My Joe Dispenza Workshop Experience

Joe Dispenza - I’ve known of his name for many years (working in the field of wellness) he’s come up often.

In the past I rejected his work, “Oh he just does NLP and Hypnotherapy” I thought, and as I already did many trainings in those, I thought it’s just the same thing, with fancy marketing and a big following.

I tried listening to a few guided meditations, even bought audios years ago though couldn’t get past 30 seconds.

“How can people relax if he shouts …R E L A X!”

Using Ericksonian style of hypnosis professionally with NLP, I'm used to a more gentle, soothing approach.

Looking back, I can see at some level I wasn’t ready, I was judging his way of working and holding onto my pride as an NLP Trainer. Since diving into his work deeper I can see why – my Ego was resisting change.

Last year, focusing on my health and wellbeing even more, hearing testimonials online I decided to give it another shot. How can I judge without fully trying it?

I started listening to his audios again, pushed past my Ego that resisted his way of doing things.

That’s the thing, there are many different types of Hypnotherapy. One of the most common by Milton Erickson, known as the Godfather of Hypnotherapy uses more vague language, metaphors, encourages creative thinking - this is what I use more. Though many years ago on my training I also learnt other types including the work of Dave Elman (more direct, authoritative and quick) - which reminds me of some of Joe Dispenza’s audios where he shouts “R E L A X!”.

Listening to the audios everyday I started to feel more motivated, energised and uplifted. It still wasn’t my favourite type of meditation though noticing a benefit I kept going.

Doing this work requires you to change. 

To take an honest look at yourself, your patterns, your personality traits that keep you stuck and addicted to emotions like anger, jealousy, sadness and fear. Doesn't mean we can't feel them, though often we are stuck in habitual patterns to keep creating scenarios in our life so we continue feeling them.

I had no idea how much I complained and judged until I started doing this work. You cannot continue with this work whilst being the victim. I’ve had deep realisations on what’s been holding me back, what needs to change and what lies underneath health issues. I’ve also started to really enjoy meditating (which I avoided for many years) …some days over an hour at a time, bringing greater peace.

So, I decided to dive in even deeper, booking his 3-day Progressive Retreat.

8,100 people in one room, the energy was intense, people were so excited you could feel it in the air. Loud music to dance to before every session, flashing lights - a sensory overload!

Before teaching, he would come on stage to do his little side step, hand clap dance as the 8,100 danced too. In NLP terms this is to uplift the emotional state of those attending “motion is emotion” as Tony Robbins says. Get people moving and then they’ll stay awake and positive for the teachings and feel more motivated and inspired.

What Joe Dispenza does really well is to explain the science behind different practices that have been around for a long time…

• MEDITATIONS: He talks more about meditation (than hypnosis) though essentially all his “meditations” are to create a hypnotic trance like state, where from there you can connect to the Quantum field and manifest. It’s hypnosis not meditation.

• GAMMA WAVES: He talks about Gamma waves in the brain (rather than Kundalini energy rising) though the breathwork he teaches is to activate the Kundalini. More about this later!

• ENERGY CENTRES: And he talks about energy centres within the body (rather than chakras).

All of this is done to create one universal language that is based on science so people can easily grasp these ancient practices. Despite what people think, the vast majority of practices he teaches are not new. He’s just very good at putting it all together and explaining it from a scientific perspective with many up-to-date studies. 

This is the exciting bit - it’s being proven time and time again with huge amounts of scientific data how our MIND creates our physical reality. He’s also really good at inspiring people to do the meditations daily, which is what then brings the results.

 
WHAT DID I LOVE?

1. Being with so many people hungry for change, who believe in change and are doing the work to create change. Really inspiring to see. Met some wonderful people who all are so motivated by this work.

2. I loved the feeling of meditating with so many people - POTENT and this feeling stayed with me for many days after the event. During the breathwork practice I could feel the energy strongly in the room, my body was shaking, vibrating.

3. Learning about the science. Many things I had heard before from other trainings, workshops and teachers though it’s always great to go over Quantum Physics and understand a little more each time how reality is formed and how we can create change.

4. Fun, new experiences ...dancing with 8,100 I’ll definitely never forget especially when they gave us all flashing wristbands that lit up the room with 8,100 lights and flashing rainbow 3 metre blow up balls to play with! They wanted to create a BIG experience that people would never forget and they certainly did that. Not necessary to do the work and sometimes felt a bit too much, though it was certainly fun and an experience to remember.

"To walk through the door of unlimited possibility, we have to leave behind the story of our past" Dr Joe Dispenza

 

WHAT DID I DISLIKE?

