What is in a Cigarette?

We no longer live in a world where we don’t know that cigarettes are bad for us. 30 years ago the effects of cigarettes were unknown but these days we know they damage our body, but what is inside them?

There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke; at least 50 of them are known carcinogens (cancer causing). If you were to inject the nicotine in one cigarette directly into your vein it would kill you instantly, there is enough poisonous nicotine in one cigarette to kill a horse.

Here are just a few of the chemicals found in each cigarette:

Benzene (petrol additive) – colourless cyclic hydrocarbon obtained from coal and petroleum, used as a solvent in fuel and in chemical manufacture, it is a known carcinogen associated with leukemia.

Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)- colourless liquid, highly poisonous, used to preserve dead bodies, it is a known cause of cancer, respiratory, skin and gastrointestinal problems.

Ammonia (toilet cleaner) - used as a flavouring, frees nicotine from tobacco turning it into a gas, often found in dry cleaning fluids

Acetone (nail polish remover) – fragrant volatile liquid ketone, used as a solvent, for example, nail polish remover

Tar - Particulate matter drawn into lungs when you inhale on a lighted cigarette. Once inhaled, smoke condenses and about 70 per cent of the tar in the smoke is deposited in the smoker's lungs.

Nicotine (insecticide/addictive drug) - one of the most addictive substances known to man, a powerful and fast-acting medical and non-medical poison. This is the chemical which causes addiction. The great news is it is out of your system within 48 hours of stopping smoking

Carbon Monoxide (CO), (car exhaust fumes) - odourless, tasteless and poisonous gas, rapidly fatal in large amounts, the same gas that comes out of car exhausts

Arsenic (rat poison)

Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison)

The wonderful thing to find out is that our body is amazing at repairing itself. Your body starts to repair itself the second you stop smoking, even in between each cigarette. It is up to you whether you continue the damage with the next cigarette or if you become smoke free. Your body can only repair the damage so many times before cigarettes start to have a permanent damaging effect on your body.

With the smoking ban getting tighter (in New York, you can now no longer smoke outside unless you are in a designated smoking area), there has never been a better time to become smoke free, to stop yourself being a slave to cigarettes. All you need to give up smoking in a positive way is your determination and a one off Stop Smoking session with Erika. Using the powerful combination of Hypnosis, CBT & NLP and your commitment you will leave the session smoke free with the tools to remain a non-smoker. You are 10 times more likely to remain smoke free if you use hypnosis.

CBT - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

What is CBT?

CBT looks at how our thoughts affect our feelings and subsequently our behaviour. Our thoughts have an extremely powerful effect on how we feel. If we approach a siltation with a positive mindset we are more likely to succeed than if we concentrate on the negative and everything that could go wrong.

As we grow and develop, our external influences model the way we feel and approach situations. We continue approaching life with the same mindset but often desire a different outcome. It is only when you start to challenge these entrenched thought patterns that you can change the way you feel about a situation.

Look at The Wright Brothers. Everyone thought that flight was impossible; the external influence upon their thinking was that it couldn’t be done. The Wright Brothers challenged this and saw a different way; it was only through changing their mindset and focusing on the positive that they were able to challenge the laws of physics.

Henry Ford said it perfectly: “Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.”

As did Albert Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The thoughts that go through our minds on a regular basis, the ones that are second nature, contribute to how we feel about ourselves and situations. CBT works by understanding these thought patterns and breaking through them to challenge them and give you a different approach, allowing you to develop techniques to have a more positive and constructive way of thinking that dramatically improves your self-esteem and confidence.

I work using CBT in conjunction with Hypnotherapy and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) to help each person to get the best tools to understand how they feel and to challenge and change their behaviour.

See what kind of things can be treated using this powerful combination.

Hypnotherapy on the BBC

The benefits of hypnotherapy are gaining more recognition every day. The latest news, as reported in BBC News 19th May 2011, is a study into hypnobirthing. For full BBC article and video click link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-13451637

‘Expectant mothers at a hospital in Greater Manchester will be able to try hypnobirthing, as part of an NHS trial.

Studies have found self-hypnosis, which started in the United States, allows many women to give birth without pain, and without gas and air. Women are not distracted from the pain but learn how to stay calm so their muscles relax.

