Anxiety Control Center

Have you ever been watching your child at play, feeling love and joy and all of a sudden find your thoughts spinning off into all sorts of worry? Has one worrisome thought ever brought on a terrible cycle of more fearful thoughts?  If this has happened you are not alone.

Sometimes worry is a fleeting feeling of concern which is just a part of being a parent, trying to protect a child. But, for parents of children who have special needs it is understandable that worry can take on a whole new meaning. The reality is, that your child has to overcome additional hardships and you are now dealing with the additional stress that comes with loving and caring about your child.  Wanting to protect your child and at times feeling helpless not knowing what the future will hold.   When we create thoughts about possible negative future concerns, ones that are outside of anyone’s control these types of worry serve no positive purpose.  And these are the ones we will talk about changing because they can create great pain that mixes in with the joy and love of your child.

Before I talk about techniques to stop worry in its tracks, let’s look at the positive purpose of worry.  It can alert you to things that need to be taken care of, or of consequences of certain actions.  Worry can keep you watchful for symptoms that indicate a possible life-threatening problem, or it can motivate you to take care of something that needs to be done.  But when worry starts to cycle into all sorts of negative, scary future possibilities over which you have no control it stops serving a positive purpose.

So, why are some people more prone to worry than others? The reason people react differently is rooted in what they experience in childhood.  Children learn patterns to deal with stress that serve a positive purpose at the time, but many times these patterns are no longer useful for the adult.  Children also form beliefs in childhood continue to run in adulthood.  I had a client who believed that worrying about someone meant that she cared.  You can see how difficult it would be for her to stop worrying about those she cared about, until she was able to change that old belief.  I had another client who felt that if she didn’t worry something bad would happen.  She had an number of experiences in her very traumatic childhood where she learned that just it wasn’t safe to just be, she had to run every possible consequence through her mind to keep her safe from her alcoholic parent.  She learned that worry protected her, so that even as an adult, she found it difficult to let go of the old belief that if you don’t worry something bad will happen.  There are techniques to change these types of patterns and beliefs, which are best done with someone trained in Transformation System techniques.  There are also techniques to use your own thoughts to change patterns, and that is what I will share with you today.

It may surprise you to learn that you can get relief from even the most painful feelings. These techniques are easy to learn and with practice they can become part of a new way of reacting to worry

If you feel anxiety, worry, sadness or even anger, you already have the secret of changing these feeling. It does require knowing how your mind works which gives us information that can be used to change old patterns.  More on this in my next post tomorrow.

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Whenever you find yourself stuck or indecisive, and your are beating yourself for procrastination, use these two tips to break the cycle of negativity.

I was working with a client the other day and she told me that she was so anxious that she couldn’t even make a decision on what food to eat.

She was running a real negative conversation in her head about how she wasn’t able to make decisions. I asked her to change her words from “I can’t” make a decision to “I choose not to make a decision on what food I want to eat. She said that felt uncomfortable saying it that way. And I’m sure it did feel uncomfortable saying she was choosing not to make a decision. The positive about saying “I choose” is that it puts a person at “cause”.

The second step after being at “cause” is to say to yourself, “That’s curious, that I’m choosing not to make a decision. I wonder what that’s about?” When my client asked herself this question, it amazed us both when she got her answer: The reason she wasn’t making a decision on what to eat was that she really wasn’t hungry, she was bored. After getting that information she can now see that it wasn’t that she was stuck and not able to make a decision about food, it was that she needed to find something else to do so she would feel productive.

For example. . .

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The news reports tell us that we’re in a recession, people all around are losing their jobs, and maybe you are feeling that you can’t trust mortgage companies, brokerage houses, even the bank, your retirement is in jeopardy so how is it that millions of people are still smiling?

You might be thinking that they have found the secret to financial security.  No, that isn’t the reason for their smiles.  They do have a secret and it has nothing to do with the size of their bank account.

Their secret will be revealed in this article. Their secret will be revealed in in my next post.  It is one you can learn to use to stay in control of your state of mind, no matter what is happening with the economy. No matter the stressors, no matter the up and downs of the stock market, it is something that no one can take away from you.  More to come . Excerpt from article by Audrey Sussman PhD

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Summary of “Hypnosis Quick Relief for Stress” Workshop

1.  Difference between  hypnosis for stage and therapy.

2.  Exercise with a  imaginary lemon shows how thoughts can create a physical reaction.

3.  The  3 ways stress is created: The cognitive, physical, emotional stress cycle.

4.  Understanding the difference between Conscious and Unconscious parts of the mind, so you know which part to use with different techniques.

5.  Ways an advanced hypnotic technique was used to take the emotional charge out of repressed memories.

6.  How to use the rating gauge to rate your stress level

7.  Technique for stress relief in 60 seconds. A physical/behavioral exercise to reduce stress using the breath.

8.  How stress is created by thoughts.   Why it’s possible to get stressed while safely in your living room.

9.  Purpose of the stress reaction, and the flight/fight response

10. Exercise to break through a physical limit.

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Changing the Breathing Pattern

The calming “HA” Breath for relaxation and beginning self-hypnosis

START with the calming  “HAAA BREATH.”
It is the easiest way to begin changing the stress response.

The calming HAAA Breath is the beginning step in the process of
gaining relaxation when you want it.

It is one of the easiest skills to use.  The only effort required
is to learn proper breathing patterns.

This new pattern changes the message in the brain from,
send more adrenaline to things are safe, no more adrenaline is needed.

This breath leads to a settling down feeling in the body
as the body again seeks balance.

DIRECTIONS: HAAA Breath, the 60 Second Instant Relaxer

1.  Start this exercise with a short 2-second inhalation.

2.  Hold your breath for the count of 4.

3. Next you exhale with your mouth open, making a soft “HAAAA” sound for the count of at least eight seconds. The longer you exhale, the better this exercise will work for you.

An important part of this exercise, is to
make a sound like you are saying a soft “HAAAA”

4.  When you have released as much breath as you think you can, push out a little bit more.

5.  Then, inhale gently for the count of 6 to 8.

6.  Hold for the count of 4.

7.  Continue with step #3 (exhale).

8.  Repeat two more times.

A complete breath consists of three full repetitions
that are done at least 3 times a day:
1.  Upon arising
2.  At lunchtime
3. When going to sleep
4.  In addition, do the HAAA breath in times of stress

This exercise is an excerpt from the book
Power of Thought – Untold Secrets of the Unconscious Mind.
by Dr. Audrey Sussman

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Feeling Stuck? Secrets to Moving Through Fear, Anxiety and Procrastination

Hello, and welcome. I’m Dr. Audrey Sussman and I would like to invite you to  a Free TeleSeminar l will be giving on January 19, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

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