Every experience good or bad is stored in our unconscious, but we often have no awareness of the affect the experience has until it stops us doing something we want to do.

I often hear clients say they have dealt with their traumas or that accidents they had many years ago do not affect their performance today. Then they say my performance anxiety is taking over or that they freeze and don’t know why.

The brain is hardwired to protect us, and it contains a primitive survival mechanism operated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This system activates a series of responses in our body that are essential for ensuring our safety in moments of danger or threat.

This process is largely automatic and involves the release of neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, which prepares the body for immediate action—by increasing heart rate, dilating pupils, and redirecting blood flow to major muscle groups. These actions happen rapidly and without conscious thought to ensure quick reactions in dangerous situations.

The sympathetic nervous system is also influenced by various factors such as emotions, environmental cues, and physiological changes. Which means when we find ourselves in situations where experience has caused physical or emotional trauma we can experience anxiety or even shut down completely.

Whilst clients have often taught themselves breathing exercises or mindfulness it can be difficult and somethimes impossible to overcome their automatic reactions alone. During one to one sessions, however we can pin point what might be causing the the SNS response and using NLP or hypnosis reset, so the experience no longer triggers an automatic reaction and the client regains a choice.

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