Royal news : Self-hypnosis could help you overcome difficult issues in every area of your life

Most of us learned everything we know about hypnosis from TV shows, where people put under a “spell” are told they’re chickens and start clucking until the hypnotist commands them to “sleep”.  So it’s no surprise that there’s a healthy amount of scepticism about it. But hypnotherapy is recognised as a talking therapy by the British Psychological Society, and is considered a useful treatment for issues including anxiety, addiction and even IBS.  Lily Allen and Geri Horner have turned to hypnotherapists to lose weight, while Kate Middleton reportedly used hypnobirthing techniques to help with labour pain (maybe Meghan’s asked for tips – her birth plan is rumoured to include it).  And we can all use self-hypnosis to get ahead – whether it’s to ace a scary work presentation, stick to our gym goals or feel less stressed.  “The unconscious mind is incredibly powerful, and by tapping into it you can really super-charge your goals,” says Glenn Harrold, a clinical hypnotherapist and author of De-Stress Your Life.  “One of the biggest misconceptions is that it’s about people being manipulated into doing whacky things. But self-hypnosis is nothing like that.”  The idea of hypnotherapy is to induce a mild trance – meaning a relaxed state, a bit like when we allow our minds to wander or switch to autopilot – and then introduce suggestions for how we’d like to feel or behave by listening to or thinking of mantras.  It’s thought that we’re more open to suggestion in this deeply relaxed “hypnotic” state.  “Up to 90% of our behaviour is governed by the unconscious,” says cognitive hypnotherapist Fiona Nicolson, co-author of the The Hypnotherapy Handbook.  “We all have a belief system about ourselves and about the world around us that sits in our unconscious mind, driving our behaviour. Sometimes it comes with negatives ideas about ourselves, such as: ‘I’m not good enough,’ or ‘I always fail.’  Think of the brain as a computer – it’s not the computer itself that’s the problem, it’s more likely a software programme that has bugs in it. That’s what hypnotherapy aims to fix.” Boost your mood  “The key to self-hypnosis is to keep it simple, short, and frequent – every day, if possible, for 10 minutes,” says Fiona, who recommends adapting the following simple exercise when you want to feel less anxious or boost your mood.  “Sit in a chair with your hands in your lap and think about how you want to feel. Then pick a memory of when you felt that way,” she says. “For instance, you might want to feel less stressed, so imagine a peaceful holiday with the sun on your face.  “Next, take four deep breaths in and out through the nose. This encourages the body to relax. Then start to count slowly back from 10, and after each count tell yourself: ‘I’m going deeper down.’ When you get down to one, take a very deep breath and, imagining the peaceful memory, repeat to yourself: ‘I’m safe, I’m calm,’ for a couple of minutes.”  She advises that it helps to say the words out loud,

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