1. Personally, I feel activating Kundalini energy has become a trend with many not using it with the respect it deserves. It’s not something to rush, and in a 3-day workshop some of the practices were too strong for newcomers to this work. This proved true for a woman in front of me at the event. After the breathwork and meditation on day 3 she let out a loud scream and completely passed out. Fully unconscious on the floor for at least 3-4 minutes. All was fine in the end, helpers and paramedics were immediately on hand, though rushing this type of work can bring experiences like that for some if they’re not careful. 

Doing this work with such a large group of people is more challenging to give the level of care and attention to everyone that needs it. In the Telegram group after the event there were quite a few people commenting that they had PTSD triggered after hearing people scream in the audience during meditations. Due to the large group size there was not enough safeguarding and individual care that is so important for this type of work.

2. Some place him up on a pedal stool. This is always a risk when you’re in the teaching role (I’ve experienced this myself) and I could see some people starting to give their power away thinking that it was him and his work that cured them, they became “hypnotised mega fans”. Yes, he has helped many heal from disease and change their lives, though when you strip it back, he simply helps people to heal themselves. Sometimes people forget this - he’s not the healer; he’s reminding people of their own power to heal. He’s human like us all.

3. The long queues, early starts. In order to get a decent seat, we queued 2 hours before the event started. 7am dark, cold, wet mornings and when the doors opened people started pushing, shoving past other people running into the room to grab seats before others. It was total chaos. The security did their best to calm 8,100 people down though to see people run and push each other… only to then sit and meditate about peace and love didn’t make sense to me. 

My Ego certainly had a great time judging everyone and thinking that they’re obviously not practicing what he’s teaching. With such a large group and following it’s easy for more hype to be created around him, and he certainly adds to it with all the NLP presentation skills, dancing, music and lights to get people hungry for more.

IN SUMMARY:

Does his work help people? Yes absolutely.

Is he a cult leader? Depends who you ask.

Was it worth it? For the 3-day Progressive Retreat yes, I’ll remember this experience for a long time and I’m so glad I went. It was worth it to have an in person experience with such a great group people as I’ve found benefit in the daily meditations and his teachings have helped me to understand the mind at a deeper level.

For the longer retreats I cannot comment as I haven’t been, and I’m not convinced to pay so much money for them (at the time of writing this up to $6,000 for a week!). Looking at the psychology… often when there is a high-ticket price people within their subconscious mind add high value to it, therefore believing even more it’s going to heal them. As I mentioned above, it’s the individuals and what they believe that does the healing. Many say the longer retreats are life changing, and I feel that all the NLP trainings, workshops and fire walk experiences I’ve done in the past were also incredible, powerful, life experiences with similar tools that I did for a fraction of the cost.

Is his work the only way to heal? No. There are many ways. His formula is effective, he inspires huge amounts of people around the world to connect to the Quantum field rather than solely relying on creating change through the material world. This work has helped many people heal health issues… AND it’s not the only way. You can work with the subconscious mind in many ways, and most won’t cost you so much money. Even if you just do the daily meditations you don’t need to spend much at all and that’s where the real healing lies - in the daily practice at home.

 

This is a very small snippet of my personal experience - so much more I could share! And other people may have different experiences too.

 
I encourage you, if you’re curious to do your own research, watch the videos, practice the meditations, experience things for yourself and form your own conclusion listening to your intuition. If you like it and find benefit… great! 

Though remember ultimately, it’s YOU that is doing the work and creating the shift.

You are the one that holds the power.

 

It lies within YOU.

Have you tried his meditations or gone to his events? Comment below, I'd love to hear.

Want more? 

Full details on trainings, workshops, coaching, podcast and more on my website www.emmabradford.net

7 Reasons Why We Don't Do What's Good For Us... And How To Change It

Daily...

• Meditation,
• Gratitude Lists,
• Exercise,
• Morning Routines,
• Journaling,
• Affirmations,
• Healthy Organic Food
• Etc...the list goes on.

Anyone else felt overwhelmed at times with the endless to do list of what we 'should' do to live a healthy and fulfilled life? 

I certainly have. 

Sometimes it can feel like a full time job doing everything that we need to to care for ourselves. The lists can be extensive, and even with small simple things there can be times where self-sabotage kicks in. We know what we need for a healthier, happier life, so why do we find it so hard to actually bring it into practice?

"I know I should meditate but I just can't seem to keep it going! What's wrong with me?!"

"I can't seem to stick to it... I was doing so well and now I'm back to square one"

Common phrases from clients. It's frustrating I know, I've been there many times too. 

As far as I know, there are 7 main reasons why we don't do what we know deep within we need to do for a happy and healthy life. 

1) Not addressing beliefs & emotions within the conscious/unconscious mind.

