It's not about price it's about value

This week I had an inquiry from a person looking for help to relieve their IBS symptoms.

The person had had a look around this site and said they were interested. They went on to ask if given the current economic climate, I was prepared to discount the price of the program.

I politely said ‘no’, and explained why -

I price the program based on the value and results it delivers and not on the basis of time. A person who invests in the program isn’t buying 4.5 hours of my time, they are buying a lifetime of relief from their symptoms. How much that is worth in terms of enhanced health and happiness will be different for everyone, but in almost all cases will exceed the price of the program.

The program has been modelled on four of the most successful IBS Hypnotherapy programs. People who invest in the program can, when they fully commit to it, expect to achieve amazing results.

 For these reasons I do not discount the program.

What I do offer is a payment plan to help people spread their investment over 3 months. This is available on request.

The person who made the inquiry thanked me for my response and said they’d explore other options as a first step.

How hypnotherapy is helping people who suffer from IBS

It’s 2020 and are you resigning yourself to another year of living with your IBS symptoms?

Before you do you might want to give IBS hypnotherapy (also called gut-directed hypnotherapy) a go. It’s not a miracle cure, but multiple well-controlled studies, including one close to home,at Monash University, have shown that it improves gastrointestinal symptoms in people with IBS by 70-80% and these improvements are maintained in the long-term.

The Monash hypnotherapy study – led by Dr Simone Peters – wanted to consolidate findings by UK researchers suggesting the therapy was effective. Dr Peters is part of Monash University and the Alfred Hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology. Dr Peters says, “It was hugely surprising. We found hypnotherapy was incredibly beneficial.”

The Monash reserachers also found that:

• hypnotherapy was effective psychologically, too – patients were less anxious and less depressed after esperiencing it.

• a low FODMAP diet helps reduce IBS symptoms and that hypnotherapy is as beneficial as the low FODMAP diet. .

To read the full article about this research head over to the Monash University site - https://bit.ly/2tGvXpL

IBS hypnotherapy could mean the difference between another year in which IBS dominates your life and robs you of happiness, and a year in which you begin to enjoy the freedom being free of IBS brings.

To learn more about how Tony can help you gain lasting relief from your IBS, contact him today – 021 056 8389 / email tony@tycoaching.nz for a free, no obligation on line consultation. No matter where you are in the NZ or the world Tony can help.

Release stress by practicing Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Stress is both a trigger for, and a symptom of, IBS. This is a vicious cycle that needs to be interrupted to facilitate IBS symptom relief. One of the ways we can begin to reduce our stress level is through a technique called Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

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Did you know there are over 600 muscles in the human body? Although their natural state is to be at rest, people are so stressed and tense much of the time that the situation actually becomes the opposite: we train our bodies for tension.

People with stress and anxiety are so used to being tense throughout the day that they don’t even recognize what being relaxed feels like anymore. It’s a little bit like good posture; it feels weird to sit properly if we normally slouch because we are asking our body to do something it doesn’t normally do.

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a great way to take time out, be in the present moment, and release tension in your body (and mind).

In PMR, you tense a group of muscles as you breathe in, and you relax them as you breathe out. You work on your muscle groups in a certain order. PMR can take 15 – 30 minutes to complete but the benefits are worth the time invested.

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Benefits

PMR yields a variety of benefits, including the development of a feeling of well-being, lowered blood pressure, decreased muscle tension, thereby reducing the body’s need for oxygen and reducing fatigue, stress and anxiety.

Through regular PMR practice you learn:

• not only what relaxation feels like, but also to recognize when you are starting to get tense during the day.

• distinguish between the feelings of a tensed muscle and a completely relaxed muscle. Then, you can begin to “cue” this relaxed state at the first sign of the muscle tension that accompanies your feelings of anxiety and stress.

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How

As you perform PMR:

• Keep your eyes closed.

• Keep your mind focused on the word “relax”, throughout.

• Use the 7/11 breathing technique and tense the muscles on the in-breath and release them on the out-breath. Anxiety and panic specialist Dr. Patricia Farrell suggests we breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

• Keep concentrating on the word “relax”.

