» Listings for April 2015

1. Was Simon Cowell really hypnotised by a dog on Britain's Got Talent?

   Posted on 9:47am Sunday 26th Apr 2015

   Ant and Dec slumped to the floor of the Britain's Got Talent Stage. Ant carefully reaching out to break his fall, almost as if he was just playing along with the dog that was hypnotising him. Then Simon Cowell came up on stage and looked deep into hypnodog's eyes. He dismissed it as not working...but going back to his seat, he started yawning and then slumped on the desk.

   What on earth was going on? Was Simon Cowell really hypnotised by a dog in front of our eyes?

   Sadly, all the evidence points to a big NO!  Don't get me wrong, as a Clinical Hypnotherapist I would love to be able to tell you that your dog could hypnotise you. I love dogs and the companionship and unconditional love that they provide is something wonderful...but they can't take control of your mind.

   Hot on the heels of the ITV Hypnosis Gameshow "You're Back in the Room" ...This episode of Britain's got talent or #BGT as the twitter fans, who were callling out "Fake!" during the shows airing, call it had been much trailed. In fact when the incident happened back in February during auditions at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester I spoke to Jonathan Ross on BBC Radio 2 all about it and gave my point of view, as well as Jonathan telling us his. You can listen to the interview below...

   If you listen to the end of the interview then we both agree that this is a wonderful publicity stunt. Pretending to be hypnotised by a dog meant that the show had acres of column inches in the papers and online as well as interviews such as the one I did on Radio 2.

   What happened on the day of the audition though?

   When you are able to see what people are saying on twitter about the show you can learn a lot. One twitter user who was there on the day was able to explain a little bit more about what happened that we didn't see. On the show as it aired on ITV there were lots of cheers and other audience noises that showed us quite how much the show was being enjoyed. However, according to this lady on twitter the reality was a little different.

   "Pile of sh*t! we saw this dog live, biggest set up I've seen. Nobody clapped in fact we booed and were told to stop chanting her off"

   In fact she also explained that it took over 40 minutes to film the segment. It is almost as if there was a story arc that had to be filmed and that everyone was just playing along...apart from the audience it seems! 

   What is hypnosis?

   Hypnosis is a really natural state, just like the point between falling asleep or waking up. 

   

   We all drift in and out on our own many times a day. It's just like daydreaming. As a clinical hypnotherapist I can use that to help you to make changes that you want in your life. There is no mind control and no one needs to be slumped on the floor! You can read more here: What is Hypnotherapy

   It will be interesting to see how far the act goes in the show. I wonder if they will appear again or be quietly dropped from the finals now that the maximum amount of publicity has been created? Stage hypnosis isn't really ideal for a live show and wouldn't work on the Royal Variety Show as it would take too long to set up...it may well be the last we see of Princess the Hypnodog. She can at least go out and enjoy a walk in the park now, although she may be much more popular with the other dogs than before !

   So ...Did Simon Cowell really get Hypnothised by a dog?

   "It's a No from Me"

2. Claire Sweeney has hypnotherapy to help her sweet tooth

   Posted on 9:31am Wednesday 22nd Apr 2015

    

   Actress and presenter Claire Sweeney has joined the growing list of celebrities who are learning that hypnotherapy can help them to achieve what they are looking for in life. 

   

   Last September her son Jaxton was born and since then she has spoken about how she has had struggles with her weight.

   She spoke to Closer magazine all about her life and was more than happy to talk about the fact that she has struggled to stop eating chocolate. She found that she was increasingly bingeing on suagr based snacks.

   She described the feeling of being hypnotised as “Like having a good night’s sleep. It was so relaxing”

   So often we can have a sweet tooth and find that we reach for a sugary snack when perhaps we don't really need it. Would having a glass of water, or some fruit be a better idea I wonder?

   Maybe it has just become a habit, or maybe there is some other emotional reason for eating. Whatever the cause, it is great to see that Claire Sweeney has taken advice and help and used hypnotherapy to help her turn down that craving.

   When I work with my weight loss clients I know that often their favorite part of working with me is when we just turn down that craving for something they want to cut down. It is often the part they really enjoy finding out about the most.

   The best part, is that just like she says, it's a really relaxing experience and that's something we can all benefit from too.