If you watched Scott Mitchell win the spellbinding BDO World Championship final against Martin Adams at Lakeside to secure a 7-6 victory, maiden world crown and £100,000 prize bounty, you may not realise that hypnosis and hypnotherapy helped him to his winning form.

‘Scotty Dog’ as Mitchell is known on the darts circuit admitted to more than a hint of cynicism about hypnosis for sport to begin with, however after being introduced to a hypnotherapist and working with him on changing the way he approached his game he saw the remarkable results than meant that he went on to win his world championship crown.

He explained to his local paper the Bournemouth Echo, how the feeling of letting go and relaxing felt to him..

“As a darts player, you have to make everybody believe you can do it so to then do the total opposite and give away all your fears is a funny sensation. Deep down, I never believed it would work until we started seeing these amazing changes in me, not just as a dart player but as a person. I don’t get as angry as I used to. I would get stressed over nothing but Sharon (Scott Mitchell’s wife) has noticed a change in that over the past year. I now find ways to laugh at the things that used to frustrate me. It makes you a much nicer person and then people are nicer to you. Your whole persona feels better and that is good for your darts."

Hypnotherapy for sports performance is much more common than you may imagine. If you take any top sportsperson then part of their training regime will be looking at the mental side of the game. If you don't think you will be able to relax enough to perfom and win then of course you will not be able to!

I work with many clients who want to improve their sport. You may just play golf at the weekends and want to improve your game or you may have other goals to play sport for a team. If you have any questions about how using hypnotherapy for sport performance can help you then just drop me an email at [email protected] or call me on 07980 233160

All this Week the ITV magazine show This Morning presented by Phil Schofield and Christine Bleakley is having a happiness challenge and they are urging people to watch every day to help lift their happiness levels.

They have even recuited their favorite celebrity therapists the Speakmans to join in with the task. I'll be honest and say that I was sent a message that the show was on so I have had a look on the ITV player and infact I did quite like the idea of the task that we saw in the episode today.

However, let's be brutally honest here... surely watching daytime television every day is the least likely way to find a route to happiness. The dire state of shows such as the appalling bully of people who he is intellectually superior to: Jeremy Kyle and the like, are frankly only going to lead you down a path to misery.

Turn off your television if you are finding January hard to bear. If you are not working then you can find much better things to do than watch hours and hours of mindless TV wallpaper during the day. Go outside and have a walk, a run or a bike ride. Find a neighbour who feels lonely and go visit them for a chat and a cup of tea. You could volunteer for a local charity and help out. You could read a book, or even visit the library and read one there if you have no new books to read at home. Paint a picture or even do some colouring in!

There are endless things to do with your life to help make you feel better about yourself than watching daytime television. Just take a moment to yourself and think about whether it really is a good use of your time.

... then get your coat on and go get some fresh air!

Then when you get home have a sit down and listen to my free relaxation MP3...just give yourself some you time !