Category Archives: Confidence

Move forwards by going back: the power of regression to change your present

by Kelly

Childhood regression

Working with memories within hypnosis is a very powerful tool to achieve effective change.  During early childhood, our minds are incredibly open and our neurological patterning is formed at this age.  Key events that occurred in early childhood can influence our behaviour, our emotions and our beliefs in the present without us even being aware of it.

One of my approaches when working with clients is to guide their unconscious mind to find often forgotten but influential memories.  This technique is widely known as regression.  Once the client has located the key memory,  we work quickly and effectively at re-contextualising the events of that moment.  This process allows the client to take more information from the event and make new conclusions.  By revisiting specific childhood events and seeing the bigger picture we create new neural connections which allow new behaviours and responses in the present.

To make the process of re-contextualising memories even faster and more effective I often use the technique called “creative mothering”.  As the client reviews the key event, I invite them to bring their present-day adult-self to be there with their child-self inside the memory they are working with.  The purpose of their adult-self is to serve as the source of support and resources that their child-self needed at the time.

In her recent exhibition, Imagine Finding Me, London-based photographer Chino Otsuka has literally inserted her adult-self into childhood memories using digital software.  The compositions presented in her exhibition could well be little vignettes from many of the client sessions I facilitate.

The results of re-contextualising these key memories are often noteworthy. I recently worked with a client who came to see me to overcome her feelings of failure.  I took her back to the originating memory which involved feeling ignored by a parent.  Once she’d been through the process of having her unconscious mind understand that being ignored was not her fault she was able to know that she was important and loved.  Getting in touch with the knowledge that she did matter allowed her to claim her self-worth in the present.

A week later she made a minor miscalculation while driving.  While everyone remained safe and no property was damaged, she did receive a fine.  She relayed to me that if that miscalculation had happened in the past, she would have fallen into a hole of self-criticism and shame from which she would have taken a long time to recover. After releasing and re-contextualising the key memory she was thrilled that she could easily say to herself, “Damn it, how annoying!” and get on with the rest of her day.

What patterns of thought or behaviour have you feeling stuck?  If enough is enough, then get in contact.  Let’s go meet with your child-self and discover what else there is for you to learn.

Self-confidence can increase your earnings by 56% p.a.

by Kelly

Improve Self Confidence

Confidence, its like money, we can always enjoy more of it!  A study conducted in 2008 has shown that confidence can actually generate additional income too.

The 25-year longitudinal study by Judge and Hurst at the University of Florida found that people who reported higher levels of self-confidence in 1979 earned $3,496 or 28% p.a. more than their peers with lower self-confidence.  They also found that over the course of the 25 year study this earnings differential continued to grow so that by 2004 these same, more confident, individuals were earning an additional $12,821 or 56% p.a. more than their less confident peers.

In addition, the researchers also found that higher self-confidence was correlated with better health.   When evaluated in 2004, participants with low self-confidence were 3 times more likely to have health problems that interfered with work than those participants with high self-confidence.

Throughout this year I’ve talked about a number of techniques that can improve your confidence.  The article on Power Posing showed you how certain physical postures can significantly change your body chemistry and how you feel.   In November I introduced you to EFT as an incredibly powerful tool that can release those less-than-confident feelings about certain situations.  And in May I showed that by using the power of visualisation you can give your unconscious mind a clear blueprint of a future confident you, changing your way of thinking, feeling and behaving for the better.

Should you wish to spread the sparkle of self-confidence amongst your near and dear ones this December, you can purchase a gift voucher for a session with me.  Click here for more details.  Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, confident and prosperous new year.  See you in 2014!

 

Image Credit: SheerenM via Flickr

Feel confident and powerful in just two minutes

by Kelly | 1 Comment

How to feel confident

In her 2012 TED talk Amy Cuddy shared research that found the way we hold our body affects how we feel.  She found that just by adopting so called “Power Postures” for two minutes, the subject would exhibit a significant change in hormone levels.  Power Postures involve sitting or standing using the body in an expansive way – arms outstretched or on the hips, with a wide stance.  Wonder Woman’s classic pose is a perfect example of a Power Posture.

Wonder Woman's Power PoseTwo key hormones were measured in this research: Testosterone – the dominance hormone; and Cortisol – the stress hormone.  After two minutes of Power Postures, it was found that testosterone levels increased by 20% and cortisol levels reduced by 25%.  Conversely, when subjects adopted low-power poses for two minutes – hunching over, shrinking down and crossing arms, legs or ankles – their testosterone levels reduced by 10% and cortisol levels increased by 15%.

In my consultations with clients we take this mind body connection even further to create specific physical gestures that allow the body to gain access to states of power and confidence for particular situations such as public speaking, job interviews and important meetings.  Can you imagine how great it would feel to know that you could instantly access the confidence with which you hit a tennis ball in your leisure time when you need it for a crucial meeting at work?

Using Power Postures is a first and easy step towards taking charge of your physiology and biochemistry and making them work for you.  This is a technique that you can use today to improve your feelings of confidence and power.  Before your next meeting or in the lead up to a presentation I encourage you to use this – although you may want to strike that Wonder Woman pose in the privacy of the bathroom rather than the boardroom!

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Image Credits:
Header : Llima Orosa via Flickr
Wonder Woman : Amazon Archives