Hypnobirthing-Does it work?

December 10, 2010 By

Hypnobirthing or using hypnosis to create a positive birth environment is growing in popularity.  More and more pregnant women are looking for a healthy alternative to the more conventional use of epidurals and other types of anesthesia.  Many find that by using hypnosis they feel comfortable and some even recall the experience as pleasant.

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal more and more women are asking to skip anesthesia in preparation for childbirth.  hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation in which a person is more susceptible to the power of suggestion.  In hypnosis you can also alter the brains perception of certain senses.  According to Dr. David Spiegel psychiatry professor at Stanford University, hypnosis can also be used for pain management, weight loss and smoking cessation.

I work with clients in my Atlanta, Georgia office to create a comfortable birth process.  I have a 5 session program to teach my clients  deep relaxation, slow breathing patterns and self-guided release of endorphins (the body’s natural relaxants),
which enables the  mother to enjoy an unmedicated, safe and gentle birthing for her baby.

Hypnobirthing is taken from the work of obstetrician, Dr. Grantly Dick-Read (who published his book Childbirth Without Fear in 1944).  It  teaches the  mother to understand and release the Fear-Tension-Pain Syndrome which so often is the cause of pain and discomfort during the birthing process.

Hypnobirthing works incredibly well for most women and is another welcome addition to a fast growing field of less medicated interventions for childbirth.

Filed Under: Health & Hypnosis, Hypnosis & Fertility, Hypnosis & Pain management, Hypnosis & Performance, Hypnosis FAQ Tagged With: , , , ,

Fear and Peak Performance

October 21, 2010 By

Fear will stop you from performing at your peak.  Fear will paralyze you.  “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” FDR.   This is another incredibly powerful statement of the power that fear exerts over all of us.

So what is it about fear that makes it such a powerful emotion??  Its power lies in our instinct to survive.  That primal, basic part of the brain, the limbic system sounds the alarm and then a cascade of neurological activity follows.  The fear response is based upon our memories and experiences, our learned fears from the past.  However worries and anxieties are out in our future.  So obviously since it helps us to survive we need it, right?  Yes, we need fear as a call to action when something dangerous to our survival happens. However as FDR so succinctly stated, fear is something to be feared as well.  The problem lies in too much fear.  Unrelenting chronic fear that is based on the possibility of danger causes stress and is derogatory to our health and well-being. It creates high levels of stress hormones and that creates disease and other problems.  Also unrealistic fears or phobias are capable of taking control of our lives.

So what else can we learn about fear?  It is based on the past and we can trigger it by worrying about the future.  But right now there is no fear. If we stay in the present moment and we let go of old memories and fears from our past and stop focusing on the possibility of terrible things happening in our future the fear disappears.  In order to do this we need to change the way we think.  We need to take back some of the control because fear is an out of control emotion.

If you let circumstances control you when good things happen then you will also allow fear and negativity to rule your life when things are not going well. As reasonable people we need to be living in reality.  If things are really in a negative place in your life then thinking to yourself that your life is great is a delusion.  However when things are going well in life and we spend our free time worrying about what might happen to change our life for the negative, that is also deluded thinking.  People who tend to be on an “emotional rollercoaster” are an example of too much focus on momentary success and not enough on the process or the overall desired outcome.

When dealing with the concept of “peak performance” fear is the first thing that has to be addressed.  To perform the best you can entails getting you out of your way.  Whether it’s performing in sports, stage sales, academics or simply in life itself, fear stops clear focused action. Fear is the root cause of all negative emotions and behaviors.  Procrastination, limiting beliefs and self-sabotage are examples of mental thought processes  that are rooted in fear.   The two main fears are fear of failure and fear of success.  Most other fears like fear of public speaking, performance Anxiety or cold call reluctance can all be traced back to these two main performance fears.

I use hypnosis, and Neuro-linguistics(NLP) to take my clients past old fears and to create the ability to focus more on the present moment and the future that they desire.   When you get out of old fears and focus on the here and now you will be able to see the future more clearly.  This will move you to take action and the fear will truly be a thing of the past.

Filed Under: Academic performance, Hypnosis & Performance, Hypnosis FAQ, Sales & Hypnosis, Sports Performance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Improving Sales by Improving Yourself

August 19, 2010 By

Hi, my name is Inga Chamberlain and I am a salesperson.

Ever feel like you’re confessing to a terrible character flaw when you say what it is you do for a living?  Has anyone but me noticed that “sales” has become a dirty word?

I still remember in the 80′s when I worked as an executive recruiter. During sales cold phone calls,  I was routinely hung up on.  Obviously this is demoralizing to someone in sales.  I got really sick of feeling badly  and like I was bothering people by calling them.  I realized my self esteem was part of the problem and I had limiting beliefs about myself and salespeople in general.  This is how I found NLP.  I decided to change myself instead of changing careers and it worked! I not only continued in sales but started my own recruiting firm and for 10 years happily sold my service to a national market.

