Rider Confidence using the Power of Hypnosis

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So many riders, from the top down, at some point or other have confidence issues whilst riding. 

Whether you are approaching the lake at Badminton, or standing on the mounting block when your legs turn to jelly, your inner mind suddenly questions what you are doing, and is it safe?
And boom your confidence fails you, and your horse immediately questions why your signals have changed. So whether you enjoy happy hacking or you're aiming for an Olympic Gold - Hypnotherapy can help reframe your subconscious mind so its with you 100% 

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Without the confidence from you, the horse approaching an obstacle is now left to make the decision and even the most genuine may stop, run out, take a stride out or chip one in, as in their eyes it seemed the most sensible course of action. This action of the horse will possibly result in unbalancing its rider who then may potentially come off, compounding the issue by further imprinting the lack of safety and confirming to the subconscious mind that it was right!

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Throw into this mix a bad injury, followed by time off, new thoughts, relearning balance, compensating for the injured body part, and it becomes really hard for the once fearless rider to get back into the game. 
Each time they approach a particular obstacle or get into a similar situation, the brain will be screaming ‘No! Remember what happened last time’ and will take a course of action to prevent it happening again. 
Self-sabotaging itself, and creating barriers to prevent the pain the body received last time.

 

This can also happen to the everyday rider whose hacking horse is looking for reassurance about the massive tractor ahead, if the riders inner mind is thinking, ‘My horse is going to turn and run’, it’s a fair bet that it will.
At the end of the day most horses have a great deal of self-preservation (despite occasional suicide tendencies) and when the pilot isn’t responding in the way the horse needs it to, the horse will then make a prey type decision which is to run. 

So, on the next hack, the rider is already waiting for the horse to react, the horse has learnt that this rider isn’t going to make the decision and so the problem escalates, until the rider is too scared of both the horse and the traffic to go hacking and is now confined to the school.  Where potentially other things will come up to cause a reaction, which then means the rider questions riding at all and struggles to even mount.

 

So, how can Hypnosis help with this?

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Most importantly, the rider (or any person who wants to make a change in their life) has to want to change. If you don’t want to be hypnotised, you won’t be.  However, by allowing yourself to be guided into Hypnosis, the therapist (me) can open a communication path with the inner mind, your subconscious mind, which is essentially your caretaker, and this part of your mind looks out for you 24/7, it never ever sleeps, it ensures you breath, your heart beats, you wake at that sound in the night, you find food and water, and though the subconscious mind is still little understood, currently we do know that by guiding a person into a hypnotic trance the therapist can help to reframe how a client perceives and reacts to potential danger.

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Now, most of us know that Buttons or Velcro can’t hurt you, however some people would have a totally traumatic event if they so much as touch one of these, the same with spiders, being in a lift, dogs, flying or heights, all these are the way the body perceives different dangers.  And people will react in different degrees, from simple avoidance to downright terror, screaming and sweating with no logical reasoning. These can stem from childhood, where an adult has told you this is dangerous, and it might have been when you were 4 years old, but you can carry the thought way into adulthood.  It can also be passed on from another person’s phobia or fear – are YOU actually afraid of spiders, or has someone screamed at one and now you do too?

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By reframing the inner, subconscious minds way of perceiving things, the therapist can help the brain overcome all sorts of fears or phobias, overcome that inner terror that makes us turn and run.  And with the simple use of language patterns, can help the client become confident again, stronger and with renewed self-assertion.  So, as you can see, it helps with many different topics, Rider Confidence being just one. 

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So, what happens? After an initial consultation, a session will generally involve you sitting in a comfortable chair and closing your eyes. 
The therapist will then use relaxation techniques to help guide you from a conscious awareness, into a hypnotic trance, as the therapist continues to use language patterns to reframe certain issues.

These sessions usually take about 1-1.5hrs and can be in person, via computer using one of the communication platforms, or as a voice file which can be sent via email.

Depending on the issues presented, it may be that a couple of sessions are enough, though in other cases a series of sessions may be needed, this will depend on the client and a plan will be made at the consultation, and reassessed as treatment continues.

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Hypnotherapy is also effective in helping with anxiety, guilt, public speaking, all sorts of fears and phobias, weight loss, abuse, smoking, confidence, self-esteem, lack of control, positivity, bereavement, sleep and so many other issues …

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For more information email me Lotty Merry

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