Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Ely Eels Day – Embracing My Inner Morris Dancer!

by Dan Regan | May 8, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Ely Eels Day – Embracing My Inner Morris Dancer!

This past Bank Holiday weekend was a record breaker for the high temperatures reached here in the UK – it has been scorching hot for three days straight (a slight contrast to the persistent rain we’ve had in recent weeks!). And this weekend marked the annual Ely Eels Day here in Ely, Cambridgeshire. In fact, Ely derives its name from the Isle of Eels when it was an island surrounded by fen marshland and eels were a much bigger part of life than they are now.

Now one thing I love about living in this part of the world is when the various Morris dancing groups hit town (as they do a few times a year). Suddenly you have these groups of dancers, all dressed up in their unique garb, performing through the day around the City. I really do enjoy watching them perform and I’m even almost tempted to want to tie bells to my shins, paint my face green and dive in for a song or two! (Anyone else want to join in?!).

Of course there were lots of other things going on with street stalls, a procession, rides for the kids and an arena where local dance groups performed their routines in the sun for the huge crowds (everything from ballet to street dance were on display).

But back to Morris dancing because I think there are a few valuable things we can all learn from Morris dancers…

Data Protection Law Changes, Your Personal Data and My Privacy Policy

by Dan Regan | May 1, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Data Protection Law Changes and My Privacy Policy

Unless you’ve ditched all your e-mail systems and avoided the news recently, you probably are aware that there are data protection law changes coming into place from May 2018 (in the EU).

Many years ago now I worked in data protection and information compliance in the public sector, often involving sensitive data about people (it was in the legal field). In those days, it was very much about looking after data, keeping it accurate, keeping it secure and not sharing it with anyone who wasn’t entitled to it. And these are pretty much the principles I took with me into my professional hypnotherapy practice.

And, of course, these principles carry on within the new data protection regime that anyone who deals with anyone are currently getting their heads around (it’s a mammoth piece of legislation!).

This short blog is just a quick update on data protection related things.

Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy – what it is and how it can help you combat anxiety

by Dan Regan | Apr 12, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy – what it is and how it can help you combat anxiety:

Often when clients come to meet me for the first time they seem to think, based on the sloppy portrayals of hypnosis in the media, that I will start swinging a watch in front of their eyes and evoking some sort of mystical persona (perhaps a bit like Gandalf in Lord of The Rings or something from Harry Potter). They’ve seen things in TV programmes and in films and stage show type environments that leads them to form an opinion that hypnosis is something unknown, mystical and magical in some way.

They may also think that hypnosis is something you can either do or not do, that is, either you can ‘go under’ or you can’t, either it will work for you or you can’t be hypnotised (full stop). And it makes sense that we form these perceptions based upon the things we see and hear about ‘going under’ and myths about being controlled by the hypnotist.

In fact, part of the reason I went to a hypnotist for help with my anxiety was that I wanted to be ‘knocked out’ and then come round to find that I had ultra amazing levels of self-belief and confidence, before heading off into the sunset with ultra-confidence and anxiety freedom for ever more (seriously, I thought I would be put under and awake to have all the confidence in the world). The first hypnotist I saw spent hour after hour taking me back through unpleasant and anxiety filled memories in the hope of finding some root cause yet all that did was make me feel more depressed and more anxious. The next hypnotist I saw transformed my life and whilst the results of hypnotherapy often seem magical, they are of course, built upon normal psychological processes that we are all capable of identifying, taking control over and changing.

Rather than being seemingly controlled by ongoing, intrusive and habitual anxiety filled thoughts, those same psychological processes can be used to create thoughts and feelings that leave us feeling happier, calmer and more in control.

Motivation and results – Come rain or shine!

by Dan Regan | Apr 6, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Motivation and results – Come rain or shine!

It’s been a lovely day here today yet earlier this week, just a few days ago, it was a very different story. Over the Easter bank holiday weekend the heavens seemed to open and the rain poured down. Lots of well made plans were waterlogged (including my trip to watch Ely City FC with my daughter and father in law).