- Fears about change and/or negative beliefs about uncertainty and change

- Limiting beliefs about the new outcome, for example if loosing weight is the desired outcome there could be underlying beliefs and fears such as... "If I'm thin I'll attract unwanted attention (staying overweight to protect self)"

Creating Change...

What do I believe about change itself? What does change and uncertainty mean to me?

What do I believe about achieving __(desired outcome)__? 

Notice if any limiting beliefs arise and challenge them by re-framing the statement - what else could this mean?

For example: It's not whether I'm overweight or skinny that I attract unwanted attention... it's more to do with my beliefs about it that can attract uncomfortable experiences.

2) Being unaware of the secondary gain of current behaviour and situation where we're searching for something unconsciously. 

If we don't acknowledge our authentic desires this is where self-sabotaging/yo-yo behaviour can kick in. For example, if we want to relax, unwind yet have feelings of obligation, too many activities from work, commitments in our life along with a hidden drive of wanting to BE and relax rather than do... then can come the behaviour of sitting in front of the TV rather than exercising! As many say up to 95% or more of our behaviour is controlled by our unconscious mind. 

Creating Change...

What is the hidden positive intention here? What am I really looking for? 

How can I fulfil this AND do activities that fulfil my health and well-being too? 

3) Using negative, pressuring internal dialogue such as 'I have to/should do/must do...' rather than 'I will/can/want to...'. 

I don't know about you, I certainly don't feel motivated when I order myself to do something - I turn the other way!

Creating Change...

How am I talking and thinking about __x__? 

How can I change that so it becomes even more compelling and exciting so I want to do it? 

4) Being focused on instant pleasure rather than long term happiness. 

Bringing our focus on the task rather than the benefit is very common. When we do this, it can often demotivate us rather than motivate us.

Creating Change...

What is the big WHY in doing ___x___?

How will I benefit now and in the long term by doing ___x___?

5) Allowing our emotional state to remain dropped down and stuck... therefore less motivation. Our emotional state is KEY to how motivated we feel about things. 

Creating Change...

What music inspires, energises and uplifts me?

What puts a smile on my face? 

How can I use these to motivate me to do ___x___?

6) Creating to do lists from only one level - the mind.

Rather than acknowledging our body's capacity to physically carry out only a certain number of tasks out compared to how many the mind can actually think about. The mind is quick and has no limitations on time, whereas to physically do tasks throughout the day can take more time than to think about it. More about the Mind/Body list here.

Creating Change...

What 1 or 2 well-being tasks will I focus on solely that will bring me the greatest amount of joy, satisfaction and benefits? 

7) Feeling uncomfortable moving out of the comfort zone. 

To do something new, means shifting the energy in that moment and moving out of the comfort zone can feel... err at times... uncomfortable! What we're noticing is simply the shift in vibration from one situation to another. It's the initial step that is the biggest shift. 

There have been many articles talking about the Japanese technique to get things done by only doing 5 minutes of an activity. By doing so, once we've started, often we'll continue because we've already achieved that initial hurdle. 

Creating Change...

The previous points above plus social accountability can help take this first step. 

"If I notice awkward feelings about changing a pattern of behaviour even if it's something for my health and well-being, often I'm simply noticing the shift in energy in moving out of the comfort zone. The more I repeat the action of giving that activity a go, the more comfortable I can feel with the new behaviour"

So now over to you...

Looking back, is there something that you know you can benefit from yet you've been struggling to do it up until now? 

Which of the 7 above reasons resonated most and why? 

What will you do differently this week to create that change? Schedule in your diary now to make that even more of a reality. 

Have a friend that could benefit from this? Offer them a helping hand by sharing this post. 

And if you want more information on NLP Trainings, FREE Online Community, FREE resources and 1:1 sessions click here. 

Emotions Uncovered: The Hidden Benefits of Anger, Sadness & Fear

Emotions. 

Painful? Uplifting? Two sides of the same coin.

There are many different shades of anger... deep, red hot rage to a light red/pink hue of mild irritation. A rainbow of emotions within the human experience, and only experiencing the sunny yellow of joy doesn't allow us to experience the full rainbow. 

As with day and night... if we continuously experience daylight, wouldn’t it get a bit boring? Notice how after a cold, dark, wet winter, spring arrives with more light and warmth. Feels good right? 

We truly appreciate the light when we've experienced darkness too. 

To appreciate the wonderful nature of joy and happiness, we also need to understand what sadness and grief feels like. Doesn't mean we need to wallow in self-pity and grief for days and weeks. It simply means when an emotion arises - acknowledge it, feel it, learn from it and then let it go.  

All emotions are valid. This goes for ourselves too... all parts are valid.  

