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