Find a safe comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed for 10-15 minutes. Perhaps put on some relaxing music. Close your eyes and start PMR with:

The muscles in your hands and forearms:
You tense these muscles by clenching your fists as tightly as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your fists.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your hands and forearms.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your upper arms:
You tense these muscles by bending your arms at the elbows and trying to touch your wrists to your shoulders.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your arms.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your upper arms.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in the back of your arms:
You tense these muscles by straightening your arms as hard as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your arms.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in the back of your arms.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your shoulders:
You tense these muscles by shrugging your shoulders tightly into your neck.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your shoulders.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your shoulders.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your neck:
You tense these muscles by pressing your head back as far as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your neck.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your neck.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your forehead:
You tense these muscles by raising your eyebrows as though enquiring.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your eyebrows.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your fore-head.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your brows and eyelids:
You tense these muscles by frowning and squeezing your eyes tightly shut.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your brows and eyelids.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your brows and eyelids.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your jaw:
You tense these muscles by clenching your teeth as hard as you can.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your jaw.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your jaw.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your tongue and throat:
You tense these muscles by pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your tongue.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your tongue and throat.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your lips and face:
You tense these muscles by pressing your lips together tightly.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your lips.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your lips and face.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your chest:
You tense these muscles by taking a deep breath and holding it
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your chest by breathing out.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your chest.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your stomach:
You tense these muscles by making your stomach muscles hard as though expecting a punch.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your stomach.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your stomach
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your hips and lower back:
You tense these muscles by arching your back and clenching your buttocks.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your hips and lower back..
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your hips and lower back.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

The muscles in your legs and feet:
You tense these muscles by straightening your legs and pointing your toes down.
Start now and count steadily to ten, notice the tension.
Relax your legs and feet.
Notice the difference between tension and relaxation in your legs and feet.
Keep focusing on the word “relax”.

Now let the feeling of relaxation spread throughout the whole of your body and enjoy being completely relaxed for 10-15 minutes. Keep focusing on the word relax and enjoy that feeling of deep relaxation.

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Practice, practice, practice

You should practice PMR at least twice a day until you know it off by heart and are able to relax any set of muscles at any time.

Remember to practise progressive muscle relaxation often, whether you are feeling anxious or not. This will make the exercise even more effective when you really do need to relax! Though it may feel a bit tedious at first, ultimately you will gain a skill that will probably become a very important part of managing your anxiety in your daily life.

You are not your IBS

Who do you think you are? This is your sense of identity.

The powerful psychological effect of ‘I am…’ can really serve you well, so long as your sense of identity is a helpful one. This is because our identity, together with our beliefs and values are three of the key reference points our mind uses in order to interpret the plethora of information it’s receiving from the environment moment by moment. And our actions are driven by that interpretation. So, holding the sense of identity – “I am a highly resilient and optimistic person”, would be highly likely to serve you well in relation to coping with your IBS symptoms.

Unfortunately being diagnosed with IBS by a doctor or medical specialist can lead some people into taking on an unhelpful identity, that of IBS sufferer. By assuming the identity of “IBS sufferer” an individual can start to believe that IBS is a fixed and permanent part of who they are, leading to them arriving at the conclusion that the best they can do is live with the symptoms or treat them with medicine.

The fact is you are not your IBS.

IBS is something you experience - something your body does. And because it’s something your body does you have the ability to change how your body does it. And this ability allows you to significantly reduce, and even eliminate, the IBS symptoms and their impact (mentally, emotionally and physically) on you. The outcome is a greatly improved quality of your life. Research tells us that the most effective way to change the way our body is behaving in relation to IBS is gut directed hypnotherapy.

And remember you are not your IBS.

So when you catch yourself thinking/saying “I’m an IBS sufferer” or “I have IBS,” correct yourself by thinking/saying:- “At the moment my gut isn’t behaving the way it should and I’m taking steps to get it working normally again. I am a highly resilient and optimistic person and I believe I can do this.”