And on Monday morning, which was a bank holiday here in the UK, my usual evening bootcamp was moved to eight in the morning. Whilst I only ate a small amount of chocolate over Easter, anyone who knows me knows I love that feeling after a hard work out – my mental health feels boosted and i know my physical health is benefitting too.

That Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday it absolutely poured down. The rain was so heavy that the noise of it on the windows woke me up two or three times during the night. When my alarm went off at 7 a.m. (cause yes it takes me an hour to wake up physically and mentally before I can exercise), there was a massive temptation to switch it off, roll over and go back to sleep. My bed was so warm and comfy and outside I knew it was wet and cold.

So what do you do? Stay in the warm and dry and enjoy the comfort, or push yourself out of bed and just get on with it?

Hypnosis Downloads – New Titles, New Shop…

by Dan Regan | Mar 23, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Hypnosis Downloads – New Titles, New Shop…

Earlier this week I headed back into the recording studio to record a couple of new hypnosis downloads. As much as people keep asking me to record new hypnosis tracks, finding the time to research, prepare and then record them has proven to be a bit of a challenge in recent months due to the high volume of people I’ve been helping in Ely and Newmarket and over Skype/Facetime.

i always get great feedback on my hypnosis downloads, which I currently have for such issues as anxiety relief, stress relief, letting go of worry and boosting self-confidence.

I’m very pleased to now add two new titles to the collection and am making a commitment to get back in the studio much more regularly this year to expand my offerings.

Ely Hero Awards 2018 Nomination – Thank You!

by Dan Regan | Mar 15, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Ely Hero Awards 2018 Nomination – Thank You!

Very honoured and grateful today to learn that I’ve been nominated for an Ely Hero Award 2018.

It really does mean a lot to know that I’ve made such a positive difference to someone’s life that they felt compelled to take the time and effort to nominate me. Thank you!

There are many, many local people in Ely doing great things in this area and I hope many of them also get nominated for the great stuff they are doing.

My latest vlog – Mental Health & Pets (featuring Nibbles the Rabbit!)

by Dan Regan | Mar 13, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

My latest vlog – Mental Health & Pets:

Recently I wrote an article about how pets can benefit your mental health. This followed on from a recent research paper that carried out a systematic review of 17 studies involving 1727 pet owners, all of whom had mental health conditions.

In the conclusion the report says, ‘this review suggests that pets provide benefits to those with mental health conditions through the intensity of connectivity with their owners and the contribution they make to emotional support in times of crises together with their ability to help manage symptoms when they arise.’

Now I like this because I think pets can help to support our mental health even in the absence of having a mental health condition. Pets provide a consistent and close source of calming support and companionship, distraction from unwanted symptoms, a sense of purpose and routine and they offer acceptance without judgment.

When I was a young teenager, struggling with low self esteem and anxiety, we inherited a cockatiel following the death of a family member (he was called Joe for some reason and he must have been camera shy because I haven’t got a photo of him). Many was the time when I would get home from school feeling low because of some (at least perceived) anxious or embarrassing moment I’d endured that day. So I’d get Joe out and we’d sit on the floor and interact (he liked to rip matchsticks to pieces with his beak) and maybe I’d have some sort of conversation with him about my day (I did all the talking!) and I’d invariably feel better for it.

Recently, following a campaign of sustained requests from the kids and being sure they were old enough to care for her, we adopted a pet rabbit who my daughter has named ‘Nibbles’ and it’s really impressed me how involved and purposeful the girls have been in taking care of her. Nibbles makes her first ever video appearance below…

Hypnotherapy on TV…Let’s All Let Out A Collective Sigh

by Dan Regan | Mar 6, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Hypnotherapy on TV…Let’s All Let Out A Collective Sigh:

I’m sure it’s the same in many professions like paramedics watching hospital programmes and teachers watching school based programmes. You sit there and cringe wondering what on earth is going on. And it’s certainly true (or at least should be for the well trained) for hypnotherapists watching hypnosis being portrayed on TV. As soon as a character in a drama mentions the possiblity of going to a hypnotherapist I let out a little sigh…

And soo it was with ITV’s latest episode of Marcella. If you haven’t seen it, Marcella is a detective drama starring Anna Friel. I think it’s an excellent drama with a gripping plot and great actors and it’s a firm fixture in my weekly viewing. But then they go and do that sloppy thing that dramas do and introduce a hypnotist to move the plot along.

