Archive for December, 2008

What's your New Year's Resolution?

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Well, here we are again at a New Year. I know that many people feel it is a time for new beginnings, making resolutions and decisions on how they might like their life to move forward in the year that is to come. Many of us have these good intentions, and why not? It’s as good a time as any to decide to make a change.

So, the question is – What do you want to be doing differently in 2009?

Of course, there are the usual things that many of us want for a new year – lose weight, get fitter, stop smoking – all very admirable things to do. Just think, if you decide now is the time to do something about those extra pounds you may have been carrying around for a while, by the Summer, we might be seeing a lot less of you! And think of the health benefits to quitting the cancer sticks, not to mention the heavier pockets you might have through not having to pay the Chancellor all the excise duty on a packet. These may be the obvious choices of New Year’s Resolutions.

But what other areas of your life might you like to see a difference in? It might be finding ways to reconnect with family or friends; going out into the big wide world and trying new things that you haven’t even contemplated before; or perhaps even a major change like finding a new career path. Only you can answer the question in a way that’s right for you.

Many of us make resolutions or promises to ourselves to do things differently at this time of year, but how many of us see it through? How many will stumble before getting to our goal? I can’t answer that question with any degree of accuracy, but I do know that research has shown that those of us that set ourselves goals, and then share them with others close to us (friends, family and work colleagues) are significantly more likely to succeed than those that keep their goals to themselves. Others may simply find the whole process more of a challenge because of their past somehow getting in the way and stopping them from succeeding in their future. The unconscious mind is a powerful thing, and if it feels that something you are trying to do is not right for you, it will make every attempt to stop you from doing it, no matter how much your logical mind seems to want it to happen. Your unconscious is trying to protect you; no matter how misguided it is in the way it is doing it. It really does mean well, bless it!

So, my advice to those setting themselves New Year’s Resolutions over the next few days would be to tell as many people about your goal as you are comfortable with. Their encouragement along the way may be exactly what you need to see you to the successful outcome of your goal. And if at some point you find you need some extra help because your unconscious is getting in the way, give me a call. Using cognitive hypnotherapy and NLP (neuro linguistic programming) I help people to find a way with the unconscious so that both it, and the conscious mind can be working towards the same goal. Just think how powerful your mind could be, if both the conscious and the unconscious mind are working together. Together, we can find the life you want.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND BEST WISHES FOR 2009

Anita Mitchell Cognitive Hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner
DipCHyp, HPD, MPNLP MNCH(reg)
Tel: 01753 544014 Mob: 07813 126048 www.anitamitchell.co.uk

Posted in Cognitive hypnotherapy, NLP, eating disorders, health and wellbeing, mind, weight control, weight loss | No Comments »

London cabbies have bigger hippocampi

Monday, December 15th, 2008

London cabbies’ brains grow on the job. According to studies by scientists at the University College London Institute of Neurology — the first published in the April 11, 2000, issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with follow-up research presented in 2006 and 2007 — these professional drivers have a larger posterior hippocampus, the brain region tied to learning and navigation.

Researchers credit complex daily tasks, such as navigating a labyrinth of 320 standard routes in a six-mile area, with increasing brain size. And functional MRI demonstrated that the longer on the job, the bigger the brain.

Still, there may be a price. As brain regions continually competed for space, the posterior hippocampus grew while the anterior hippocampus, which is associated with memory, decreased. “The brain has enormous plasticity,” says Edward Taub, PhD, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has studied neuroplasticity since the 1970s. “Every part of the brain is used. The more you use a function, it may be at the expense of another.”

As an outgrowth of the early taxi driver studies, U.S. scientists began exploring the effects of employing complicated navigational skills. At Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., scientists created the virtual taxicab video game to study the way brains work. As subjects play, they become increasingly proficient in navigating complex routes, which researchers believe is tied to building cognitive maps of the environment.

Additionally, German scientists reported in the June 2006 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience that the brains of German medical students, while studying for final exams, showed increases in the posterior hippocampus, similar to the London cabbie study. Three months later, according to MRI imaging, the hippocampus had returned to its former size.

Posted in Alzheimer's, Cognitive hypnotherapy, brain, brain fitness, health and wellbeing, mind, performance | No Comments »

New therapy for eating disorders

Monday, December 15th, 2008
This article  was taken from the AOL Health website, and is very similar to the approach to eating disorders that Cognitive Hypnotherapists such as myself have been adopting for a number of years. It’s good to see that there is more and more research to back up what we already know to be working.
Last Updated: Sunday, 14 December 2008, 19:08 GMT
- Search: Eating disorders therapy
New psychotherapy to help adults suffering from eating disorders
New psychotherapy to help adults suffering from eating disorders

 

 

Eight out of 10 adults suffering from eating disorders could be helped by a new form of psychotherapy, according to research.

The new style of therapy has shown dramatic results in a seven-year research project carried out by an expert from Oxford University.

It focuses on helping people cope with their eating disorder by also tackling a range of common traits, such as low self-esteem and the quest for perfectionism.

The new treatment derives from an earlier form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for bulimia developed by Professor Christopher Fairburn, from the University of Oxford.

The new enhanced version is suitable for people with bulimia, who account for around 15% of eating disorder sufferers, but also those with “atypical” eating disorders, who account for around 60%.

These people may show traits of both anorexia and bulimia, including vomiting, bingeing, exercising too much, using laxatives or starving themselves. Anorexia sufferers are being examined in a separate study using the therapy.

The latest version of the treatment, called CBT-E, has two elements, with the first part focusing on the eating disorder itself and associated body image.

For example, a patient will be equipped with new coping mechanisms so they can stop checking themselves in mirrors or measuring and weighing themselves.

The second part of the treatment looks at tackling related issues, such as low self-esteem and perfectionism. Patients may be helped to adjust the standards they hold for themselves and others, or deal with changes in their mood.

The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, involved 154 people recruited from eating disorder units in Oxfordshire and Leicestershire.

Posted in Cognitive hypnotherapy, NLP, anorexia, brain, eating disorders, health and wellbeing | No Comments »