"Observation of clients over a number of years who have been suffering from this type of Anxiety shows that this fear and worry is rooted in wounds of childhood which is brought out through Inner Child dialoguing and Meditative style Hypnosis techniques. The effects of the stress it places on the mind, body and spirit is much like the stone that is thrown into a river."

As the stone hits the water, you see a rippling effect of rings that spread out. The ripple causes irrational thinking and many clients sessions are consumed with the idea that if this is not taken care of immediately their lives are over and catastrophic effects are going to happen. The obsessive thoughts of not being good enough create the feeling of being frozen and stuck in the mud syndrome and worst case scenarios are played over and over like a broken record player.

The key to helping and guiding the individuals in this situation is to get them to see that it is something that is easily fixable with a bit of investigation and empathic counseling. The individuals are taught that it is not an immediate one session quick fix and a few sessions will be required in order to take a step by step approach of bringing the irrational thinking within a framework of talk therapy and effective coping techniques. The first step is to get the individuals to discuss the issue or issues in depth, look for key factors, words and actions that give clues to the trigger points of the excessive worry. The second step is then to do calming techniques which will allow the individual to feel more in positive control of their thoughts and lastly the final step/technique is to get the client in a deeper relaxed state, which then allows a dialogue with their wounded child to take place to find out why they are feeling scared, worried and alone.

Sanlyn Wellness has seen remarkable shifts and changes in clients with public speaking, team group work, exam anxiety and sexual dysfunction to name a few. If you feel this article resonates to you and would like to explore in more detail the techniques, call or email Sanlyn Wellness and we will be glad to assist you towards moving to a happier and less stressed out you.

The post Performance Anxiety appeared first on .

These imbalances can sometimes be unblocked using various Energy Therapy techniques. One other way Lynton Friedman of Sanlyn works with this issue is to suggest the client begin to paint as a way of flowing the energy into that area. With this suggestion comes resistance because often time’s clients think they are not talented enough to draw or paint.

"Education is key to the resistance. Teaching the client that art is subjective is the key to unlocking the flow of creation. "

What is meant by subjective is that one piece of art shown to 3 different individuals will elicit a different reaction from each of them and the observations of the 3 people are neither right nor wrong. Once this is explained, it seems to settle down the client and the seed of creating has been instilled into the psyche.

The settling effect then leads the discussion of painting and creating as an important tool for relaxation and meditation. The colours chosen by clients represent their state of mind, their emotional being and the focus on the piece brings a tunnel type processing where the mind goes into an elevated state of concentration that allows the individual to forget about the anxiety and other worries of the day. This calming effect is quite similar to a mild state of Hypnosis. The closest example of this would be someone at home watching a television show and tuning out to the world around them.

This relaxed state slows down the thinking process, calms the blood flow and most importantly clears the mind to allow the subconscious to come out and ultimately chose the creation that is best resonated to your energy at that time as well as your creativity.

If you are interested in learning more about chakra balancing, painting as a relaxation tool and the colours connected to both modalities, email or call Sanlyn Wellness to book an appointment.

The post Painting: The Art of Relaxation & Creativity appeared first on .

"This Inner Critic came as a result of childhood wounds and generally resulted from some authority type figure, whether parents, teachers, religious authority or government institutions. The message that the child picked up was one of having done something wrong and as a result there was some sort of criticism placed on the child. The interesting thing about the dynamics is the authority figures were just as fallible (had authority who judged them too), yet the child is too young to rationalize this and look at the macro rather than the micro dynamics of the situation."

Since the rational side is not as strongly developed yet, the Critical Voice becomes a defense mechanism designed to protect the child from further wounds and in effect becomes like a military leader who creates a preemptive strike against an enemy in order to keep safe from further harm. The idea of the strike is to make sure that there is no fear of failure, abandonment issues or the sense of not being loved enough by those who were meant to keep us safe and secure.

The childlike wounded energy has no conceptualization of the adult world as we know it and the emotions become deeply entrenched in a web of defenses that can only be understood and broken down by a professional trained to deal with this rather large and judging voice.

This is where Lynton Friedman, the therapist at Sanlyn Wellness comes into play. There are a number of tools that can be administered to get the child to understand that there is an adult part and integrate them together. One such method is doing what we call Voice Dialoguing with the Inner Critic using a Felt Sense. This method entails creating a feeling of the body releasing the stored negative emotions by getting the client to focus on a series of directive questions while at the same time creating a visual or feeling of this Critic by imagining that there is a creative side to them and bringing this energy to life in order to let the child understand that the adult part of them is in charge in a positive manner as opposed to negative analyzing.