You see, the main character (Friel) suffers with violent black outs in moments of extreme stress and has no recollection of them afterwards. So, having been given a contact number by her ex-husband’s girlfriend, she goes to a hypnotist to help to deal with these black outs.

Let’s remember that it is a drama and not a documentary but still…we get to see Marcella sat there, visibly distressed, before a hypnotherapist apparently induces hypnosis and takes her back to the time it all started, a particularly traumatic memory that generates huge amounts of distress and frustration for the detective client. To end it all, the therapist, to her very visibly distraught client, says something along the lines of “we’ll leave it there for today then”. Seriously?

Exercise & Mental Health – Depression, Stress & Memory

by Dan Regan | Feb 25, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Exercise & Mental Health – Depression, Stress & Memory:

This past weekend my daughter and I took part in our first ever virtual running race. Now if you are new to virtual running, it’s like an organised running event except that instead of turning up to the start line on a specific day and time, you have much more flexibility as to when you do it. Our race was the Magnificent 5km organised by Zoom Virtual Races and we had to complete the run and then send evidence of having done it to the organisers before the end of February.

As well as the advantage of flexibility, it’s a great way for me to spend some healthy, active time with my daughter. If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while you’ll know that we regularly run the Ely Festive 5k each year although, given the cold this weekend, I wish I’d stuck my fake Santa beard on my face to add some extra warmth! It was freezing cold! And for some reason I decided that the best place for us to run was in a muddy field where the strong wind came howling into us around every corner!

Now I’m a great lover of exercise as I know it benefits my mental health and physical health. My long standing leg injury means I’ve turned more to bootcamp over the last year (and I love it!) and if nothing else, yesterday was more evidence that my leg injury hasn’t yet subsided as much as I’d hoped. But never mind, because there is still much to benefit mental health even where there are some activities that are more challenging than others.

In fact, a lot of research has demonstrated the power of exercise to boost our mental health and I’ve got a few examples that are worth taking a look at in this article.

Sports Performance – Mindset, Focus, Motivation, Results

by Dan Regan | Feb 13, 2018 | Hypnotherapy Hypnosis and NLP

Sports Performance – Mindset, Focus, Motivation, Results:

I can remember several years ago being desperate to complete a 10km race in under forty minutes. I would enter race after race in my attempts to reach the glory of the sub-40 minute time. It filled my thoughts at work and it dominated my conversations with other runners. It was a goal I had set myself and I was determined to get there.

Yet try as I might, for a long time it eluded me. I would cross the finish line one or two seconds over forty minutes – literally one or two seconds from getting it nailed. Over 6.2 miles of running, a couple of seconds is nothing, it’s almost meaningless. Yet when the clock stopped, those couple of seconds were pretty much the most frustrating things ever known!

I knew I was physically capable of knocking off those couple of seconds but what I didn’t appreciate at that time was, no matter how physically ready I was from my training, mentally I was getting in my own way. My mind was filled with pressure, stress, doubts both before and during the race. I might lose focus for half a mile and realise I was off the needed pace to reach my goal. Once in a race, as I approached a corner I saw a sign that said it was 200 metres to the finish line, I looked at my watch, realised I couldn’t hit the sub-40 and slowed a little, only to turn the corner, see the finish line was only about 100 metres away and realise in that moment of over thinking and lack of focus, I’d blown what would have been relatively easy to achieve.

Once I learned some effective sports performance hypnotherapy strategies I went out there and nailed it three races in row. I felt like Robert Bannister when he broke the four minute mile (albeit I was a much slower Roger!).

And if you’ve ever seen a golfer miss an easy putt because the pressure got to them, or a striker miss an easy goal because they’d lost confidence, or a driver start to overthink and hesitate because of a previous crash, then you’ll know how important your mind-set is to sports performance at any level.

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