Dr Soo Downe, a midwifery expert at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan), said: "The mind and body are actually linked.

"There is an effect in the way people think and feel in what happens in their body.

"The reason we are looking at this - apart from the fact women have asked us to look at it - is because it appears if you can reduce anxiety in women through the use of hypnosis we can then reduce pain because pain and anxiety are connected."

Mother-to-be Sophie Kreitzmann, who is due to give birth in August, is trying the new technique.

She said there were so many horror stories surrounding labour and wanted to feel calm when she meets her first child.

Hypnobirthing practitioner Katy Redford, 37, is running the sessions at Tameside.

She said: "Hypnosis is really misunderstood.

"Before I'd experienced it I thought it was all about being in a trance and someone having to wake you from it.

"But it's not like that at all and the women who do this are all able to take themselves into deep relaxation/hypnosis and are very aware and in control throughout. It's very empowering."

Midwife Jackie Brocklehurst added: "I've delivered three babies to mums who were under hypnosis and it is amazing to see. It means as midwives, we have to change the way we work because this is a totally new concept.

"But if you go into it with an open mind, it really is unbelievable to see these women requiring no pain relief."’

This is not the first time the BBC has spoken about the benefits of hypnobirthing. Have a look at this article from 20 July 2002:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2136691.stm

It is so exciting to see this industry getting more recognition; the power of our thoughts is amazing. The more we learn how we can help ourselves through positive thinking and behaviour the happier we will all be.

To see how hypnotherapy can help you to release anxiety and stress, sleep better, stop smoking and so much more please contact Erika for a non-obligation chat.

How to be Happy

Do you know how to be happy or are you waiting for happiness to find you? Would you recognise if you were happy or would you focus on the next goal? To be happy isn’t something that happens to you without intervention, it is something that you can make happen to you; it is a state of mind. So what are you waiting for? Start discovering today how to be happy, to enjoy life and to appreciate what you have.

Be realistic

Nobody is happy all the time. Life is a wonderful roller-coaster and we need the highs and the lows to feel challenged, to learn and to appreciate the good times. If we didn’t embrace life’s challenges we would never have learned to walk, we would have just given up and crawled our whole life. Be kind on yourself, when you are having a ‘bad’ or hard day then learn from it and strive to make the next day a happier one. Forgive yourself for having an ‘off’ day rather than berating yourself.

Be in the moment

Stop, breathe and enjoy! Be in the moment, don’t think about what happened yesterday or what is about to happen or what needs to be done. Just be! When you walk somewhere look around at where you are, try and see a different thing every day. Spend time every day just living life for today, having an idea of where you are heading but enjoying now.

Realise your achievements

We are so good at striving for our goals; we work towards certain things, dreaming of how life will be when we reach our goal. Then we achieve it and rather than basking in our wonderful achievement we move onto the next goal. Appreciate what you have; appreciate what you have achieved. Be grateful for what you have in your life, try not to take what you have for granted. Stop and ask yourself, if someone told me I would be here last year how would I feel. The chances are that you have made some amazing steps in the year. So appreciate them every day. The more you focus on the good you have the happier you will become.

These three steps will help you to be happier. Life is ever changing and adapting and we seem to have forgotten how to just be and enjoy being. Being positive, letting go of stress, managing your time and being a happy person is something we can all learn. Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can teach you these tools, teaching you techniques to let go of any fears or stresses and be a happier, more carefree person enjoying life.

To find out more about how Hypnotherapy, NLP & CBT can help you to realise your potential please contact Erika for a no-obligation chat.

Summer Time!

Well, summer is nearly here and we have already had some amazing weather. With the summer wardrobe out and beach holidays booked, a lot of people start to feel the pressure to tone up and look good. Summer has that way of making us want that perfect beach body, but exercise is important all year round, not just for the health of your body but also your mental health. Exercise releases endorphins and expels the stress hormones.

