Stopping worry

 People that continually worry about their problems carry great amounts of stress and uneasiness. The more you worry about your problems and concerns, the more stress you generate in your system. This can lead to self destructive behaviour such as nail biting, fidgeting, hair pulling, teeth grinding and skin picking. Other symptoms may arise such as upset stomachs or ulcers, insomnia, headaches, muscle tension and other physical manifestations of stress. 

There is a positive benefit to worry. At a subconscious level, worry assists us in analyzing problems and becoming aware of necessary actions that are needed to address a situation. At a core level, worry is designed to keep us safe from harm. When worry spirals out of control it can become problematic. 

 When you allow worry to take over it can feel as though it is impossible to regain control over your thoughts and thinking.
Worrying is often a learned behaviour. Individuals who grew up in environments that were highly unpredictable as a child often develop this habit and carry it with them into adulthood. Alternately if someone was raised by a parent or guardian who worried, it is common for that person to habitually model their parents behaviour.

 Hypnosis is an excellent tool to reprogram the mind with positive thought processes. By realigning the subconscious thought patterns to more positive ones you can begin to experience a more relaxed, controlled state of mind.

  If you are an individual who is affected by your worries and concerns, the following exercise can help in as little as 5 minutes a day.

  By practicing the follow exercise daily it can cognitively begin to remove worry from the mind.

• Find a place where you won't be disturbed and for 5 minutes focus on your worries, concerns and problems. If you need 15 minutes, that's okay, take your time!
• Write down all the issues that are causing worry in your life today. It may be a problem with your job or career, a housing situation, a health issue, relationship issues, financial concerns, family problems, past memory etc. Make a list to get it out of your mind and onto the paper. 

• Write down solutions to these issues. And ask yourself the following questions. What resources do you require to fix/heal/improve this issue? What resources do you have already that will help? Can you do this on your own or are others involved? Do you need to seek professional guidance?
• Set a goal date for when you want each issue to be fixed or solved. 

• Put away the paper in a safe location.
• Affirm to yourself that you have spent enough time on the issues today and that you will only think of them again at your next worry session. 

• Clear your mind and relax

By taking a specified time to worry, you are take back control of worries. By thinking of solutions, writing them down, setting a goal date and then taking actions to resolve your worries makes it much easier to handle. Sometimes things don't look as bad once you write them down. Writing them down forms a better image in your mind of the tasks at hand.

Start by doing your worry list once a day for 7 days and see the difference in ways you act, feel and behave. And then build on those good feelings and actions. Remember to affirm to yourself yourself that once you put the paper away, you will leave those problems until the next worry time. It might take some practice, but it works if you stick to it.

The second and subsequent times that you do this exercise, take the paper out and write down anything you have accomplished, add any new concerns and think of any new actions you can take to complete the list!

 Soon, your list will get smaller leaving you feeling relaxed, refreshed and in control.

Donald Currie is a hypnotherapist, NLP Practitioner, Audio producer and Author with his own private hypnosis practice in Toronto, Ontario Canada.