Nova Locks

Nova Locks Performance Coach

Transform wellbeing and performance with neuroscience. ✨
Fast, safe and gentle. I de-link the emotional triggers & distressing memories.

Havening® and NLP Master Practitioner. Book Consultation 👇 Performance Coach

I transform wellbeing and performance with neuroscience. As a specialist in Havening® and NLP Master Practitioner, I don’t just ‘manage’ symptoms; I address the root cause of emotional triggers and distressing memories to alter the brain’s response. This isn’t theory; it is life and game changing as well as being safe an

d fast. Whether navigating performance blocks, anxiety, stress, trauma, PTSD, chronic pain or unwanted responses etc., I provide the intervention needed to transform your wellbeing and performance. Specialist support is delivered through Private Breakthroughs and Institutional Residencies designed to remove internal interference and so you can perform at your best. Ready for a specialist intervention? Let's connect. Private Clients: Book Consultation
Organisations: Enquire for Residency Availability ✉️

Said by a recent client who had been dealing with a persistent issue.‘…I had an extreme fear of spiders or anything with...
01/05/2026

Said by a recent client who had been dealing with a persistent issue.

‘…I had an extreme fear of spiders or anything with long thin legs. But after attending a teams meeting with Nova, within a week, I had my first encounter with a spider. I was happy enough to reach out my hand and let it climb onto my hand. Nova’s work is a piece of art and I would highly recommend.’

With Havening®️ we change the brain’s response to emotional triggers and distressing memories.

It’s safe and fast.

Important to note: there is no requirement to hold, touch, or even be in the same room as the thing you are fearful or phobic about.

28/04/2026

450 metres of open water swimming done. 🏊‍♀️

Completed the intro to open water swimming training at the weekend. 💪

Read the latest story of my progress towards the Swim Serpentine 2 mile challenge for in my bio.

21/04/2026

Confidence... Found it. 🔍

It’s interesting. A Premier League Football Manager recently noted in a press conference that if he could buy confidence at a supermarket, he would. 🛒

We often treat confidence like it’s a physical object. Something we ‘lost’ that we need to ‘find.’

But confidence isn't a thing you own; it's a state you inhabit.

The skill hasn't left the building. When you lose confidence, you haven't lost your ability. You have temporarily lost access to it. You still have the same hours of mastery, but the connection is down. 📉

Why? Confidence doesn't vanish into thin air. It is a biological response to a bad or distressing experience that threatens your sense of safety.

Your brain isn't failing you. It’s the nervous system doing its job and over-protecting you. 🛡️

It has flagged that specific activity as a threat. To keep you safe, it restricts your access to high-level performance, forcing you into ‘safe mode’.

To get confidence back, we don’t find it. We use neuroscience-based techniques (like Havening®️) to update the brain’s data, changing the nervous system response.

When the ‘safety system’ stands down, the confidence and therefore performance return.

Automatically. 🧠⚡

21/04/2026

It’s interesting. A Premier League Football Manager recently noted in a press conference that if he could buy confidence at a supermarket, he would. 🛒

We often treat confidence like it’s a physical object. Something we ‘lost’ that we need to ‘find.’

But confidence isn’t a thing you own; it’s a state you inhabit.

The skill hasn’t left the building. When you lose confidence, you haven’t lost your ability. You have temporarily lost access to it. You still have the same hours of mastery, but the connection is down. 📉

Why? Confidence doesn’t vanish into thin air. It is a biological response to a bad or distressing experience that threatens your sense of safety.

Your brain isn’t failing you. It’s the nervous system doing its job and over-protecting you. 🛡️

It has flagged that specific activity as a threat. To keep you safe, it restricts your access to high-level performance, forcing you into ‘safe mode’.

To get confidence back, we don’t find it. We use neuroscience-based techniques (like Havening®️) to update the brain’s data, changing the nervous system response.

When the ‘safety system’ stands down, the confidence and therefore performance return.

Automatically. 🧠⚡

‘To be fair, I think the spider needs havening.’That’s what I said to a client after seeing a video of them trying to ho...
15/04/2026

‘To be fair, I think the spider needs havening.’

That’s what I said to a client after seeing a video of them trying to hold one. The poor spider was running for its life.

The significance? They previously had a spider phobia. This was their way of showing me the shift.

What’s interesting is that anyone with a phobia knows logic doesn’t solve the problem.