Click to Tweet: "Only accepting the lighter side of ourselves doesn't bring wholehearted self-acceptance. The shadow needs acknowledging too" Emma Bradford

Emotions (Energy in MOTION) are messengers giving us an invitation. Presenting a door that leads onto something else. If we decide to suppress, ignore, avoid certain emotions it's as if we keep the door closed unable to connect to the wonderful experience on the other side.

We miss out.

Often what prevents us to fully embrace emotions are our beliefs about them from past events. If we believe that crying our sadness or expressing anger is 'wrong' then whenever we feel sadness or anger we'll want to avoid or suppress it. 

It's not the emotion itself... it's the meanings we've attached to them from past experiences.

Afraid of what others might think - fear of showing our vulnerable side in case we're rejected. Vulnerability actually creates deeper bonds. 

Afraid of how it may feel - as we've attached a meaning that __x__ emotion always = pain. As a society we often search for instant pleasure rather than long term happiness. There's a difference between the two and often it's the latter that we really want even if we don't realise it. Searching for instant pleasure and avoiding certain emotions in the process won't bring us long term happiness. 

By opening ourselves to emotions, we open ourselves up to a whole world of experiences and insights. Emotions invite us to experience something else completely different and wonderful in and beyond them. 

Anger can lead to...

• Passion... creative fuel for new projects, missions and new rights.
• Self-esteem... by teaching us about our boundaries, our value and lead us to greater self-worth if we choose to observe the messages and act accordingly.
• Motivation... to create change.
• Etc..

Sadness can lead to...

• Understanding... of what we're experiencing.
• Gratitude... for what we had and have and to fully appreciate the uplifting times. Any sadness I've experienced, acted among many things as a reminder to appreciate what I have and become more present. To truly appreciate the wonderful joys that life has to offer that we can easily take for granted or miss in daily life.
• Connection... with others when we open up and share how we feel. The film 'Inside Out' is a wonderful example of this.
• Etc...

Fear can lead to...

• Courage... to feel the fear and do what we want anyway, recognising how brave we can be.
• Safety... so we can get ourselves out of risky situations if need be.
• Awareness... recognising our priorities and increasing our focus.
• Etc...

In other words it's not the hammer, it's the intention and action we choose to do with the hammer that's important. 

For too long certain emotions have been given a bad reputation, seen as something to be avoided whereas it's simply HOW we express them that's key. Expressing anger by dancing or painting how we feel is very different to punching someone in the face and spreading the anger further. The first transforms the energy, the second multiplies it.

So if anger (for example) isn't 'bad' why do we need to transform it? 

When we remain stuck and attached to certain emotions we interrupt the flow and they can build up within. A mild irritation at first may later become red hot rage if we don't see it for what it is, learn from it and express it in a healthy and productive way from the beginning. Plus I think most of us can agree that a little more peace, love and healing on this planet could be somewhat helpful!

It´s finding a balance, allowing ourselves to go with the flow, without remaining stuck to heavier emotions for too long. That's where NLP and the many other useful techniques and practices out there come in handy. Remaining stuck in certain emotional states can keep us demotivated, dis-empowered and affect our health.

Notice I use the word heavier instead of negative. If we label and judge certain emotions as negative, the more we interrupt the flow. Heavier emotions are the ones where we want to contract and withdraw... lighter emotions are the ones where we feel expansive and open.

By ignoring the knocking on the door of an emotion we miss the insight and gift... and it will only come back louder and stronger another time. 

As they say... what we resist, persists!

If we're learning something through the experience of an emotion can we really label that emotion as negative? Surely gaining new insights can be a wonderful thing, right?

So I wonder... what really lies beyond that door.

I'd love to hear from you, if you're experiencing a particular emotion what is it inviting you to connect with right now? What door is being presented to you? Let me know in the comment section below.

Want practical tips, videos and more? Join the Online community here. Have a friend that would find this post useful? Spread the love even further and share this post. 

More FREE Resources and information about Wholehearted NLP trainings and sessions here. 

This Could Transform Your Day...

The mind is very quick. 

It likes to jump around, explore, reflect, question and create stories about ourselves. 

It also likes to generate endless things to do. Especially if you're creative like me... the formation of ideas can be endless.

This practical tool I'm about to share with you (FREE download included too!) can transform the way you structure your days. It can boost Self-Esteem and ease off pressure. 

Something so simple, yet it works. 

We have a powerful mind to think with, emotions to bring colour to life and a physical body to help us experience physical life on Earth. Learning to embrace our humanness is a beautiful thing. Deep down though, we are, at the essence of it all, energy as Albert Einstein famously quoted...

"Everything is energy. Matter is energy, energy is light... we are light beings" 

Albert Einstein

We know from Einstein and many scientific studies that within everything you can find this energy. Liquids, gases and solids all contain energy and each vibrates at a different speed to create the form that it has. Solids vibrate much more slowly compared to a gas… which is why we can grasp hold of an object and see it. The same goes for us. Our physical body, our mind and emotions all vibrate at different speeds.

