Hypnotherapy, salmon and family – How Kyren Wilson was fuelled to World Championship glory
A unique combination of hypnotherapy and a salmon-rich diet has also contributed to his success. "I'm going to grow gills I think with how much salmon I've eaten," he joked after his semi-final win over David Gilbert. He continued, ''I've been working on the mental side. I've been working with a solution hypnotherapist. It's just about emptying your stress bucket. We all have things going on that can affect our day-to-day working lives. It's allowed me to go out there and be freer. Our minds are so clogged up with so many different things that don't need to be there. If you can eliminate them and focus only on your snooker it makes the game a hell of a lot easier. I've had some great sleep this tournament."
Hypnosis occurs when someone enters a state of relaxed awareness, in which the subconscious is open and receptive to suggestion. The aim is to rewire a person’s mind, providing them with new ways of thinking and feeling. There is growing evidence that suggests hypnosis is effective for many people experiencing problems including pain, anxiety, PTSD, and phobias.
Practically any mental issue can be helped through hypnotherapy, as long as a person is open and wants to change.
Hypnotism really does work - and it has an impact on the brain which can be measured scientifically, according to one of America's leading psychiatrists. David Spiegel, from Stanford University, told the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science that he had scanned the brains of volunteers who were told they were looking at coloured objects when, in fact, they were black and white.
A scan showing areas of the brain used to register colour highlighted increased blood flow, indicating that the volunteers genuinely 'saw' colours, as they had been told they would. ''This is scientific evidence that something happens in the brain when people are hypnotised that doesn't happen ordinarily,'' Mr Spiegel told delegates. He added that there were 'tremendous medical implications' and envisaged people being able to manage their own pain and anxiety.
I am delighted that this research confirms what professional hypnotists, such as myself, who have been successfully using the technique for medical purposes, have known all along - hypnotism has a genuine effect on the functioning of the mind, as well as the body.
Now I hope that the research conducted by David Spiegel and others will finally enable hypnotism to take its proper place as a serious part of medical science. It is high time.
