Stoptober is Nearly Here – It’s Time to Stop Smoking in a Positive and Focused way

Smokers are being encouraged to kick the habit in Stoptober. During October thousands of people across England are taking part in a new 28 day challenge to stop smoking – if you stop smoking for 28 days, you are five times more likely to stay smokefree. With winter around the corner, it couldn’t be a better time to stop smoking.

So what is the trick to giving up smoking?

The biggest thing is your own commitment and feeling that you want to become a non-smoker. Have you reached that point of being tired of being a slave to a cigarette and all the restrictions it brings with it? If yes then you are ready to become a non-smoker. You don’t have to know how you are going to do it, just simply that you want to do it. It is important to remind yourself that you are giving up nothing of value to you but gaining so much. Think of all the reasons to become smoke free, as you know there are plenty; health, smelling good, enjoying the taste of food, seeing your children or nieces & nephews get married, meeting your grandchildren, being around to a ripe old age with lungs that aren’t full of Emphysema, the money you will save. The list of the benefits you would get from being a non-smoker is endless and also personal to you and your motivation to succeed.

How can Hypnotherapy help you become smoke free?

This is the bit of great news! Using Hypnotherapy you are 10 times more likely to remain a non-smoker. Although Hypnotherapy isn’t a magic wand and still requires your commitment, it is a very powerful tool that makes sure that you have the inner focus and determination to become a non-smoker in a positive way. There is no need for Nicotine patches or gum all you need is a one-off Hypnotherapy session along with your commitment and motivation to want to become a non-smoker. I work with a combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP helping you to really understand what cigarettes mean to you on an emotional and psychological level and how you can take control of them and choose whether to have them in your life or not.

“Thanks for the session, it has really helped and I haven’t smoked since!” Jehan, London

How about if you have tried to stop before?

There are many reasons why stopping smoking may not have worked for you before. The main reason, I tend to find with the clients who come to see me, is because they didn't deal with the psychological addiction of smoking (rather than just the physical addiction). In fact, they probably put cigarettes up on some kind of a pedestal. Maybe they weren’t truly motivated to give up and didn’t really want to stop. Maybe their partner was pushing them to do it or it wasn’t the right time for them to give up. Perhaps their motivation was weak in certain situations or associations. For whatever reason they didn’t have the drive that they needed to start looking after their future health, to be able to breathe easier, taste food, not be out of breath when they climbed the stairs and so much more. If you start to focus on what you are gaining rather than the fear of what you may lose then all of a sudden cigarettes don’t seem that powerful any more.

“It has been a month since I saw you and smoking hasn’t even crossed my mind, which is amazing. Thank you!” Ben, Surrey

Feeling motivated to take control of your life and make that change?

The next step is completely in your hands. When you are ready to take control of the power cigarettes have over you, then give me a call 07952 619939 and we can talk further about helping you have the tools to become a non-smoker and remain one.

I look forward to speaking to you soon and helping you take the first exciting steps to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way.

© EKTherapies

How to work with the Power of the Mind

Our thoughts, what we say and what we hear all have a powerful effect on our everyday experiences and beliefs.

Henry Ford said it perfectly:

Whether you think you can or think you can’t you’re right.

Changing our internal dialogue to positive statements makes our life better and assists us in moving forward, giving us the confidence to achieve our goals. Instead of thinking “I am not good enough”, think “I can do this”; or instead of saying “I will never be able to do that so why try”, say “I know that if I trust in myself and prepare properly I can achieve anything”. Not only will you achieve your goals but you will feel happier and healthier. Positive self-talk gives you a permanent cheerleader in your corner, one that carries positive messages to all areas of your life and helps you to move forward. Once you have this positivity nobody can take it away from you, as it comes from within you, from your own thought processes.

Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones. This can be hard at first but start by talking positively. When you have a negative thought, or catch yourself about to say something negative, stop yourself and see if you can spin it on its head by turning it into a positive one. Challenge that negative thought and question whether you are right to think that way. Soon this will become second nature and you will find yourself thinking more positively from the outset.

Begin working with these simple tools in mind:

• Expect positive results. When you set a goal expect that not only will you achieve it but you will be better than you thought.
• Actually visualize the success you want. Picture it in your mind, picture what you DO want, rather than having a list of what you DON’T want. Have an image of what you DO want, and see yourself achieving your goal.
• Surround yourself with people who have the same positive view as you. When you are with a negative person then allow their views to wash over you and focus on why you want to achieve your goal. 

Think of it like:

Suggestions/Words/Thoughts

+

Feelings

+

Beliefs

+

Behaviour

=

Success or Failure

These are just a few simple steps you can begin to work with to understand the power of your mind and to start working with it rather than against it. To understand more and learn more techniques come for a Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session and see how you can achieve your goals in a positive and focused way.

© EKTherapies

Bye Bye Paralympics

It has been another amazing two weeks of sport and I have been lucky enough to go along to see some the athletics in the Olympic Park.

I found the whole event inspiring. From the incredible organisation to get so many people to and from Stratford safely, quickly and easily; the volunteers who were full of so much cheer; the amazing buildings themselves regenerating an area; to the incredible athletes many of whom had overcome life-changing events or illness, finding themselves being cheered on by an 80,000 strong crowd.

The energy was electric - the nearer we got to Stratfordt he more people you could see holding their countries' flags and eagerly awaiting the night's competition ahead of them. I don’t think they were disappointed.

Life doesn’t always go the way we plan or expect. It can deliver people some unfair blows but seeing what some people have done to respond to that is incredible. The commentators spoke to some athletes who said that if they had the chance to have their legs back they would choose not to because life has been so enhanced for them now. It reminds me that sometimes we can look at people and think “poor them” when actually we are the ones who are poor for judging others.

Life is ours for living! It always amazes me just what we can achieve if we go for it. We can choose to change our perspective on life and see just how wonderful it really can be.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to achieve your goals and become the person you want to be.

Thank you to the Olympics and the Paralympics and to everyone who was involved in them for an amazing summer. It is one I will never forget and I hope the pride and Olympic buzz stays in the area for a long time to come.

© EKTherapies

Teeth Grinding

Teeth grinding or Bruxism to give it its medical name, is a completely natural occurrence in the body. It happens when the bite is not right, if there is an imbalance - a missing tooth for example or when children’s teeth develop. It is something we do subconsciously and a lot of people will teeth-grind during their sleep. It is the body’s natural way of making your teeth fit your mouth.

So if it is natural, why is it such a problem? If you are teeth grinding because your bite is not right then working with the dentist you can correct this and the teeth grinding will stop. However, it is also increasingly common that teeth grinding is linked to stress/anxiety.

In most instances you don’t even realise you are doing it. You may wake up with a sore, aching jaw or even a headache. Anyone who has slept next to someone who grinds their teeth will know that the noise can be unbearable.

It is important to tell the dentist if you are teeth grinding so that they can monitor the wear and tare of your teeth and make sure you are not doing any lasting damage. You can get gum-shields from the dentist to help to keep your teeth apart but this doesn’t deal with the reason you are doing it.

Is it time to look at your stress levels? Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to understand your stressors and learn a new way to manage your life so that the stress levels rarely bubble over. Stress is a part of life and we need both the ups and downs to learn and help us grow. However, we don't have to let it affect our health.

You don’t have to expect teeth grinding to be part of your life. To find out how you can take the steps today to helping your jaw stay relaxed and allowing the rest of your body time to destress, freeing time to enjoy the life that you have created, please contact Erika.

© EKTherapies