On a vibrational level the mind is much quicker than the physical body; it forgets to take into account the physical body’s need for more time to do things. 

Notice this... 

If I ask you to close your eyes right now and go to a tranquil beach, noticing the sights, sounds and sensations of that beautiful beach, your mind is already there right?

If you focus on that image long enough, feelings and emotions will then start to bubble up too relating to that beach. Your emotional body is a little slower than the mind yet still quicker than the physical body. 

Your physical body on the other hand hasn’t traveled to the beach in those few seconds; you are still in the same current location physically. 

Here you can see how quick the mind is… it doesn’t have any limitations on where it can go or what it can do when you’re simply thinking about things. It can go anywhere and do anything in a split second. 

The side effects…

When we have hundreds of things to do, the mind can get carried away… thinking that we can get everything done and we should get everything done. And by the end of the day when we don’t achieve everything (because the physical body needs more time to do things compared to the mind), feelings of disappointment, frustration and believing ‘I’m a failure’ are all too common.

"Arghh I didn't get __X__ done!"

"I'm useless, I can't do anything!"

Ouch!

This particular method I'm about to share with you helps to reduce all that negative chatter by listening to our physical body too. It’s still a wonderful way to organise our tasks, and personally out of all of the different 'To Do List' methods out there… this is the one that I have benefited from the most and helped to reduce overwhelm.

Tweet This: "Use the creativity & strength of your MIND, alongside intuitive guidance from your BODY" Emma Bradford

Recognising and respecting all parts of ourselves as we go through daily life towards our desired outcomes. 

Goodbye pressures!

Trust that you are exactly where you need to be right now and use the skills and knowledge around  you and within you to create a more harmonious life experience.

Try this... 

By transforming your to do list into a MIND/BODY list you can start to organise tasks in an easy and manageable way. Allow your mind to spill out everything it wants to get done on the left hand side column and then choose only 3 of the most important, urgent, necessary tasks and carry it over into the right hand side column. The right hand side column, 'The Body List' is your to do list for the day. 

That's it.

If you have plenty of time spare afterwards and are feeling up to doing a few extra things you can choose one or two extra tasks from the left hand side column. If that's the case notice how great you feel knowing that you already did the 3 most important and necessary tasks!

By reducing the list significantly you can ease of off pressure and remind yourself to check in with how you feel physically each day. Helping you to respect your physical body even more, avoiding burnout and built up stress.

FREE DOWNLOAD: To make things even easier, HERE is a pdf download for your personal daily list including extra guidance. Simply download and print.

Until next time, wishing you a fabulous month ahead!

Now over to you...

Download your list using the link above and let me know in the comments below...

• What changes as you adopt this new way of organising your day? 
• How do you feel at all levels... mentally, emotionally and physically? 

Have a friend that is struggling with overwhelm, pushing themselves too hard or needs a hand with organisation? Forward this blog post and offer them a helping hand.

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Have You Said This Too?

We often underestimate the power of them.

They're so powerful in fact, that I even experienced physical symptoms from them.

Dizzy, light headed and sometimes even nausea.* Spending years not knowing what was going on when strange unexplained symptoms popped up.

I was so frustrated. And that frustration just made it worse.

After many years of consulting health care professionals and digging deep emotionally and mentally within... it turned out that the majority of the time after these unexplained symptoms arose, I had been using hurtful and pressuring words towards myself.

That's right... words.

Words have an immense power to affect us emotionally, physically and mentally. Not only do they help us to communicate, form specific languages, express different sounds that vibrate through the air so to be heard by ourselves and others.

They are also powerful creators.

And we don't even need to speak them out loud to be affected by them. We can simply think them and the effects can be felt. 

When I first learned NLP, things started to piece together. How we talk to ourselves and about ourselves, the words we choose and the those that form beliefs... create our life experience. Something I always knew intuitively, though until I actually felt the vibrational difference of words it was only a concept.

I entered an eye opening reality. Discovering how I could empower myself and others, or put others down, how I could feel calm and centered or how I could feel bouts of nausea. I had the complete control whether I chose to believe and accept it or not. And this is the same for everyone else.

I was reminded of this recently, flicking through Spanish TV channels one evening seeing if there was anything 'edible' (as my Mother says!) when I stumbled upon a talent contest. Not the greatest quality show though it's certainly entertaining once in a while.

One vibrant, full of energy contestant caught my attention. Not only was she beaming with life, it was how she introduced herself that really made me stop and think.

"Hi my name is_______, and I am _______ years young"

Wait a minute, what did she say?

"I am ____ years YOUNG".

