Do you chew your tongue or cheek?

Do you (or someone you know) chew your cheek or tongue?

I worked with a client who had this condition and using that experience went on to develop a hypnotherapy audio track to help deal with this habit.

The tongue chewing often starts in childhood in a similar way to nail biting or thumb sucking as a result of some anxiety or stress. Often some comfort becomes associated with the activity and the person involved subconsciously uses this to deal with other stressful situations.

The outcome of doing this into adulthood can be severe dental problems, jaw misalignment even damage to the nerves in the tongue.

Often the person doing the chewing is completely unaware that they are chewing, but those around them will note the facial contortions and grimaces that occur.

You can download this audio track as an MP3 from the Gift4Life web site by going to the web site here.

You can hear a sample online or buy a CD version of this hypnotherapy by visiting the web site.

What happened to the web site?

Over the last few days the Somerset Hypnotherapy web site has been down; virtually offline.

It's all to do with moving the hosting to a new account and server but it seems to have been more complicated than we thought.

The site is up and running now (the buttons look a little strange but...) so you can take a look at all the information I have put there on the topics of hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

If there is something you would like to know then send an email or comment on this blog and I'll answer your question.

Helping you through the credit crunch with 3 for 2 offer

Many people have been affected by the credit crunch and it seems we will all be paying the bill, so I wanted to make things a little easier for would be clients wanting to make a booking.

For hypnosis/hypnotherapy/EFT sessions booked with me in November I am offering three sessions for the price of two. These sessions are ideal for dealing with stress, anxiety, fears phobias and similar issues.

So with the 3 for 2 you will be saving £55!

There are a couple of exceptions to this offer though:For Quit smoking and weight loss I am offering a 10% discount on normal prices.

I know that cash can be tricky to pull together sometimes but I do also accept credit and debit cards.

It's worth remembering that I now work from the Ninesprings Centre at 70 Hendford.

John

A new way to visualize your perfect future

There are lots of books and videos about using the power of visualization to achieve your dreams and you may even have tried some of the techniques.

Well here is a new spin on that method that I love and I'm going to try today. Write out what your perfect day would be, write it in the present tense; it's happening now!

Use this as a script to create a movie of your perfect day. Use pictures and sounds to create that positive experience and then watch it each day.

You may not be a video editing wizard but many mobile phones can film video; go ahead act out your perfect day and watch the film every day. See what happens.

I snagged this great idea from here www.mindmovies.com and you can even sign up for some free movies.

I'm not getting anything for this I just thought it was a really neat idea.

Do your personal belief systems get challenged?

There are times when working with personal development techniques leads one down a path that challenges one's beliefs.

I did a double take today when I read in the August/November edition of South West Connection (a magazine that dedicates itself to being a guide to personal development and natural therapies), a headline like no other; "Were you traumatized when you were a sperm?".

Just possibly I thought this may be an ironic joke, a gentle micky take on those who take things just a bit too far. It appears I was wrong, apparently Juliet Yelverton of the Healing Waters Sanctuary in Glastonbury really does believe that as a sperm and possibly as an egg you were traumatized and that trauma helps to explain why you might become a drug addict in later life.

Well now, you can we are told, heal the inner egg and calm the traumatized sperm by going to a workshop. Really?

I don't doubt that some people will make changes in their life through others showing them unconditional positive regard (standard Rogerian techniques) in almost any kind of workshop but to ascribe the issues resolved as being associated with the passage of the sperm from ejaculation to egg seems far fetched in the extreme.

It makes me wonder what kind of inner trauma would be associated with the different sexual positions at conception, woman on top...trouble with dealing with female authority, penetration from behind...an inability to look other people in the eye. Please.....

What next? "It's not my fault, my sperm was traumatized."

What does this remind me of? Ah yes the Emperors new clothes.

Inspiring video presentations

Many of you will have discovered this resource already but if you haven't tried it out yet go to www.ted.com.

You will see incredible presentations, lectures and performances by some of the best and brightest minds in the world. It is an amazing resource and it's all for free. (Actually it's sponsored by BMW so there are a few commercials to put up with.)

