Paul McKenna is on a mission to help you deal with anxiety

Paul McKenna has taken expertise gained from a 30-year career spent helping more than 10 million people to improve their lives to help form his new book “Freedom from Anxiety”, using psychological techniques to help people train mind and body and control feelings of anxiety.

He said the idea behind the book was due to the overriding feeling of worry many people have been feeling and the never-ending feeling of being in some kind of pandemic.

He said: “We’ve been in biological pandemic and now we are in a psychological one, with things like anxiety, depression, insomnia, stress, fear and other things going through the roof.

“I’ve been treating a lot of people on video links or in person over the last three years who have anxiety disorders, which is understandable as when you read the paper or watch the TV, you’re under attack from a new deadly virus, a war or an economic crisis.

“I can’t do anything to make those better, but what I can do is help people to be more resilient, to stop freaking out, or feeling that sense of foreboding and get them into a more resilient, optimistic and confident place.”

The book is divided into three sections, with the first part focussing on anxiety relief techniques, part two looking at building inner resilience and the final part focussing on making room for optimism, joy and creativity.

Paul McKenna is also appearing in person on tour at the Birmingham Conference & Events Centre on March 18, with Paul saying the show was a 90-minute coaching session which felt like a personal session.

He said: “It’s not like a lecture as it’s very dynamic and is like a personal session with me, except that there are hundreds of other people present.

“What I do is start by asking who is frightened of public speaking, then ask someone to come on stage. After a few minutes with them, they feel that they can speak to the audience like they would to a group of friends.

“I then get people to talk about other things that frighten them and say ‘let’s knock it out’, and follow that by taking people into resourceful stages, resilience and confidence and imagining a better future.

“They can go away with a handful of techniques that they can use and they feel highly motivated and have some things they can use forever.”

Even more than 30 years later, the world of hypnotism still intrigues and interests Paul and he says the change in how it has been seen since he started and how it’s perceived have been great.

He said: “When I started, hypnosis was seen as a dark art and was voodoo, but nowadays, people understand that it’s a natural process that enables behavioural change through visualisation and relaxation.

“I suppose people have seen comedy shows which are very entertaining and show people that hypnotism works, but I do find a lot that people start a conversation with me by asking ‘is it possible?’ and I reply ‘yes’

“That can then lead to people asking me if I can do it now, to which I sometimes do, but I also can say that it’s a much bigger deal what they want and it might be we can do it later as it’s something that will take several sessions over weeks and months.

“Generally, people are intrigued by it because they see it as a magic switch to turn off their desire to drink or smoke or not be frightened in public, so a lot of people don’t fully understand it and that’s what intrigues people.”

Paul said that anyone who is feeling stressed and worried about life should buy the book or come to his event in Birmingham as it will help them to have the ability to relax deeply whenever needed.

He said: “If you’re stressed out, worried, fretting or anxious, then this will help you to switch that off and become calm and centred, maybe in a relaxed way or just relaxed, refreshed and replenished.

“That is the one thing that will make a significant difference to the quality of life and health of everybody on the planet.

“What I’m offering in the book and at the event is the ability to be able to get control of your thoughts and feelings so that they are not controlling you.”

Paul McKenna is appearing at Birmingham Conference & Events Centre on March 18

To find out more and to book tickets, go to mindbodyspirit.co.uk/whats-on/paul-mckenna-instant-confidence

To buy “Freedom from Anxiety”, go to whsmith.co.uk/products/freedom-from-anxiety/paul-mckenna/paperback/9781802795509.html