Brain training is one of the most effective forms of therapy for improving an individual's mental health, specifically when it comes to depression. Learn what it is, how it works, and why it’s so effective.
Hypnotherapy is one of the most effective forms of therapy for treating anxiety and depression. It can help individuals achieve great success in reducing and potentially eliminating their symptoms. Learn more about hypnotherapy as a treatment for anxiety and depression in this blog post.
Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis are well known, but rarely explained beyond a surface level. This blog post unpacks why it is an incredibly effective form of therapy, how it works, and how it changes behaviours or habits that are causing suffering in an individuals life.
Ever walk into work feeling stressed after a frustrating commute or tense coming home to a messy household? We experience a variety of these small environmental stressors every single day that add up to reduce our overall level of happiness. Read this blog post to learn how to effectively manage them.
What’s holding you back from living optimally? If you are someone who feels frustrated or stuck, or perhaps you feel like you’re constantly stressed or anxious, or you are someone who struggles to follow through on goals you've committed to, you are not alone. There is good news though, you can absolutely overcome this with Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy!
What passes for effective communication skills has changed dramatically. Or has it? Sure, the methods have become increasingly high tech. This means more than a few communication tweaks. But the basic guidelines remain the same. However, the basic guidelines remain the same. The Basics of Effective Communication Skills 1. Active listening Listening is more than waiting for your turn to speak. To listen actively is to incorporate the following practices: Concentration Focus Your full attention An intention to respond with understanding 2. Body language This is one of the most underrated aspects of communication. It can be as simple as sustaining eye contact or making interest noises. The idea is to show the speaker you’re listening. Also, a welcoming and open posture makes the speaker feel more comfortable. 3. Asking questions (without interrupting) It’s very important to connect to those with whom you’re communicating. But don’t forget- timing matters. 4. Desire Effective communication skills start with desire. We have to want them and want to do what it takes to improve them. Like anything else, that means commitment and practice. The Benefits of Effective Communication Skills 1. Less misunderstanding Yes, this sounds obvious but it bears discussion. How many disagreements and arguments are caused by poor communication? To say “most” would be an understatement. 2. Deeper and closer relationships Communication is a process. A relationship is a process. When they develop together, the results can be very enriching. 3. Less anxiety How often have you wondered and worried about being misunderstood? Do you blame yourself when conflicts happen? Give it your all while listening and speaking. This won’t guarantee agreement. But it can ease your mind and help you develop your skills further. 4. Financial [...]
Most of us know the parables about looking back on a long life. An elderly person or someone on their deathbed is asked about regrets. Invariably, each person wishes they had worried less and lived less burdened. Yet, when the story's done, we keep worrying. It’s even become cliché to talk about how few of our worries ever come true. Ironically, this cycle may promote more worry. We worry. Nothing happens. Our brain may wire itself to believe that worrying prevented the crisis. We may tell ourselves that worrying keeps us prepared or shows others that we care. Some of us may see it as a form of motivation. There are plenty of worry stories but we tend to ignore the ones about worry making us sick. Too much worry can cause: Physical issues like ulcers, poor digestion, hives, high blood pressure, and more. Emotional issues like anxiety, depression, etc. But since worry is inevitable, we’re left in a bind. We must find healthy ways to channel it or it will overwhelm us. It’s time to rewire your brain Our brains evolved to keep us safe and alive. Thus, it’s no surprise that worry comes naturally. Healthy worry, of course, is not the issue. But try telling that to your brain. It evolved in the Stone Age. Now, we’re navigating the Space Age. This means attempts to “rewire" your brain are tricky. Tricky, but definitely not impossible. With diligence and focus and maybe a little guidance, you can change our emotional default setting. 5 Ways You Can “Rewire” Your Brain to a Healthy Default Setting 1. Learn acceptance We are wired to worry. Therefore, we will worry. Step one is acceptance of this fact. A [...]
Many of us have lost sight of what matters. It’s a cliché, but for a good reason. These days, too many of us feel “balance” in life means simply splitting our time between Facebook and Instagram! Yet, true imbalances in life may pertain to the following areas: Emotional Social Financial Physical …and much more. As a result, few of us are living an optimal life. How do we know we’re out of balance? Achieving balance is not as easy as it seems. Imbalance creeps in slowly. One day, you look around and realize that things have been off kilter for a very long time. What are some of the tell-tale signs? Edginess Difficulty sleeping Digestion issues General feeling of dissatisfaction You may feel too tired or overwhelmed to get anything done. A social invitation seems like a threat. You can’t get rid of that nagging injury or chronic sniffle. Making a career move seems exhausting. Soon, hiding under the covers sounds like the solution to, well, everything.= An imbalanced life may also feed a vague sense of emptiness. We may eat to fill the void. Perhaps we binge on social media. Usually, the choice involves empty calories—real or metaphorical. Finding your way back to balance starts with taking stock. Who are you? What are your values? How do you want to live your life? Get out your pen and paper and get busy! 5 Ways to Identify What Matters Most to You 1. Keep a diary for at least one week. What did you eat? How did you spend each minute of each day? Where did you spend your money? Be brutally honest. 2. Study your habits. Intentions are great but what are you [...]
Back from the Brink Following a terrible accident, a mother uses neurofeedback brain training on her comatose son to help him recover from TBI (Tramatic Brain Injury). Attending doctors and nurses are amazed at how rapidly her son recovers. In this powerful new video, NeurOptimal® trainer Joan-Marie Lartin uses NeurOptimal® on her son while in a coma after a serious motorcycle accident. Call for a free ½ hour initial consultation
According to the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), 90% of illness and disease is caused by stress! Dr. Bruce Lipton of Stanford University has shown that the real number is closer to 95%. This fact bears repeating: 90-95% of all illness and disease is caused by physiological stress, which is an accumulation of situational stress and other factors over time. The United Nations has called stress, “The 20th Century Disease” and it has become a global epidemic. Scientists have proven that conditioning, beliefs, perceptions and stress play a large role in our emotional and physical makeup. Your body releases chemicals and hormones that cause you stress when you have conscious and unconscious negative thoughts. The cells in your body then save the negative information, like a computer saves a file on its hard drive. This negative information is then stored in a part of your brain called the Amigdala, where the nervous system can retrieve past memories and cause you to react in the present as if the past is happening all over again. We all have perceptions of our environment that are stored in our cellular memory. If you have experienced repeated stressful situations in childhood, or at any time in your life, the nervous system and other organs within your body contain hormonal and chemical messages that support that negative internal reality. It is from these types of stressful experiences that subconscious negative perceptions and beliefs are born and then stored in the cells of your body. These subconscious beliefs affect your behavior and compete with your conscious beliefs and desires. Examples of these types of subconscious negative beliefs are: feeling that you don’t deserve to be liked loved and accepted, feelings of [...]