Try this one by Tony Robbins as a starter.

Former students and their web sites

Whilst working as a tutor for Chrysalis I met many wonderful students from Swindon and the surrounding areas. Some have gone on to work professionally, others use their skills to enrich their life and the lives of others.

I thought it might be nice to list all their web sites in one place, so here they are:

http://positiveresolutions.blogspot.com/ Rachel Arnold

http://www.newwaysnow.com/ Helen Ellis

http://www.swindon-hypnotherapy.com/ Alex Copock-Bunce

http://www.northwiltstherapy.co.uk/ Mark Johnson

http://www.positivepressures.com/index.htm Jane Austin

If you are a former student and would like to be listed here then drop me a line!

Former student now in pracrtice

For several years I was a tutor with the Chrysalis training organisation, teaching students how to use hypnosis in a therapeutic way. It's always good to hear from former students and especially when they have made great progress in their life.

One of my students was Helen Ellis and in the year that we worked together she developed and grew so much as she came to understand not just herself but also those around her.

I am pleased to say that Helen is now well established with her own hypnotherapy practice in Swindon, you can take a look at her web site here www.newwaysnow.com. Helen recently attended the Mela event in Swindon and had a stand their to promote her work.

Since she sent me a picture I thought I'd include it here for former students to comment on. Let's hear from you!

If any former students of mine have recent photo then send it to me so that we can include it here!

CO2 lots of hot air

In a moment of idle curiosity I wondered how much CO2 we breathe out each day, since almost everyone now seems to think that CO2 is poison. (It isn't folks!)

Well the internet provides everything and on a web site somewhere (very scientific) it said the average persons breathes out about 450 litres of CO2 a day or about 900g.

You may wonder if it is worth holding your breath to improve things (hint, it isn't).

For a comparison a 2 litre VW Golf emits 145grams per Km. So if you stop breathing for a whole day you can drive your car 6.2Km or about 3.85 miles. I think I'll keep breathing then.

Is a full night of sleep for everyone?

Over the last 3 years I have worked with a number of insomniacs who had got to the point of desperation about achieving a full nights sleep.

Generally as we have worked together through the emotional baggage and physical habits that have been in the way, meaningful sleep has returned. Sometimes progress with this condition is slower than other issues but that 'seems' to be because the change in sleep patterns has been well established. So after 5-7 sessions of one to one work we have made enough progress to brings our sessions to an end.

But having just read a very interesting blog about polyphasic sleep perhaps there are some insomniacs who would benefit from an alternative approach. Basically Polyphasic sleeping means being awake for 4 hours at a time and then taking a 20-30 minute nap. The schedule is everything with this approach and the pay off for sleeping less is that your day becomes relatively inflexible.

I found a superb blog detailing one man's experiment with this approach and he kept going for over 5 months. It is fascinating stuff and very detailed, it includes for example the impact that these changes had on his family.

Follow the link for more

New Nail Biting hypnosis MP3

I added a new hypnosis MP3 download to the Gift4life web site today. (You can also purchase the recording as a CD.)

It is designed specifically for women who want to grow their own elegant nails instead of having to rely on false acrylic ones.

Follow the link above to listen to a short audio sample of the track.

For the guys out there who might bite their nails we recommend the Great Nails track. Follow this link instead.

Quit tobacco and still smoke cannabis?

I have had quite a few people talk to me over the recent months about wanting to stop tobacco smoking but still retain the ability to keep smoking cannabis.

Is this achievable? Can you both give up tobacco and use cannabis? Keeping watching till the end of the video for an interesting insight into this issue.



Sorry about the still frame above! I am a lot more friendly than that pictures suggests...if I could just find a way to use a different frame.

Any comments on this video are very welcome whether as a therapist or as a user.

Lower prices for download hypnosis MP3s

To celebrate six months of the the Gift4life site being on-line I have reduced our prices by almost 50%!

The hypnosis CDs that were £18.95 are now only £9.95
The MP3 downloads that were £14.94 are now just £7.75

The quality is the same as ever but I wanted to allow more people to take advantage of the products produced so far.

