessly, then we do not value or appreciate it. We doubt its effectiveness. I’ve removed or reduced quite severe pain in a matter of minutes, and my patients leave wondering whether or not I’ve somehow tricked them (after all, the doctors’ said nothing can be done), or when it will return. Now I know that if you spend most of your waking time wondering when the pain is going to return then it probably will because the mind is focused on pain and the mind produces what it focusses upon.

So the benefits of slower ‘healing’ are that it allows adaptation to the beneficial change and that there is actually a price (the time spent in therapy and the cost of that therapy) so it must be worthwhile, therefore it will be valued and appreciated. From the patient’s point of view they actually worked quite hard turning up for appointments and listening to me talking for an hour and a half and they paid quite a bit of money for that privilege. These things make the healing acceptable.

The only problem is that they wanted what they didn’t really want – magic!

Author: Michael J. Hadfield

Source: Hypnosisiseasy