My first experience with a Hypnotherapist and a Medium/ Clairvoyant! - Amazing...really! JS

If you have children or indeed if you once were one, then the words 'if you don't try it, then how do you know you don't like it!' may resonate with you at some level.

It was this sentiment that led me the other day to the Ashtara Awareness Centre to get a subjective perspective on alternative therapies. I can honestly say that I was incredibly skeptical, having always rather viewed these things as a bit 'out there' or at the very least a bit of a con. Nevertheless I arrived with an open mind and put all pre-conceptions to the back of my mind, just on the off chance I might secure some benefit from the experience, though I confess that I did choose from two 'taster' sessions at either end of my personal credibility radar. The first being hypnosis, I knew had tangible proof of benefit, so I was looking forward to that, but the other which was a 'Medium/ Clairvoyant Reading' would I know stretch my natural cynicism well beyond its usual boundaries.

When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised at how attractive the centre and its surroundings actually were. Located on the road to Exbury Gardens at the end of a farm track, the only sounds to interrupt your tranquility and healing are the very occasional crunch of gravel outside and the sound of the surrounding countryside. In my case too, the place was private enough that no one I knew would have seen my car outside and wonder what the hell I was doing going somewhere like this. (Read on to see why I no longer care what people may think about that!)

The reception area doubles as a library and comfortable waiting area and the chances are that Marion Holland who runs Ashtara will be there to look after you. If it is your first time like me, then the great thing about Marion is that she is very down to earth, incredibly nice, but also doesn't try and sell you into the concept; preferring instead to let you form your own opinions. In my world, that's akin to visiting any company which is sufficiently confident in their product that they don't need to bully you with a sales pitch the moment you walk in. We chatted for a while and we looked around at the various facilities which apart from the numerous comfortable treatment rooms include also a large function size room where coffee mornings and fairs are hosted.

And so to my first treatment; a 2hr hypnotherapy session with Caroline Cousins, who has more initials after her name than I have friends on Facebook and who I instantly warmed to. We spent about half an hour chatting about my ambitions, hang-up's, phobias and areas of my life I felt needed improvement. Like most people I was initially pathetically insular, but Caroline's totally professional but personable style soon wowed me and I felt totally comfortable revealing even some more intimate issues I had buried under the carpet. Once we had agreed on what areas I would like to resolve, Caroline got me on the couch and clipboard in hand started taking me through the relaxation process. After half an hour, I was still conscious, but definitely in a totally relaxed state and Caroline gradually led me into areas of my past, such that they were so vivid in my mind, I was almost there for real. I'd rather not say what we explored, but I will admit that at one point, I experienced such an emotional release, I was blubbering like a baby. The constant re-assuring voice in the background assuring me this was perfectly normal, genuinely removed any sense of embarrassment or confusion and it was one of the most cathartic experiences I have had in many a year. Having felt like Sisyphus who carried the world on his shoulders, I really did feel like that weight had been taken from me and upon the countdown back to reality,  my only negative thought was how soon could I get back to clear out some of the other clutter. The latter being the operative word of course, because Hypnotherapy and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is explained to me as a way of de-cluttering all those negative experiences in our past which have remained with us through habit, addiction or simply in the absence of a logical alternative mindset. So from giving up smoking to lack of self confidence or even stress management and the like, as a reformed guinea pig who still feels a few tons lighter and more confident about the future,  I cannot recommend Caroline enough! I'm putty in her hands forever more. ;-)

As if the above wasn't treat enough, I later that day met another incredible lady called Sandi Cox. Sandi was introduced by Marion as a natural medium who has the ability to communicate with the spirit world using all senses, apparently renowned for her amazing accuracy in giving proof of life after death!

I'm not sure what I expected, but I'd been originally told that I was to have a 1hr 'taster' session with Sandi in one of the rooms at the centre and imagined that it would be quite a 'fairground' affair with burning incense and lot's of gypsy nonsense. I have to say this couldn't have been further from what actually happened. Sandi arrived at the reception area and once we were introduced, she just smiled and started looking at me, around me and in a nice way, through me.

Within moments, she told me that the 'spirits' would have known I was going to be there and had turned up to say 'hi'. Well I did smother a snigger, because it all seemed a bit surreal, but I suddenly found myself engaged in a three way conversation with Sandi and various members of my late family and friends. Don't forget here, I was at that point a big skeptic and almost didn't want there to be any tangible proof that there was something real about this much more than being open to the possibility there was.

After about the fifth specific fact that I know couldn't have been assumed, discovered in advance on the net or even sucked from my head, I had to admit that this was in some way a real connection to people I have known and loved who aren't here anymore. It was unnerving but also re-assuring and comforting at the same time and in this weird dialogue I was most impressed that wherever we go in this apparent big party in the sky, humour carries over too. I'm a bit of a cold realist and not actually particularly ardent about any dogma. My view though is always that on the basis of the sheer size of our universe and the coincidence of life itself, our knowledge about all these things is pretty miniscule so me talking to my late family and friends like this is just as possible as it is impossible.

Sandi is just gorgeous and not only did I get to have a good chin wag with a few 'dead' people, I was also able to pass on a message to a family member who hadn't done something they needed to do in order to get a chunk of money which she has subsequently done. Similarly and I am waiting in eager anticipation I am promised some big success overseas and an abundant September, which though I'd been building up to anyway, is nice to have underpinned in a karmic sense from those that are watching over me.

I can't say this is for everyone, because quite apart from all the other hurdles like money, peer pressure or even the admission that you aren't perfect; you also need to overcome as well, that guilt so many us carry for investing in ourselves instead of everyone around us. That's a reluctant clue to a very small part of what I learnt from this and I can unashamedly say that every now and then when I need some proper me time and need to de-clutter or simply feel better about myself then you'll see my car outside the Ashtara Centre.

And don't forget, 'if you haven't tried it.......' – Besides what good are you to everyone around you, if you don’t make the best of yourself? That’s not selfish; it’s just plain common sense…. As I’ve finally worked out myself BTW after all these years…JS

Ashtara Awareness Centre
The Parlour
Otterwood Farm
Exbury
Hants
SO42 7YS

www.ashtara.co.uk

(just 1 mile along the Exbury road from Hill Top)

Ring:  Marian Holland   01590 611221 or mobile 07721 625686

Or email:  ashtara@hotmail.co.uk

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Caroline Cousins MA MCIPD Dip PH GQHP GHR Reg
Stem Lane
New Milton
Hampshire
BH25
Phone: 01425 620923

Email: hypnotherapy@carolinecousins.com
Website: www.carolinecousins.com