I have decided, with the suggestion of my clients, to begin offering phone sessions to anyone that is unavailable to make it into my clinic office. The details are under phone sessions on the main website page of www.donaldcurrie.com

Changing unwanted behaviors is not an easy task. If it was, we would all be millionaires, be fit, healthy and living the good life. Our old patterns of behavior sometimes hold us back from being the best that we can be.

Our subconscious mind is the store house of all our patterns of behavior. Good or bad. How many times do people say to themselves “I am going to go to the gym and eat healthy!” They buy a new pair of running shoes, a membership to the gym and begin to eat healthy. But a few days later they find themselves skipping the gym, buying a container of ice cream on the way home and wind up feeling like a failure. Then they say to heck with it and they are right back where they started.

Old habits die hard, they say. (Whoever ‘they’ are!) But they don’t have to. Here are some tips to help you change some of those habits that you would like to be free of. Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy is a fast and effective way to change behaviors. Here are some tips that can make changing your behaviors and habits easier

Try something different this time-If you have tried going to the gym but find your attendance lacking, perhaps joining a sports team would be a better choice. If you are stopping smoking and have tried cold turkey, maybe reducing the amount first is a better choice. Come up with new ways to reach your goal!

Failure can be a positive thing If you use it right- Learn from past failures by looking back at those times. Make a choice to do something different in the future when a similar situation arises.

Have a game plan and stick to it- If what we are doing doesn’t work for us, we tend to go back to the old pattern of behavior. Have a game plan that included a back up plan, or even better, two! By having a back up plan available it increases our chance of success.

Go easy on yourself- Remember that you are learning to do something different. That takes time. Learning to type takes time, learning to read took time! Be as gentle with yourself as you were when you were learning to tie your shoe! Enjoy the experience of change because it feels good when you finally make it!

  The origin of the word worry comes from the old English word, wyrgan. which meant "to strangle". People that continually worry about their problems carry great amounts of stress and uneasiness. The more we worry about our problems and concerns, the more stress we generate in our physical and mental bodies. This can lead to self destructive behavior 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 many other manifestations of the stress and anxiety.

  Many people with worry allow their worries to take over. It can begin to feel as though it is impossible to get a grasp.

  Often times, worrying is a learned behavior. Individuals who grew up in environments that were highly unpredictable as a child can develop this habit and carry it with them into adulthood. Alternately if someone was raised by a parent or guardian that worried, it is not uncommon for that person to begin to habitually model the parents behavior. Hypnosis is an excellent tool to reprogram the mind with positive thought processes. By realigning the subconscious patterns one can begin to move to a more relaxed, controlled state of mind.

 Here is an easy exercise that can take as little as 5 minutes a day. By practicing the follow exercise daily it can cognitively begin to remove worry from the mind.

• Simply find a place where you won't be disturbed and for 5 minutes focus on nothing but your worries, concerns and problems. If you need 15 minutes, thats 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 trauma etc. Make a list to get it out of your mind and onto the paper.
• Write down solutions to these issues. 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 time out of your day to worry, you become more constructive when dealing with worries and issues. Writing out solutions and a goal date for worries makes it much easier to handle. Sometimes things don't look half as bad once you write them down. Writing them down forms a better image of the tasks at hand.

Start by doing your worry list once a day for 7 days and see the difference that you act, feel and behave. Remind yourself that this is your time for worrying and once you put the paper away, you will leave those problems until the next worry time.

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.

I believe everyone deserves a chance to make positive changes in their lives should they wish too. Unfortunately, some people cannot afford the cost of sessions from any kind of therapist. I am pleased to announce that Saturdays my clinic is open to single mothers and their children and clients living with HIV/AIDS in the GTA who have a low income or on social assistance and cannot afford the price of sessions. These sessions will be provided free of charge providing eligibility. If you think you or someone that you know is eligible, and there is a change they would like to make in their life, please don't hesitate to call 416-464-7780 to speak to myself for more information or to book an appointment.

