Did you know that public speaking or performing in front of an audience is our Number 1 fear.
More and more in the media we hear about performers, actors, singers, even politicians who struggle with the dreaded fear of performing. A few years ago Adele (British singer) was booked to perform the Bond theme Skyfall at the Academy Awards. She was so anxious that she suffered sleepless nights and panic attacks for weeks before the performance due to extreme fear about this one performance. Apparently on the advice of a friend she chose to use the services of a Hypnotherapist to help take back control of her emotions and feelings both before and during the big night. The result was a much calmer Adele and an outstanding performance on the night.
These days hypnotherapy is much more accepted and becoming more popular for one main reason – it works. The newspapers regularly report on celebrities who are using hypnosis for performance anxiety and there is a growing interest but it appears they use it for much more than that. So I did some research and this is what I found.
Barry Moore, Billy Joel, Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears, Ellen Degeneres, Ashton Kutscher, Charlize Theron and Ben Affleck used hypnosis to quit smoking
Lily Allen, Sophie Dahl, Geri Halliwell and Chuck Clausen used hypnosis to lose weight
Sarah Ferguson (Fergie) used hypnosis to stop biting her fingernails and for weight loss.
Orlando Bloom’s mother called in a hypnotist to deal with Orlando’s addiction to chocolate when he was a child.
Sylvester Stallone used self hypnosis to help him write the script for “Rocky”. He then used hypnosis daily to overcome over 900 rejections for his script. During each day of filming “Rocky” he used hypnosis tapes. “Rocky” became an overnight success.
Kevin Kostner flew his personal hypnotist to Hawaii to cure him of sea sickness while filming “Water World”.
Hollywood actor Aaron Eckhart credits hypnosis for changing his life forever after being able to give up smoking and alcohol.
Tony Curtis used hypnosis to overcome his fear of flying and to improve his career.
James Earl Jones famous actor and voice of Darth Vader (Star Wars) and Mufasa (Lion King) used hypnosis to overcome stuttering and so did Bruce Willis.
Samuel L Jackson, Sean Penn, Sean Connery, Martha Stewart, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin and Princess Diana used hypnosis for public speaking and confidence.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis used hypnotherapy to let go of past tragic events, including her husband’s assassination.
Most of us will not be in a situation where we have to perform at this level, but things as simple as making a presentation at work, giving a speech at a wedding or 21st, sitting an exam or competing in a sporting event are sometimes enough to have your pulse racing and in some cases cause extreme anxiety.
So how does it work? One of the advantages of using hypnosis to help lower performance stress is that in a relaxed state we can run you through your own personal performance scenarios as many times as you like in a comfortable and relaxed state. In this state you begin to experience yourself regaining control in what was a previously stressful situation. From there we can also start to build up consciously and subconsciously the performance that you really would like to give whether it is in a Monday morning business meeting, a lead role in a local play, or sitting that final exam it all works in the same way. Hypnosis helps you to do this and it works simply because the subconscious mind does not know the difference between real and imagined. Imagine the positive and that’s what you get
Of course we logically know that there is no reason to feel nervous or fearful but your conscious thoughts are often not enough to turn around “out of control” thoughts and feelings. There may also be past experiences and conditioning that may need to be resolved before you can start to rebuild your confidence fully and its my job to help you do that.
In fact there are so many benefits to using hypnosis to reduce any kind of fear or phobia and the results are often permanent. Hypnosis is not just something that happens in the reclining chair. I teach you self-hypnosis tools and techniques which you can use in your every day life so that you are always the one in control. So whether its performance anxiety regarding a presentation or speech, exam nerves, stage fright or loss of focus when competing in any kind of activity you will be amazed at how hypnosis can help.
A few years ago I helped a traumatised and fearful young police graduate pass the Beep Test (a timed physical endurance test which is a requirement to graduate from the police academy). In only two sessions she had run through the scenario in her head until she could smell and taste success and when she did it for real she beat the test. This was way beyond what she thought was possible and she did it with the power of her mind.
If you would like to know more about the tools and techniques I use then just give me a call. I also offer a free 20 minute consultation either via phone or on skype so just call me on 0407744566 or click here to email me. Remember it is really only mind over matter.