To make things even easier, I have now also put in place a 30 day money back guarantee so that you can purchase with zero-risk.


There has never been a better time to make the changes in your life that you dream of. Remember that you can also download a relaxation audio track for free by registering on the site.

It's quick and easy to do, you can be listening to the audio in just a couple of minutes.

Hypnotherapy on BBC TV

On BBC 2 last night (Monday 17th) there was a program called Alternative Therapies that looked at Hypnotherapy in the first program. The presenter is Kathy Sykes; she is listed as a Professor of Science at Bristol University. (Her role appears to be to communicate science to the masses.)

Kathy starts the program apparently skeptical about what hypnosis and hypnotherapy can achieve (unfortunately there appeared to be very little differentiation between the hypnotic process and the therapy process).

She started with a stage hypnotist show and then moved on into various research areas. Personally I found the program frustrating at times as hypnotherapy was dismissed for not having any clinical trials to back it up and then damned again by unspecified research that showed hypnosis/hypnotherapy was no better than counseling.

What the presenter appeared to miss in her search for the elusive hypnotic state is that it happens so often, that people are looking for the obvious and then missing it or calling it something else.

The program drew to a conclusion as it looked at research done with brain imaging equipment that should (surprise!) that subjects in a hypnotic state use a different part of the brain to this who are merely responding to simple suggestion.

The final scenes had a tooth extraction and replacement done with hypnotic pain control. Even then the presenter appeared to think that simple suggestion could have achieved the same thing (although she was cringing whilst watching the procedure).

The program concluded with Kathy returning to see the stage hypnotist (Gary McCoy I believe) to see if she could now engage with the hypnotic process more fully having finally been convinced by brain scan research being conducted in Montreal.

From a hypnotherapist's or hypnotist's point of view, it is a difficult program that may well have you shouting at the TV screen in disagreement with what is happening (the IBS Doctor who described his hypnotic method as "droning on a bit" for example!). However it did clearly the show the power of hypnotic pain control and will no doubt promote some debate. Click the link at the top of this post to go top the BBC iPlayer to view the program on-line.

A very special offer for smokers

I have a very special time limited offer for smokers who would like to be non-smokers.

Until Friday 21^st I am offering the first 10 people who book, a £95 discount on my quit smoking package. Instead of the usual £195 you pay only £100.

If you ever thought that the hypnotherapy approach was expensive, then now is the time to think again.

£100 is the cost of just 17 packets of cigarettes (depending on your brand).

Here is what Brad Burton (who had a 30 a day habit) of Business Networking company 4Networking said after working with me:

“Straight talking, non-hippy type Hypnotherapy. John stopped my compulsion to smoke within 1 hour session. Hypnotherapy... hypno rubbish or so I thought; whether it be for smoking, weight loss or indeed working with John to help unleash your ability in business. I recommend you take him up on his free consultation . Thanks John in helping me avoid an early grave!”

Every person who books to see me will get two 2 hour sessions 1 week apart and two different audio CDs to reinforce the positive changes as well as a Quit Smoking booklet filled with practical information.

What do other former smokers say?

“I just wanted to say that after five weeks I am still not smoking and don’t really want to. It is very strange but thanks for a successful solution”. Mr M.R of Dorset

“Still not smoking and I am sure my new baby appreciates it!” Miss G. of Yeovil

This offer will not be repeated

This offer will expire when either 10 people make a booking or Friday 21^st arrives, whichever happens sooner.

I am not going to repeat this offer; when it's gone it's gone for good.

I am not trying to persuade anyone to stop smoking. Smokers know what the negative effects of the habit are; if you want to continue in spite of the dangers that is your right.

This is how to book

Make your booking by calling 01935 700333 or if you would like some more information in a short video before booking then click here to visit my web site.

Anxiety, how to let it go.

Year of the video part 2

This is my second new video for the Somerset Hypnotherapy web site and it concerns what is probably the number one reason why people get in touch; Anxiety.