Woahh!!

In society, the way we talk, phrases and words are often used without a second thought. We talk about how old we are... and feel bad about our age. If words and beliefs create our reality then perhaps this vibrant contestant was beaming because of how she CHOSE to represent herself?

Tweet: "WORDS can influence you mentally, emotionally and physically... you can tear yourself apart, or nourish yourself whole" Emma Bradford

Observing others, we can learn a lot. We can also discover a great wealth of insights by noticing our self talk.

And often that's where we really let loose!

The Inner Critic spills out endless should's, must's, have to's without a second thought. And many don't realise that these words have a HUGE impact on our emotional and mental health... and as I found out, physical well-being too.

What I did when I felt an unexplained symptom, was to trace back my thoughts and notice what I had just said to myself a few seconds before... 99% of the time there was the word Should.

SHOULD brings a sense of pressure, a sense of have to, must do, need to. A sense receiving orders with a heavy feeling, placing ourselves into small constricting boxes. Especially with regards to a task we don't want to do.

Now if we change this into something more empowering... such as could, notice the difference...

COULD brings a sense of possibility, opportunity, and optimism. A lighter feeling of expansion as you give yourself an option. You could do that task, however its not a demand. Even if its about something that we do need to do, simply by talking and thinking about it using the word could helps to ease the pressure of the said task.

Awareness is the first step to making a change. 

Every time I noticed unexplained physical symptoms, I back-tracked my thoughts. If I had used the word should (which quite often I had!) I simply restated the sentence to myself again exchanging the word Should for Could. And just by doing this, symptoms alleviated significantly which taught me about the immense power words have on our mental, emotional and physical health. 

Wow!

Like a weight being lifted off my shoulders, fog clearing and a great sense of relief.

How to exchange dis-empowering words for empowering ones...

"I intend to lose weight" or "I am loosing weight" rather than "I'm trying to lose weight"

"I'm being showered with gifts" other than "I'm being spoiled with gifts"

"I can give it a go" in exchange for "I can't do it because of_____"

"I could do_______" or "I choose to do_____" in replacement of "I should do______"

If our thoughts and words create our reality then surely using more empowering words can help us into greater positive experience right?

Now I encourage you to notice the words you choose this week and ask yourself this...

When are you most critical of yourself? (What are you doing/not doing, thinking/saying... what are your surroundings at the time?)

And when are you least critical of yourself? (What are you doing/not doing, thinking/saying... what are your surroundings at the time?)

What do these answers tell you? What are the differences between the two?

Finally, let me know in the comment section below what differences you notice when you purposely use the word should and when you use the word could... what changes?

Until next time, wishing you a wonderful month ahead!

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*This is help communicate how our language can affect us at all levels. Knowing this can help improve our well-being. Please remember that for serious health concerns always seek a trusted health care professional and get reoccurring symptoms checked out.

Feeling Fearful? Try This...

I was reminded of this a few weeks ago.

Chatting to my NLP teacher and her partner… I realised the giant leap I had made.

4 years ago whilst standing in her training room, my first ever NLP course, the fear of public speaking was making an appearance yet again. Something I struggled with throughout school, college, university and even as an assistant manager in London.

I hated it.

Often hiding behind pieces of paper that I would hold, shaking and whispering words so quiet no one could hear me. The exercise at the time was to create a story in groups to teach the names of the planets in a memorable and entertaining way. I somehow managed escape most of it, assigning myself the role of ‘Chief Artist’ saying the bare minimum by drawing all the diagrams on the board instead.

Much more enjoyable I thought! Funny too, as there were only 4 people in the room… I was that terrified.

Avoidance, however, doesn’t help you improve things.

And the satisfaction I have felt since by acknowledging and facing my fears totally outweighs the 5 minutes sketching a comic strip on the board.

Sometimes when taking a moment chatting to others about our journey we realise how much things have transformed. Take a moment to consider…

• Is there an area of your life you used to really struggled with and now you find much easier?
• What did you learn about this on the journey to success?

With regards to public speaking, I started step by step by holding myself accountable and scheduling weekly talks. The first ever meetup I held over 3 years ago was in a small bar in Raval, Barcelona, with just 3 people. With support and encouragement both from myself* and members this became easier and easier. Also by removing limiting beliefs and using light hypnotic language to tell my unconscious everything will be ok helped to transform that area even further.

4 keys to moving from FEAR to SUCCESS effectively...

Social Accountability - Schedule that event before you feel ready, hold yourself accountable.

Practice - Practice, practice, practice... there is no failure, only feedback!

Support - Open up to finding and receiving support from both yourself and others.

Removing unconscious barriers - Find the unconscious root cause and remove it with love.

