Paul Mckenna speaks to the UN on International Day of Happiness

Paul Mckenna has come a long way from his days as a radio presenter for the BBC. From becoming the most famous hypnotist on British television with his own hypnosis gameshow "The Hypnotic World of Paul Mckenna" to a world famous hypnotherapist helping thousands of people to acheive what they desire, from losing weight, giving up smoking and managing stress to builing self confidence and more.

Now here comes what could well be his greatest challenge yet....speaking to the United Nations.

Paul has been invited to speak at the United Nations Plaza Building in New York all about what he does on March 20th 2016 for the I Do Happiness Day. As well as speaking about hypnotherapy he will also be discussing Havening and how it can help people. It's just one of several techniques that can make a real difference to your life.

The event is designed to be a global platform for change. Paul's talk is entitled "The Havening Technique - Move from upset/depression to a calm blissful state in minutes using the latest breakthroughs in modern psychology.

The power of the mind is something that we must never underestimate and so I very much look forward to hearing what Paul has to say.

You can find out more at idohappiness.org 

 Updated after the event: Paul took the stage an introduced himself as someone who has been fascinated by happiness for many years. He discussed the fact that money doesn't seem to make people any happier. Lottery winners are often not much happier a year after their win.

Depression is on the rise across the world and he talked about the different approaches that can be used to help people to find ways to feel happier. He discussed his use of Hypnotherapy and NLP with Richard Bandler and then went on to demonstrate the technique of Havening

He explained that the neurosystem cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined thought.

He asked everyone in the audience to remember a time when they felt really happy. He asked them to return to it as if it was happening right now and then asked them to make that experience stronger and more vivid.

We are only one thought away from feeling happy.

Havening Demonstration by Paul McKenna

He then went on to demonstrate the technique with a member of the audience called Annette. She talked about the story of her life an abuse that she had suffered as a child. She had already spoken to Dr. Ron Ruden who has worked with havening a great deal and is ont of the creators of this new therapy. Annette also spoke about how she tried to think positive but that she was always pulled back to what she felt she grew up with.

"It feels like the past is always present"

Paul explained that what he was going to do was a psychosensory therapy and not a distraction. He asked her how badly she could make herself feel on a scale of one to ten and she said ten.

He then used the havening intervention which you can see in this video.. 

Dr. Paul McKenna Demonstrates Havening Techniques® at the United Nations, March 20, 2016 from Havening on Vimeo.

It is fascinating to see that after the havening the lady herself finds it very hard to feel the bad feelings again, after just a few minutes.

How does Hypnosis feel?

It's a question I get asked more than any other and it's often because people have seen faked up stooges in stage hypnosis and think it may be a loss of control and someone else taking control of their mind.

That's simply not true at all. It's really just a natural state. Here's a short youtube video on hypnosis where I explain all about how you will feel during a session of hypnosis.

Here's the transcript of the video so you can read exactly my thoughts on hypnosis.

Lots of people ask me what happens in hypnosis. What is hypnosis? This is all because they are worried about programmes they have seen on television like Derren Brown or Paul McKenna where it looks like someone is taking over their mind. 

Well, it's not like that at all. Hypnosis is a perfectly natural and normal state. It's a bit like daydreaming, where you are half awake or half asleep.

Driving in the car and forgetting where you are

You will probably know the feeling if you have ever been in a car where you are driving along and you think, suddenly you have missed your exit. All because you were daydreaming and working on automatic pilot. So it feels a bit like that.

The important thing to remember is that you are always in control. In fact you can open your eyes if you want to. If you are lying there with your eyes open, well of course, if you open your eyes perhaps it won't be quite so relaxing.

You will remember everything in hypnosis

You can remember everything that is said. Sometimes you will see hypnotists on television saying "When you wake up you won't remember anything that has happened." then people open their eyes and say that they don't remember anything. That's just because they have been told to say it, by the person on television or the stage hypnotist, but of course you do remember everything, because you hear everything, because you are totally aware.

When you are relaxed, and all that is happening is that you are letting yourself be a little bit more relaxed, just as much as feels right and comfortable for you, your subconscious mind, the part that causes all the problems with the niggling thoughts, is just more open to suggestions. 

So, you are always in control and you can open your eyes.

Here's another thing you can do!  You can move. Sometimes, someone may be sat with me and thinking that their nose is itching, but if they itch it then I will think they are not hypnotised. Well, it's the opposite. If I see someone itch their nose, the next thing they normally do is breathe a sigh of relief and then relax further.

So, if you ever worried, or thought you could not by hypnotised, well just ask yourself what it is exactly. Perhaps it is just being relaxed, and then being relaxed you are more open to suggestion. 

There is nothing to worry about, and in fact you may well be surprised that it is a very pleasurable experience...with great benefits to you in the long term.