If this method interests you or you are looking to explore more ways to understanding why you are so critical of yourself, call or email Sanlyn Wellness to book a session and set yourself free of all the associated thoughts related to the criticism and perfectionism.

The post The Inner Voice of Criticism appeared first on .

He began to walk downstream and all he heard in his conscious mind was a voice of fear telling him that he would never be able to cross the river and that he was crazy and living in a fantasy world thinking treasure lay in a box waiting for him. He attempted to tell the voice to quiet down, however the loudness of these thoughts echoed through the path he continued to walk down.

The noise began to get too much for him and he decided to rest amongst a beautiful willow tree, laying against the trunk for support. He fell asleep and while sleeping had a magical dream that he was as light as a feather and had the ability to beat all that was thrown into his path that day. The boy woke up and he continued to venture down to calmer part of the river and he knew in his heart that this was where he needed to be in order to make it across.

As he got closer, he stood frozen in his tracks as a Grizzly bear standing seven feet tall was blocking his movement forward. The bear moved forward with its paws open and let out a menacing grunt. The boy stepped back a few steps, thoughts rushed through his head. He felt he would never make it to the other side. He questioned the yearning within his heart and a waterfall of negative analysis overwhelmed his mind. He thought he was going to die and he was ready to give up, when an outstretched eagle flew overhead and dropped a feather. With the speed of a lighting bolt, the dream that he had earlier rushed through his being, the bear was startled by the eagle above and turned around and walked away.

The boy got to the calmer part of the river and knew he had to cross at this point. He mustered up all his strength, stepped forward four steps after being put back three steps by the bear and entered the water. Suddenly a rush of water overwhelmed the boy and he knew he was going under. The feeling of not being able to breathe constricted his movements and he was just about to give up when a few curious beavers built him a bridge made of wood they had collected and gently pushed him through the water until he was able to grab a branch and pull himself to safety.

The boy lay on the bridge in amazement and disbelief that this day had brought him so many lows, yet he had made it to the other side of the river. He was dehydrated and exhausted when he noticed in front of him a gorgeous young female giving his some water and telling him that all would be fine.

The boy knew this was why he had to cross the river, the yearning was not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the treasure was the girl that attended to him and he realized this was his destiny.

The boy was faced with so many obstacles, he could have given up, yet deep in his unconscious there was a driving force pushing him forward. The faith of his trust within allowed him to continue this journey and he was rewarded with a wonderful life ahead.

This story is about the clients that come to Sanlyn Wellness. They feel they have hit the dark, the world is not their friend and they need to find the light. Trust is the key element to growth, it allows the voice of self doubt to disappate and the inner faith within you to recharge.

Sanlyn Wellness can work with you to be like the boy, overcome all your obstacles and get you into that space where life feels more clear and comfortable to you. Email or call to book an appointment and we will guide you to a happier space.

The post Trust: Building the Bridge appeared first on .

There are lucid, vivid, prophetic, recurring and healing dreams. These are a few examples of the different types of dreams that occur. Due to length constraints of this article, there will be no definitions of each of the various dreams mentioned above. This is why it makes it rather difficult to interpret and analyze dreams effectively on your own. There are a number of dream dictionaries on the market. These books although used as a tool can be generic sometimes and one subject’s interpretation of a car in a dream can be completely different to another’s. Sanlyn Wellness is well versed in guiding clients through understanding dreams and their meanings.

1. Technique One

The first step in understanding this process of dream interpretation is to learn firstly to teach oneself to remember dreams in detail. One such technique is to use self hypnotic suggestions over a period of three weeks, saying them in your head ten times just prior to falling into REM (rapid eye movement) sleep state. This state is the phase of sleep when you are dozing in and out of waking awareness. This will help train the mind to recollect the symbols, stories and images in greater detail upon wakening.

2. Technique Two

The second step upon wakening is to free associate (take one image from the dream and connect it to something in your life), so that picture helps you to remember the content of the entire dream without your conscious mind coming in to protect you and causing you to forget it as you move your body upon wakening.

3. Technique Three

The third step is to keep a dream journal over a period of time, where you can write out the dreams and see whether there are common themes, images or associations taking place. This will help you see whether the dreams are giving you answers to your issues such as Anxiety that you may be experiencing at this time in your daily life.