Fast forward 4 years from my first NLP training, and I now teach weekly classes on NLP and Self Awareness techniques to large groups, largest being 45+ people! Whilst there is room for improvement and each week I learn more and more… the transformation from what I used to be like to now, has been quite humbling. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for my NLP training and desire to share these invaluable tools.

Tweet: "If you're Finding Excuses And Reasons why you can't... you're keeping yourself in the FEAR zone." Emma Bradford


If we allow it, fear can take hold on us we may even try to shove everything under the carpet to avoid the pain.

Though by doing so, the crap often spills out anyway.

For example, by ignoring a fear of rejection it can manifest as a bad habit or illness the more we suppress it. It is simply the emotion's way of shouting for our attention. Ignore it, and it will find another way to get your attention. 

By observing how you feel with kindness and dealing with the root cause creates long lasting results. This is what I do with clients, with the combination of them…

1) Accepting personal responsibility for their life, willing to participate during a program of sessions e.g.)  showing up and doing a few super quick reinforcement NLP exercises between sessions if required.

2) A desire to experience change with the support and skills provided.

And I as their NLP coach help them to…

3) Find and heal the root cause by reprogramming their unconscious and create a more compelling future.

Together we can create significant results as we don’t treat the symptoms, we treat the root cause. If you want to hear what my clients really think you can click here.

In the meantime I encourage you to consider…

• Is there something in your life that you find challenging and often avoid?
• What have you been looking to feel or gain by not dealing with that fear directly? 
• And what are you losing as a result of this behaviour?
• Take a moment to notice how stepping into that, owning the experience and saying yes to change can bring so much more joy in the years to come when you overcome that fear. Better than avoidance, right?

I’d love to hear from you!

Using the comment section, what area of your life will you apply the 4 keys (Social accountability, practice, support and working with your unconscious mind)? When will you start doing that? Schedule it now and hold yourself accountable noticing the transformation that follows when you take action.

Or is there something else that has helped you improve an area in your life? If so feel free to share your experience and insights below. 

Until next time, wishing you a great month ahead!

Have a friend that would find this useful? Share this blog post now via Facebook, twitter or by email and offer a helping hand.

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* I encourage you, every time you step out of your comfort zone to give yourself kind words, a hug or a pat on the back. Positive reinforcement makes future steps so much easier! 

Everyone Has This... Question Is, Are You Using It?

The Dalai Lama has this.

You have this.

I have this.

And I don't know about you, but I certainly got myself into a few pickles and painful situations in the past when I ignored it. Not the most pleasant of experiences I can tell you. 

What am I referring to? 

Why that little voice within, gut feeling, intuition, or vibes of course ;-) 

That divine prompting within that nudges you towards or away from something... often giving you a sense of knowing that something is for you (or not for that matter). 

Whatever you call it... there's no denying it can be extremely useful and often underrated. After all it stands for 'Inspired Tuition' or the 'Tuition within' whether be it from the Universe, your Soul (or whatever resonates with you) helping you to continue along the path in life you have chosen in a happier, easier and lighter way. An internal navigation system that gives us the answers if we chose to listen.

"Listening to the energy from the heart without judgement" as Sonia Choquette, world renowned intuitive author says.

So for something that we all have, yet often many of us avoid using it, ignore it or struggle to decipher the messages... how can we make this journey a little easier?

For an empath like myself (someone who is extra sensitive to energy, and often able to pick up how others feel emotionally and sometimes even physically), intuitive messages not only come in the form of feelings and sensations but also as distinct emotions. I receive such an overwhelming happy emotion of YES YES YES when there is something I need to pay attention to and take positive action towards that. 

And there can also be moments when it is ever so subtle... a simple change in direction of the energy within... slight expansiveness in the chest or a slight feeling of contraction or nausea within the abdomen. That gentle difference of expanding or contracting within can take practice noticing, especially if we are primarily focused on the external world around us and critical thoughts in our heads. 

Not impossible though... and yes everyone has the ability.

This New Year I started feeling such a strong pull towards a particular place in Europe, one of my favourite places that I have visited over the years. I literally woke up dreaming about it, thinking about it every day, every week more than I ever have before... I felt such a strong emotional pull towards this place. This was my intuition's way of letting me know that I could benefit from some time to myself on this island. A place of calm and tranquillity.

In NLP we talk about VAKAd, this being the different preferred representational systems that each person has i.e. meaning the preferred way that we filter and process information that comes to us through our senses in day to day life.

We don't just have one representational system, we have all of them to some degree... however usually there are two main systems in play more often than the others with one of them being slightly stronger than the other which we call our 'preferred system'.

V = Visual

A = Auditory

K = Kinesthetic

Ad = Auditory Digital

VISUAL (V): People who are more Visual notice what they see and what things look like more than other senses. Quite often these individuals will use language to reflect this too such as 'I see what you mean' or 'I get the picture'.