Donald

When my energy is low I visit the Herb Depot located just north of Dundas on Spadina. This is THE place to go for authentic acupuncture and Chinese herbs. The Doctors that work there are very knowledged in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I go about 1 time a month and they provide me with acupuncture, a traditional Chinese massage (Tunia) and Chinese herbs. For a one hour session and chinese herbs for about a month it costs about $70. I always benefit from the treatments and the Chinese herbs give great energy and help to detoxify the body. I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in TCM or who wants to improve there health. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are a great way to relieve pain, stress, headache, fatigue and many other health related issues.

The herb depot has many interesting herbs to choose from and you can buy them in the original herb form (Which comes in a bag consisting of roots, barks and mosses) which are then boiled down to make a tea from. They also provide formulated Chinese medicine in tablet and pill form.

I highly recommend the Herb Depot for all your Chinese medicine needs!

As we move forward in our life experiences, we begin to become defined by the people that we interact with. Our parents, our friends, our teachers, our authority figures and anyone we communicate with begins to place us into personal, social, economic, religious and sexual classifications, labels and stereo types. As humans, there seems to be a need to define and classify each person, place and thing around us.

Through words, implications and actions our subconscious mind begins to form and create
 an image of who we think we are. All that we believe to be true about ourselves begins to manifest itself into the illusion of the ego self. An illusion that we are separate from one another. An illusion that we are different.

We are given labels such as rich, poor, smart, stupid, good, bad, ugly, beautiful, not good enough, a success, a failure etc. The ego begins to collect these labels and strengthens the disillusionment of separation. We believe that we are what we are told we are. We begin to tell others what we think they are. We label others as we see fit the exact way we were labeled. In turn, these limited beliefs that are imposed upon us take away our power to be truly who we are. A being of unlimited potential.

  Where do these limiting beliefs and negativity originate from? How did we as a society create such binding structures within our society that hold us back from realizing our true potential. What can we do as a collective consciousness to cleanse and remove the negative structures within our minds?

What matters now is to work together with those in your life and begin to understand one another better by becoming more in tune with how we relate. We can dissolve old structures of communicating that are no longer beneficial to us through compassion and understanding. With these virtues we can begin to allow our collective consciousness to ascend and evolve to a greater state of being. We can release our pasts, both individually and as a planet collectively and begin to create a future of peace and harmony in our relationships.

Take a moment and become aware of the energy we share. The energy we send to one another on a daily basis. We are in a state of continual communication with one another. We send each other physical signals, we send electric or energetic signals and we verbally communicate with one another everyday. When we say "I love you", "I am angry with you", "You are stupid, lazy, overweight etc"  we  evoke energy and emotion to the recipient. Even without verbal communication we send a feeling or vibe to others. When we get angry, happy, sad or feel love for someone, we transmit that feeling to them subconsciously.  We don't need words to tell someone that we are not fond of them. And vice versa. And intuitively know when someone likes us.

We can feel it and sense it. How we feel about someone manifests throughout our interactions. True feelings and thoughts tend to "leak out" subconsciously. If someone is angry with you and you ask "Whats wrong?" they may respond by saying "I'm fine" but the look that they give you shows their anger. We have all experienced someone giving us a bad vibe, even if they "seem" nice! The feeling that we have in our gut is not congruent with they way they are behaving. We tune into the energy and emotion behind the mask they wear and our system is tell us what that person is really feeling.

We are, at our core, all sensitive to the vibrations and energies of what others say, think and feel about us. When others say, think or feel negative things about us, our bodies, minds and energy systems begin to absorb these like a sponge. Most people that carry a lot of negativity have usually absorbed such thoughts and feelings in the developmental years of their lives through the way they have been raised and treated by others.