Anxiety is really another word for fear but it tends to be a low level fear that seems to have no rational explanation, often no obvious trigger point and very often starts for no obvious reason.

This video gives some useful information about how hypnotherapy can be a valuable way to release anxiety for good. It contrasts this method with the common approach used by family Doctors of prescribing anti-depressants or beta blockers in similar situations.

Click on the play button below and see if you can release your anxiety.

2008 is the year of video!

I have started recording some simple videos for my personal Hypnotherapy web site. I have done this as a way of explaining to people who they can move beyond the isuue that have today.

I'll post more as soon as I get them recorded and edited but the first one here concerns moving from being a smoker to a non-smoker. It's topical since National No Smoking Day in the UK is on 12th March.

Take a look and let me know what you think. (I am unlikely to win any Oscars for my camera work!)



John Burns

On the radio to talk about smoking

In the UK, March 12th has been designated as National No Smoking Day. To help those smokers who would rather be non-smokers I will be one of the panel members on the Morning Jo program with Jo Phillips.

I will drawing on my work with the smokers I have helped to leave the habit to bring you some great tips on how to leave the weed behind.

The show starts at 9am and can be heard on 95.5FM or online through the link above.

Why pay when you can go free?

Some of you may be wondering why I have a download site (www.gift4life.com) where you have to pay for the product when other sites will give you a recording for free.

Well it is an old adage but still a useful one, you get what you pay for. I took the trouble this week to check out a couple of recordings from so-called 'free' sites. (Actually they normally make their money from hosting Google adverts.)

Well the recording quality was OK, that is to say the sound quality was acceptable, although the mix gradually became unbearable with the speakers voice buried right between my ears. It seems that this was in mono whilst the rest of the track was clearly stereo. After a while of listening on headphones this became too painful to continue with.

Some people clearly find the tracks of value and I would have to admit that if you have no money to spend then they are probably better than nothing. However spend a relatively small amount of money on a paid for product and it seems likely that you will get much better results. The mix is generally better and the overall sound package much more polished.

Hypnosis recordings become most effective through repeated use, if you can only stand to use a recording once it is unlikely to be that catalyst for change that you had hoped for.

In the end you do it seems get what you pay for.

Supersize vs Superskinny

Those of you in the UK may well have seen the recent Channel 4 program Supersize Vs Superskinny.

The basic idea is that you take two people, one very under weight and one very over weight, put them in the same house for 5 days and have them eat what the other person normally eats.

The aim being to get each to understand their own eating issues. Other aspects of the program focus on trying out weight loss methods outside of the normal diet only approach. This week the reporter for this segment, Anna Richardson, tried out hypnosis. I give a full explanation of what went on in my video but suffice to say that it worked and as well as losing 3lbs in weight that week she also cleared all the fatty foods from her cupboard.

The surprise for me was not the program itself but the fact that in the two days following I had eight calls, all for weight loss. It just goes to show the power of television for both good and bad.
Watch the video here

Self Hypnosis seminar on 23rd February 2008

It has been a while since I lasted posted here but I have some great news for some of you!

On Saturday 23rd February 2008 I will be hosting a 3 hour self hypnosis seminar in Yeovil, Somerset.

This event follows on a from a very successful seminar just a few weeks ago. If you have been looking for the reasons why you block change in our life even though you really want it to happen then this event is for you.

Whether you want to:

• Let go old an old habit
• Stop smoking
• Lose weight
• Remember more of your studies
• Let a fear or phobia go
• Or are just plain curious about what hypnosis can do then this seminar is for you.

Follow this link for full details and some very positive comments from previous attendees.

Take action on this one now though as the spaces are very limited, there will be no more than 8 people attending so you will get great personal attention from me so that I can answer any questions you may have about the use of hypnosis and affirmations.

Here is that link again with all the booking details.

Best Wishes

John
PS I nearly forgot, everyone who attends will get my Self Hypnosis handbook and a CD copy of 'Inner Strength' a personal development audio that normally retails for £18.95 on its own. Book up now, I'm not sure when I'll be hosting the next seminar.