AUDITORY (A): Some people are very Auditory, meaning that they are aware of sounds more than their other senses. Background sounds can be distracting or music can be the preferred method that they use to feel uplifted. These individuals can also use language that reflects this such as 'That sounds good' or 'I hear you'.

KINESTHETIC (K): Others are have a tendency to feel strongly and be very in tune with the Kinesthetic side of things, meaning the sense of touch, gut feeling and how they are feeling emotionally too. Words and phrases can involve 'I'll catch you later' or 'That feels good to me'. These people often are a lot more aware of their intuition too compared to people with other preferred representational systems.

AUDITORY DIGITAL (Ad): A fourth, slightly less common representational system (though one of my favourites!) is Auditory Digital. This simply means that there is a strong internal dialogue. These people can be very logical, with strong desire to make sense of things, understand people and situations and can sometimes display signs of other representational systems. Often they also can use phrases such as 'That makes sense' or 'I understand'.

[We also have Olfactory and Gustatory (sense of smell and taste) however as the majority of people have one of the above 4 as their preferred systems I will focus the majority of this post on the 4 above.]

One way to help decipher which are your preferred systems is to consider the following question...

If you were in a cinema and smelled fire smoke, what would you do first?

Look? Yell? Move? Or do you question the situation internally first trying to make sense of it and the situation?

Personally, being quite Auditory Digital with a strong Kinesthetic nature coming second. My reaction would probably be the following...

• (Thinking internally) 'I smell smoke, where is it? Is there a fire? (trying to make sense of the situation - Ad)'... then I would start moving my head around (K), closely followed by noticing what I see (V) and then later sounds and/or verbalising it out loud to others (A).

• Someone who is very Visual may smell the smoke, look around with their eyes first (V) then followed by moving their head and body (K) to find out where it comes from, verbalising it to themselves or others out loud (A) and later quickly deciding on a plan of action (Ad).

Now, bear in mind that the difference between each step can be milliseconds. 

This is just one way to get a rough idea however I encourage you to also notice how you talk to yourself and others during the following week and observe what clues you pick up on.

Whilst our sixth sense/intuition is strongly linked with the kinesthetic element of feelings and sensations ('gut feeling') we can however, by knowing our preferred representation system have the possibility of opening up ourselves to even more more information that may come our way. Specifically noticing how that expansion or contraction within changes as you absorb information through your preferred system.

• So those of you who are VISUAL may also notice your intuition communicating to you not as random isolated feelings, but by noticing that sensation when you see images whether be it in your reality or as flashes of images, visual memories and colours within your minds eye. Struggling to make a decision about something? Notice how the gentle contraction or expansiveness within may vary when you consider both options as images within your mind.

• Those of you who are very AUDITORY may notice your intuitive messages in the form of sound or being more aware of your 'gut feeling' when you are consciously connected to sounds. For example hearing loving words or compassionate guidance within as if someone is gently whispering it to you, hearing songs and lyrics that seem to really resonate with you at the time of listening to it, hearing loving support that someone says to you which feels right or simply noticing that expansion or contraction within as you hear those previous examples is your intuition pin pointing you in the right direction. 

• And as mentioned before KINESTHETIC individuals, notice the intuition's main way of communicating feeling bodily sensations and emotions directing them towards or away from things. They can access more information by regularly and mindfully tuning into how their body feels in different situations throughout the day, strengthening that muscle to detect any shifts that may occur and what situation it may be connected to.

• Finally those who are AUDITORY DIGITAL quite often can access more intuitive information and feelings by allowing themselves the time and space to reflect on things internally. These individuals, due to their strong internal dialogue benefit from that time alone to reflect so that they can make sense of the expansive or contracting feelings within.

So here's for the first NLP challenge of 2016! 

Over the next 7 days I invite you to connect with that curious inquisitive mindset and notice... 

I wonder... how is my intuition communicating to me? 

I wonder... what is it guiding me towards so I can experience a happy and healthy 2016?


Notice what positive, gentle guidance comes up and then start by taking action. By the time you are reading this I'll probably be enjoying my weekend away on that island ;-)

Now, I'd love to hear from you!

Using the comment section below, what do you think your preferred representational system is and how will knowing this enhance the way you notice your intuitive gut feelings?

Have a friend that would find this useful? Share this blog post now via facebook, twitter or by email and offer a helping hand.

Until next time, wishing you a fabulous start to 2016!

EXTRA: Want to be the first to receive these posts plus extra bonus information that I only send by email? Sign up to my monthly newsletter here and receive a FREE Guided Visualisation mp3 to boost your Self-Esteem even further.