When we think of exercise we tend to imagine a gym. A lot of people love the convenience of the gym, but you don’t have to go to the gym to get your daily exercise. Now that the weather is on our side it is even easier to incorporate exercise into our daily routine. The longer nights make it safe to enjoy walking home from work, allowing the stress of the day to leave you so you walk through your front door feeling refreshed and free from work. If you don’t live near enough to walk from work then try getting off the bus one stop earlier, or taking a longer route home, or even going for a walk at lunch time to soak up some of those precious rays of sun and get some vitamin D into your body. One of the main reasons why we feel better in the summer is that we are out and about more, taking exercise naturally, getting fresh air into our lungs. Get yourself into the habit now, while the weather is nice, of exercise being part of your daily routine so that when the winter comes you crave the exercise and continue getting out to enjoy the winter sun too. With this week being Walk to Work Week there couldn’t be a more perfect time to start enjoying the outdoors.

The sun also has an amazing way of making most of us feel good, although some people will prefer other seasons more. The effect the sun has on our mind shows us how powerful our minds are. How can something so simple - the weather - change how we feel? We still have the same jobs and lives but somehow in the sun it all seems brighter. There are many reasons why people feel better in the summer: the heat, longer days, windows open allowing fresh air in, taking exercise naturally, looking at things differently. Changing the way you look at things and approach situations can help you to find that inner calm and happiness in life - often life is better than you think it is, just we forget to appreciate the things we have and our achievements; things that we once craved for so much that we now take for granted.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you challenge your negative beliefs and get that summer feeling more often, throughout the year. It can help you to be in the moment and enjoy the good things in life, while feeling motivated by the challenges life through at you. Summer is such a good time to deal with the winter demons.

To find out how Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to feel happier, more content, less stressed and find the enjoyment in life and your achievements please call Erika for a no obligation chat.

© EKTherapies

Training Alliance Group to offer Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma (HPD)

I am very proud to be a founder and teacher at the Training Alliance Group (TAG), offering both corporate and personal development training courses in Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP. The Training Alliance Group is very excited to announce that they now offer a Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma (HPD) as part of their course.

For full details about training with TAG please visit the website http://www.trainingalliancegroup.co.uk/

Wedding Bells, Bouquets, Bridezilla and the Best Day of Your Life

The royal wedding certainly divides opinion. Personally I think it is going to be a wonderful British event and I am looking forward to seeing London sparkling away with all the pomp and ceremony; and it is not only royal weddings that bring up conflicting feelings!

For many, a wedding day is a day they have dreamt of since they were a little girl, playing dress up with their friends and dreaming of their Prince Charming and the day he sweeps them off their feet. Yet, for many different reasons, some people end up arriving at their wedding day in a stressed heap, focusing on all the little details and what could go wrong.

They forget to focus on their Prince Charming and the reason for the day, to become husband and wife! Ask most girls who have planned a wedding or watched someone close to them planning and they will understand where I am coming from, the word Bridezilla didn’t come from thin air.

We spend so much time planning everything, the colour of the table clothes and centre pieces; oh and make sure they match the chair covers. We make sure we are the fittest we have ever been, looking stunning on the day in our amazing dress but inside we are tired and stressed and on tenterhooks fearing the next possible disaster. Your day should be about you and your husband, not about the family politics or who is sitting where. Yes you need to plan for all this but on the day it is your time to relax and enjoy taking in the wonderful memories as you start on your new path as Mr & Mrs.

I have had grooms saying they don’t recognise the woman who is standing in front of them. They have unleashed this wedding monster, help! What happened to the woman who I asked to marry, will she return? Oh the wedding, I leave that all up to her, I’ll just turn up on the day, that is her project.

So how can EKTherapies help you with your wedding? Using the powerful combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT and NLP we can work together to understand your stressors and help you to focus on not only the day but your life ahead, helping you to enjoy the day as one that is jam packed full of wonderful memories; helping you to arrive at your wedding day full of anticipation and excitement, feeling confident and ready to be a centre of attention for a day, free from all the little stresses, enjoying the day in the moment as you take your first steps as husband and wife. We can also work on freeing yourself from the anti-climax that can come after a wedding, and in preparing for the wedding, allowing the man in your life to be involved, as most men really do want to be, just maybe not in the same level of detail as you!

From practical help with the public speaking for him so the speech isn’t a black cloud hanging over the day to allowing the day to be the happiest moment in each other’s lives, EKTherapies can help with every detail you can imagine. Give me a call today to find out more.

© EKTherapies