Sharon Corbridge Cognitive Hypnotherapy

My clients will be quite familiar with my approach to weight loss which is one of developing a healthy relationship with food rather than pursuing yet another diet – whether weird and wacky or not (and let’s face it there are plenty of those out there!).

So many of us have been there… tried this diet, done that  exercise regime, made special promises to ourselves …only to then find none of it worked.  All of it just leaving us yo-yo-ing up and down the scales (and the whole yo-yo-ing thing is quite a  subject area on its own – probably for a later post).

To be honest, we tend to blame the diet, don’t we – “Oh  yes I tried that one, but it didn’t work for me”.  So it’s hard to hold onto the idea that it’s  the diet itself that’s not working.  But let’s be TRULY honest… Can all diets be wrong?!

Of course the one and only true constant throughout all that  yo-yo-ing up and down the scales is you.  Which is why, when you work on and improve your relationship with food it puts you on a completely different path to the  one you’ve been running up and down for so long without getting to where you  want to be.

And that is what is so great about ‘Everybody Hates Dieting’…which  is a new programme from Andrew T Austin, author, trainer, presenter and widely  regarded as one of the best therapists in Europe.  I have the greatest respect for Andrew’s work  and feel that this programme really supports the principles that I’ve found bring  fantastic results with my clients……it’s all about you!

So what makes this programme so special?   It works with reality; it works with you, the person.  It’s about learning…..about the most important subject there is…You!

It’s only when we truly understand ourselves and how we do the things we do, that we can begin to make lasting changes.

There’s a great video explaining all just CLICK HERE.

And the results are truly amazing…take a look at what people are saying.

The programme includes an amazing amount of information,  presented professionally and delivered in Andrew’s unique style.  You will learn so much from this programme –
it’s more comprehensive than anything else I’ve come across, and the only  programme I can recommend based on the fit with my own experiences of what  really works for people out in the real world.  Even as a therapist I’ve learned from Everybody Hates Dieting!

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying throw out your healthy  eating programme, and certainly not your exercise programme (my clients will  also be aware about how loud I bang the drum of how good that is for your mental health ) – but if you change yourself as well as changing those unwanted behaviours, the new you can be permanent….for good….no more yo-yo-ing.

So hop over to Everybody Hates Dieting, I think you’ll be glad you did!  And remember, you don’t need to go it alone – after all everyone is different and needs a different level of support.  So if you feel some additional help and support on your journey would be useful, you know where I am

It really is!  There is little else that can enhance physical health, mental wellbeing and social relationships in quite the same way – and it’s free, unlimited and easy to use!

Laughter is wonderfully contagious; ever found yourself laughing along with someone even when you don’t know what they’re laughing at?  Even neuroscientists have studied how our brains react to the sound of laughter (for example the work of Sophie Scott, a neuroscientist at the University College London), finding we are more likely to respond to, and join in with laughter than with other sounds.

So this would seem to support the idea that laughter is meant to be shared; and when shared, it can bind people together and strengthen relationships by fostering positive feelings and emotional connections.

And there’s more!  Laughter can lead to healthy physical changes in the body.  Humour and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress.  And all this from something that’s free and you already have an unlimited life quota of!

Laughter is a powerful, natural antidote to stress, anxiety and pain.  The chemical changes in the body brought about by laughter are measurable and have been extensively studied by the scientific community.  Among the benefits of laughing are increases in blood flow from dilation of blood vessels (good for your heart), reductions in the stress hormones (for example cortisol and epinephrine) and the release of endorphins which enhance wellbeing and act as the body’s natural painkiller.  Laughter has also been found to boost the immune system, increasing the number of antibody-producing T cells. Furthermore, laughter relaxes the whole body, relieving physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for a long period after; this is fantastic news for anyone struggling with sleep issues, it could be that a good dose of your favorite comedian in the hour or so before bed could be beneficial.

It’s hard to imagine anything else that could work as quickly or dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh.  It lifts your mood, inspires hope, connects you with others and promotes a positive outlook.

With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource not only for resolving problems but in preventing them too – both physically and emotionally.

So what are you waiting for?  Commit now to a daily dose of laughter.  I hope the clip below will get you on your way!

Did you know that high blood pressure, or hypertension, is thought to account for 20-25% of all deaths worldwide and affects one in three people worldwide (over 16 million people in the UK and 50 million people in the USA)?

There are as many as 5 million people in the UK who have high blood pressure without realising it (according to the British Heart Foundation), as high blood pressure doesn’t tend to produce symptoms. Yet having high blood pressure is an important risk factor for developing stroke or heart attack in later life. The treatment of hypertension saves lives. Continue reading →

Did you know that today, 2^nd November, is National Stress Awareness Day, run by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA)?  The aim is to raise awareness of our rising stress levels, which, according to AXA insurance, have doubled in the last 4 years. Continue reading →

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

- Theodore Roosevelt

A sense of control over our lives is a something we all need.  It’s one of those innate needs humans have, just like the need for connection with other people and for safety and security.  Where a person begins to feel a lack of control over the things going on in their lives, or how they might be feeling or behaving, this can often lead to problems. Continue reading →

Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made nothing happens.  Wilfred A Peterson

People often tell me motivation doesn’t last, and I tell them that bathing doesn’t either. That’s why I recommend it daily.    Zig Ziglar

When you have a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself is a choice.  William James

Time flies.  It’s up to you to be the navigator.   Robert Orben

How to Lift Depression […fast] is a fantastic book by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell, founders of The Human Givens Approach to therapy, the principles of which share much common ground with Cognitive Hypnotherapy.

It is a book I would highly recommend to those suffering depression and is also particularly helpful for the family and loved ones of sufferers, for whom the condition can often be difficult to understand. Continue reading →

I love reading about the amazing advances in medicine that we see from time to time.  The Telegraph reported on the recent findings of a US study into how stem cell therapy could help patients with angina.

You can read the report here, about how these patients were helped using stem cells from their own bone marrow, which were used to help make blood vessels.

This is a great reminder that we all have everything we need in so many ways – even when we don’t realise it. Continue reading →

From a bizarre conversation came ideas about the lengths we will go to in order to support our beliefs!

Eating disorders, predominantly anorexia nervosa and bulimia are one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women. According to the NHS, around 1 in 250 women and 1 in 2,000 men will experience anorexia nervosa at some point. Bulimia is around five times more common than anorexia nervosa and 90% of people with bulimia are female. Continue reading →