Dream analysis is complex. The above techniques are just a tidbit of information in relation to actually understanding dreams in detail. Learning what kind of dream you are experiencing is vital and Lynton Friedman of Sanlyn Wellness has years of experience teaching and assisting clients make sense of their dreaming states. Email or call to book an appointment.

The post Techniques to Remember Dreams appeared first on .

When these above situations occur, the behavioural response is overridden by the longer term shame that is associated with these incidents. The key point to focus on is that anger by itself is not the issue, the dilemma is how to deal with it. This article is primarily going to focus on the negative connotations of anger and a couple of techniques to help deal with them. However we must remember that anger can sometimes push us forward in constructive ways. One such example could be a battered wife who uses the fuel of her emotional anger to finally leave the relationship and find what she deserves out of life. Anger is an emotion that is multi-layered with defence mechanisms that came in to protect us at an early age from hurt and other forms of emotional pain. Distortion of control is seen when someone is angry or in a rage. As much as we attempt to think or feel we are in control of the situation, an adult who is raging is merely a five year old having a temper tantrum because they could not get what they wanted.

"A well trained counselor, such as Lynton Friedman can help you unfold those layers of defences and identify with you the sadness that is creating so much pain in your life, which is adversely affecting your relationships and your overall sense of self esteem/worth."

Below are two techniques which can benefit you during anger periods:

1. Technique One

The first one is the Time Out Technique that professional sports teams use to strategize their next move in a game. It is excellent because it gives a breathing space from the engagement and allows for a cooler calmer mind to prevail. It also takes away the arena of the battle and if there is only one team that engages, they will ultimately be having an argument or playing a game with themselves.

2. Technique Two

The second technique is to keep a Journal of how you react to anger and notice the thoughts, feelings and emotions through the Symantec language that you use. An example of this would be someone who has a healthy sense of themselves would say; “I failed this time and from this mistake I will grow”. An unhealthy angry response would be; “I am useless and nobody will love me because I can never succeed”. The importance of recognizing how we respond to these situations is how we can effectively change the dynamics and decrease feelings of sadness and pain.

It is very important to understand that this process is most effective when there is a higher degree of willingness by the person to allow it to happen. Furthermore when someone is in Therapeutic Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy THEY ARE IN CONTROL. They are not in a state of unconsciousness and infact they may have more awareness of the sensory input around them during the scripting and suggestion phases of the sessions. Clients are NOT CATATONIC, they can speak, hear, cough, scratch and even open their eyes during a Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy session.

If you or someone you know are angry and would like to learn more anger management techniques and exercises, Sanlyn Wellness can guide you. Call or book an appointment today.

The post Understanding & Managing Anger appeared first on .

1. Focus on your strengths

From an early age many of my clients were taught by perhaps well meaning individuals around them that they were not pretty enough, that they were to fat or socially awkward. This over time created a situation where their brain was in a constant on switch mode of negative spiral thinking. This in turn created a belief system of low self esteem.

This technique requires you to look at one or two things that you are good at in your life. Everyone has some spark of creativity and therefore it’s essential to go into yourself and find that gift that you have and focus your energy on bringing it out. Often giving yourself a pat on your shoulders or thumbs up is a good way to reinforce that your mind is shifting the negative to a positive and ultimately turning the on switch to off mode.

2. Accept compliments and turn them into affirmations

One of the greatest downfalls of having a lack of self esteem is the desire to minimize compliments at all costs. The technique that is going to be used here for this issue is rather simple and actually quite easy. When given a compliment instead of going into thinking mode and defensive posturing, simply say THANK YOU.

Following that, then take the compliment that was given and turn it into an affirmation that can be said up to 25 times a day. An affirmation of a compliment can be a statement such as, “I have beautiful eyes that radiate kindness and beauty”. This technique focuses your energetic thoughts onto you rather than someone else.

3. Create boundaries and get rid of negative people in your life

Often individuals who have self esteem issues tend to connect with people that bully and control them. This in turn gives the other person power over them and increases the likelihood of allowing the self esteem to spiral into a tail spin of negative emotions. Boundaries are ways that you take control of your life and implement who can enter into your personal space.

This technique allows you to empower yourself. This in essence allows you to get rid of the feeling that you are not good enough through the bullying and generally abusive situations that you may find yourself entering into with people that are close to you or you have grown up with. The key is to focus on this positive action and be around people that make you feel good, that are uplifting and supportive of you.