So how did NLP help me to change? First I worked on developing the self confidence that could stand up to those demoralizing phone calls.  During this time I also worked on increasing  my skill set to have better sales techniques . I used NLP to help me build rapport on the phone and close more effectively.  But the main changes came from changing me.  How I saw myself and my place in the world.  I also used NLP and hypnosis to overcome a strong fear of public speaking so that I could make presentations more effectively.  I then proceeded to change anything else that was holding me back and in the end also got rid of a fear of heights some general Anxiety and some left over trauma from childhood.

When I decided to leave the executive search industry to become a trainer , coach, speaker and hypnotherapist the transition was easy.  I had already done all the ground work necessary to be successful in any field I might choose because I had increased my emotional intelligence or EQ as Daniel Goleman calls it.  I had gotten rid of the things that hold most people back.

In my private practice in Atlanta , Georgia I work with many salespeople who want to improve their sales.  We always start by using NLP and hypnosis to remove negative conditioning, beliefs and behaviors.   Then we boost confidence levels and condition in new positive habits and behaviors.  One of the most common problems with low performing salespeople is that they don’t like being in sales(or their perception of sales).  By changing the way they see their career and themselves a salesperson can dramatically improve productivity and income.   But even more important, they will feel good about themselves and their choice of career.

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Filed Under: Hypnosis & Performance, Hypnosis FAQ, Sales & Hypnosis Tagged With: , , , , ,

Anxiety and Stress

July 30, 2009 By

 Anxiety and stress are major problems today. These emotional conditions are intrinsically related. Stress is a major cause of Anxiety and Anxiety creates more stress in a life already filled with enough stressors.

Fear is the base emotion that creates these feelings.   Fear of the future, fear of the unknown underlies most anxiety. The thoughts that create the anxiety are often on a subconscious level but they still produce increased levels of stress hormones which then create a cascade of negative mental and physical reactions.  Perceived problems in the future create major problems now. 
Researchers have demonstrated that we have approximately 150-300 words per minute that flow through our minds creating the thoughts that then create our behaviors.  They estimate that on average 40% of these thoughts are negative and self critical.   Negativity and fear create anxiety and stress. So it’s pretty obvious that if you can change the way you think you will change your life! .
Fear and anxiety stop us from taking action. The fear in essence creates more of the very things we are afraid of in life.  hypnosis is the key to taking back control of your thoughts. By creating a new way of thinking and feeling you will begin to feel more confident and relaxed. Everything changes when you make this shift and the power is yours.
Another aspect of fear and anxiety is phobias. These are very strong reactions to a perceived threat. Phobias are irrational fears and because of this fact we don’t need them. They can be released usually by reprogramming the fear that is attached to a particular trigger. Things like fear of flying, spiders, heights, elevators are all effectively relieved through hypnotherapy and NLP.

Why not harness the power you already have within, your subconscious mind? Call Inga Chamberlain for more information at 770-560-4861 and author. Her book “The Power of Choice” is expected to be out in late 2010.

Filed Under: Hypnosis & Depression, Hypnosis & Performance Tagged With: , , ,

What Makes a Better Salesperson?

February 11, 2009 By

There are many traits that make up someone who is the consummate salesperson.  Things like confidence, elegant communication, empathy, the closing instinct and the ability to motivate oneself without instant gratification.

So you are not a “salesperson”.  Why should you keep reading? Because anyone who is an entrepreneur or just wants to be more successful in personal relationships can benefit by being better at influencing others.  I could go into the details at length of how to be better at selling.  In fact I will go into some of those details next time.  But today I am going to tell you the one thing that sets the average sales person, entrepreneur or business person apart from those who really succeed.  That thing is the desire to constantly improve. 

Whether it’s improving your close ratio or your attitude.  The best sales people are the ones who constantly learn the techniques that will set them apart from the rest.  They don’t “try” anything.  What they do is take committed action.

 I recently conducted a sales training for a large bank.  I taught them techniques from NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) which they could use to up there close ratio and also tools to keep a consistent positive attitude. Afterwards I had several account executives come to me for more info on my sales performance program. When I spoke to their national sales manager at the close of the seminar, she mentioned how it was the top reps who were interested in the program.  She wondered how to get the average reps to be more motivated.  This is a common dilemma, without the desire to learn and improve those sales reps will remain average.

So the question is do you want to be average?  If not then get up, get out and learn or do something new.  Because if you do what you have always done you will get the same results you have always gotten.

Filed Under: Hypnosis FAQ Tagged With: , , , , ,

Anxiety, phobias, panic attacks, oh my!

August 14, 2008 By

Anxiety is a growing problem today.   Nearly everyone I see has some Anxiety or fear.  The reasons for these fears are too numerous to begin to cover here.  Some fears are very real and others are totally irrational.    The first step to getting rid of a fear is to discover if it is an actual fear or an Anxiety or irrational fear/phobia.  It’s important to have fear.  It protects us from danger.  It is an instinct.  The problems begin when we attach the same fearful feeling we might have to being attacked, to somthing as mundane as leaving the house.  The key to changing and alleviating fear and anxiety lies in the subconscious mind.  By connecting to the seat of the emotions and changing the internal perception you change the feeling.  hypnosis and NLP are incredibly powerful techniques to make these changes.

Filed Under: Hypnosis & Performance Tagged With: , , ,