Conversations with… Hypnotherapist Sarah Kennard
By Paola Bassanese
Q: Why did you decide to become a hypnotherapist?
A: Having struggled with my weight for almost all of my adult life, I came across Marisa Peer just over 3 years ago after seeing her on Supersize v Superskinny and decided to give her ‘You can be slim’ programme a go. Its based on hypnotherapy and after reading her book I also attended one of her workshops in London. I was amazed at the results, and ended up reducing my weight by almost 2 stones, and a couple of months later finally managed to give up my part time smoking habit, also with hypnotherapy. I think the really powerful thing about hypnotherapy is that the more you have of it and the more successful it is, the more receptive you are to future treatments as you have already accepted it as successful, a truly self fulfilling cycle. I decided to become a hypnotherapist Because I want to empower people to help themselves to celebrate what they already are and realise what they’ve yet to be.
Q: Do you have an exercise regime?
A: Yes, I exercise to feel good and have a varied routine depending on how I feel and how much time I have. I have recently given up my gym membership and workout using the great outdoors, it’s so much more inspiring!
Q: Do you follow a specific diet?
A: Yes I follow Marisa Peer’s 4 R’s diet which means 1) does the food roam? 2) is the food recognisable 3) can you eat the food raw? 4) does the food rot? It broadly means I don’t eat any processed food. I’ve been following this for 3 years now and feel healthier and look better now at 42 than I did at 21.
Q: How important is massage in your day to day life?
A: Very important, I think it helps me to relax which is so crucial as this is when I am at my most creative. I also realised a while ago that I was not doing enough stretching after my workouts, and that combined with a hectic lifestyle and a long commute meant i was suffering with quite a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders. Massage has helped this, I have also got more disciplined about my post workout stretching too.
Q: What is the achievement you are most proud of?
I have been working with my sister since January 2012 and through a combination of Hypnotherapy and coaching she has seen so many improvements in her life, she has reduced her size by 24 inches and is now training for a a half marathon in October. She lives in Italy and so we have done all of this via Skype, telephone calls and text messages! She is so happy with the progress she has made and I am so happy for her, that’s what I love about what I do, It’s a true win/win situation!
Q: How did you decide to combine personal training and hypnotherapy and how can it benefit clients?
A: I have worked with personal trainers before, some good and some bad but as a general theme, all worked with me at a very logical level: eat less, exercise more. I don’t think it’s always as simple as that, particularly with women, who often have issues with food and their body image. So I have decided to combine hypnotherapy and NLP coaching with so that I can work with clients holistically: mind and body. I also know how easy it is to remove old limiting beliefs and replace them with empowering ones and as the unconscious mind is responsible for all of our habits and behaviours, working with that will guarantee that the changes the client makes will be totally unconscious and therefore easy to maintain.
A personal message from Sarah:
Hi, my name is Sarah and I am the Feel Good Coach. As a certified master practitioner of NLP and Hypnotherapy and soon to be Level 3 Personal Trainer; I empower people to achieve their physical and emotional goals and Feel Good!
I blog about every day things in practical terms and hope to reach beyond my clients to as many people I can help as possible.
I practice in and around Oxfordshire.