This article is a small snapshot of a few techniques that are used at Sanlyn to improve clients self esteem issues. Contact the Centre by email of call to find out more of how we can get you to an empowered state of positive self esteem.

Call or email today to book an appointment. Our experience will guide you to a happier and more fulfilled you.

The post 3 Vital Tips To Improving Self Esteem appeared first on .

Phobias are fear based and largely associated with Anxiety. When a person thinks with fear, even though they are not actually in a real phobic situation, many bodily situations may occur. The person may develop sweaty palms, nausea, an increased heart beat and feelings of not being able to breathe. Along with physical reactions, there are psychological components too. The feeling of losing control is huge and the idea of having others see them in that situation is embarrassing and ultimately debilitating.

The job of the trained therapist who deals with client phobias is to find the root cause of the fear which can either be something that happened during their early years of life or an unfortunate traumatic event later in life that could trigger feelings of losing control. The key role of the therapist is to make the client comfortable and guide them to understand that the phobia, although real to them is in fact imagined and a reaction to an event or feeling. This is done without making them feel that they are being judged about their situation.

Hypnosis and Psychotherapy are used to source information regarding the triggers and phobic behaviours. One technique used to overcome the phobia is Systematic Desensitization. This is a process in which the client creates a step by step process through the phobia and goes from the least scary step to the most extreme step. The exercise is done by beginning with relaxation. Once relaxation is reached, each step is tackled to overcome the extreme fear. If the client is not able to make it past a certain step, relaxation is implored to calm them down and once they are more relaxed, the second attempt is taken to get them past that particular step or block.

"This is a highly effective technique and as the author of this article who had an extreme phobia to rats, I can attest to the success of this method as it helped me overcome avoiding rooms and places for days where rodents were spotted. Today I am able to cross paths with rats and not freeze up in my tracks."

The next technique that also works is using Guided Imagery through Hypnosis to take you either to the childhood event or triggering point that brought about the elevated fear and ultimately the phobia. This technique takes more patience and perseverance and requires you to speak while in the relaxed state of altered awareness. Both of the above processes are excellent at changing the beliefs that have been created.

Sanlyn Wellness has many years of experience working with Phobias and underlying Anxiety issues. If you are looking to set yourself free, Call or email today to book an appointment. It is worth the investment.

The post Tackling Phobias appeared first on .

The first and foremost reason to quit smoking is the health effects. The best way to approach this is to project yourself into the future and visualize what you would look and feel like if you continued the smoking habit. Create some shock stimulus such as; brown teeth, breathing difficulties, wrinkled skin, no energy and smelliness from the stale smoke in your clothing and hair. People are afraid of getting older and smoking has been shown to increase the potential for premature aging and breathing related health issues.

Money is another big factor. Take a scenario of a person who smokes 25 cigarettes a day at $10.00 per package. That works out to $70.00 weekly, $280.00 monthly, $3360.00 a year and over 10 years it comes to $33,600.00

"Take a $10.00 bill, flush it down the toilet and see how fast it vanishes. Step back, take a breath and then imagine that money you flushing away on a bad habit, instead being used for a down payment on a property, R.R.S.P. investments or even a dream vacation. The extra cash could also release you of any financial stress you may be feeling."

Quitting smoking can be extremely challenging. Hypnosis is a highly effective technique to change the belief system. This would be the first step to the stop smoking habit. Adjunct to Hypnosis, an excellent idea is to find a supportive companion whether it is a life partner, work colleague or friend to help you through the frustration. This person may want to quit smoking themselves at the same time or be someone that has positive energy to send you when the going gets tough.

Cigarette smoking can be ritualistic. Often time’s smokers say they get a high from taking out a smoke, touching it and lighting it up. This is the ritual behaviour. If one is to consider a habit as ritualistic then the best tip to be offered is to find something else to touch that does not create health issues such as picking up a glass and drinking a sip of water as an alternative or getting a straw to hold in order to mimic the shape of the cigarette.

We often complain that there is not enough time in the day to balance our work, family and social responsibilities. Imagine the time wasted in a day on a pack of cigarettes at 5 minutes a smoke. That is just over 2 hours a day that could be used for other activities such as; gym, homework or communication time. This would greatly reduce your time management stress.

The last tip is to figure out a time frame as the final day of your smoking and stick to it. Use your integrity and follow through with it. Sanlyn Wellness has had extensive experience using Hypnosis and Psychotherapy to aid in the elimination of the smoking habit for good.

Contact us for an appointment.

The post Tips to Quit Smoking appeared first on .