When the threat system is activated, the response happens in the amygdala before it ever reaches the logical, decision-making part of the brain. You can’t reason your way out of a neural response.

It is fascinating we try to treat fears with logic when you aren't thinking, you are reacting to an alarm.

This is why telling someone to ‘be confident’ in a fear state doesn't work. You cannot think your way into peak performance when your nervous system is screaming ‘threat.’

The amygdala wins every time.

(Note: With Havening®️, there is no requirement to go hold, cuddle, or touch whatever it is you are phobic about.)

You opted out of the emails, but you still saw the trigger in the supermarket. In a split second, you react. ⚡️It’s a hi...
09/04/2026

You opted out of the emails, but you still saw the trigger in the supermarket. In a split second, you react. ⚡️

It’s a high-speed activation of the amygdala. Your nervous system perceives a threat and responds automatically before your logical brain can catch up. 🧠

The Cost:
• Sharp Emotion: Sudden anger or frustration.
• Subtle Drain: An underlying sense of unease that saps your energy.

We aren’t stuck with these automatic responses.

With Havening®️, we use sensory input to create electrochemical changes in the brain, moving you from a state of reaction back to the freedom of a chosen response.

“When I faced a similar triggering situation, I handled it calmly. Instead of my usual frustration and anger, I just felt normal.”

Natalie Grabow didn’t just finish a race; she redefined the timeline of human potential.We often treat age, resources or...
30/03/2026

Natalie Grabow didn’t just finish a race; she redefined the timeline of human potential.

We often treat age, resources or past experience as a hard stop, but Natalie proves that the biological ability to adapt is always on. She didn't even learn to swim until she was 59.

What lens are you ready to swap out today? 👓👇

From a neurological perspective, the answer is no.When we perceive pressure, our nervous system doesn’t see a deadline o...
25/03/2026

From a neurological perspective, the answer is no.

When we perceive pressure, our nervous system doesn’t see a deadline or a cup final it sees a threat. It kicks into survival mode, triggering a cocktail of cortisol and adrenaline.

While this is great for running away from a predator, it is devastating for high-level performance. Survival mode:

• Impairs complex decision-making.
• Narrows peripheral awareness.
• Blocks the ‘Flow State’ (where peak performance lives).

Performance isn't about handling the pressure; it’s about ignoring the meaning attached to the environment.

Take a penalty kick in football. To the brain in survival mode, a last-minute penalty in a cup final, feels like a life-or-death event. The stakes create the interference.

To a brain in a state of flow, a penalty is just a penalty. The mechanics of the strike are identical whether you are on a training pitch or in front of 80,000 people. The difference is the meaning the player assigns to the moment.

Peak performance isn't about toughness. It's about nervous system regulation. When your brain stops perceiving threat, you don't just survive, you thrive.

A fellow train passenger starts talking loudly on the phone. After a few mins, I was aware of feeling on edge.It's not t...
23/03/2026

A fellow train passenger starts talking loudly on the phone. After a few mins, I was aware of feeling on edge.

It's not that it's rude, it is a specific psychological phenomenon known as a ‘Halfalogue.’

Your brain is hardwired to be a problem solver. In a normal conversation, you can follow the flow. But listening to someone else’s phone call means you only hear 50% of the information.

Your brain is trying to fill in the blanks to make sense of the story, but it can’t hear the other part. It stays in a state of alert, trying to predict what comes next.

As you have no control when the noise starts or stops, this triggers a mild threat response in the nervous system. It feels unpredictable and intrusive.

Lucky for me, the train wasn’t busy, so I was able to change my environment and move seats. Problem solved.

But if it happens again in a busy carriage, I’ll be ready to politely say, "Excuse me, please could you finish the phone call as soon as possible? You are triggering everyone’s nervous system.” 😉

13/03/2026

It’s the brain’s way of trying to keep us safe. Except it’s not very helpful when you want to try something new or when a past experience is stopping you from something you would like to do.

That’s where Havening®️ can help. If you’ve ever felt stuck by fear, I’d love to show you how this works.

11/03/2026

When the coach needs a coach.

A little update on my 2-mile Swim Serpentine challenge.

Even as a Performance Coach, I know that growth happens when we step out of our comfort zone and into the water.

First lesson now done. 🏊‍♀️

Swim sponsor link comment below for

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