When we label people in our minds as rich, poor, smart, stupid, good, bad, ugly, beautiful, not good enough, successful etc. even if it is only a thought, it can still be felt by the person we are thinking of, even if only at a subconscious level. We think to ourselves "That person is annoying." A part of them is truly aware of how we are feeling. In turn, they respond and react to us subconsciously knowing what we are thinking. It becomes a dance of unspoken yet understood communication.

Negativity directed at an individual grows stronger if we begin using spoken words (even gossiping about someone projects negative energy their way) Words have the power to harm or to heal. Choosing the correct words when dealing with people on a daily basis is important, as one word, positive or negative,  can stick with someone for a lifetime.

And personally I have seen many people throughout my life make others feel stupid or diminished simply by the way that they treat them, without having to say a word. Small actions such as raising one eye brow, wrinkling a forehead, holding a chin or turning away can speak volumes. Gestures tend to be windows of the emotions that we are feeling. And our subconscious minds pick up on subtle meanings within others body movements and the way they carry themselves. Even if lips lie, the body always tells the truth.

Once we begin to realize these truths, we can begin to practice more mindfulness in the way we think, speak and interact with others, individually and collectively. If we don't like someone, being  indifferent or neutral towards them nullifies negativity within our minds while preventing negative energy to be transmitted to them. Of course it is ultimately more powerful to send them compassion, forgiveness and, yes, even love! Continuing to think negatively about someone only generates more negativity. And if you can't think of anything nice to say about someone, how about just not thinking about them at all. (moms everywhere were correct!)

We can begin to become aware of and remove negative words we use from our vocabulary that are designed to diminish others and start to use words that are respectful and empowering.

By integrating behaviors like the ones above into our daily routines, we can terminate the transmission of negativity and begin to become a source of positive energy. Can you imagine what would happen if just half the worlds population began to treat one another with this respect?

For ourselves, we can become aware of the labels that we carry around with us on a daily basis. There might be good labels. Chances are there are negative labels that prevent you from moving forward in your life. Pretty much everyone I know has at least one negative label they lug around with them like a piece of old luggage. Write out your labels. Take a good look at what it is you believe about yourself.

Now looking at the labels, as you read them begin to notice the feelings that come up. The emotions that arise. The thoughts they evoke.

And realize, that these labels are what has been implied that you are. They are not the true you!

All of them are a result of what was said to you, what was done to you and the way that others made you feel. You made a subconscious choice at one point to accept, wear and act out the labels that were given. Even good labels are usually there because we felt good about something we accomplished.  We accept both the good and the bad. And we believe this is who we are.

The truth is, that we carry every possible label within each of us. We all can be smart, we all can make mistakes and feel stupid at times, we can be beautiful or we can be ugly, We can be motivated or we can be lazy, we can be a success or a failure. All of these labels have always been there inside of us, waiting for a situation to arise that will make them surface. We can learn from these labels because they are simply a part of us. We can take the lesson we learned from being angry, a failure, sad etc. and begin to decide to use another label, another facet of who we are.

Because we contain all of the labels, we have within us unlimited potential. We can begin to make a conscious decision to use only the labels that are valid to us in the moment we are in and we can choose to be any label at any time. We can remove the labels that are no longer applicable to us and file them away under garbage!

 knowing that you have a choice in the matter of who you are, what labels are you going to choose to use today?

______________________________________________________________________
A consulting hypnotherapist, hypnotist or NLP Practitioner can help you to remove limiting labels and beliefs. If there is a label that is strongly embedded in the subconscious mind, contact me to set up a free consultation. Alternatively If you are out of the Toronto area, I would recommend purchasing a hypnosis mp3 from my store to help with the process or finding a local hypnotist in your area.

  In this day and age, people are becoming more and more "busy". Work, personal life, gym, social life, taxes, taking care of the kids or pets (Perhaps both). In the midst of all that is swirling around us outside of ourselves, at times we can forget the goals that we would like to accomplish. Even if someone is happy with their life, there is always those goals that people push to the side that would provide a better way of living. But with all of the daily commitments, how can one find the time and the energy to focus and manifest their goals into reality.

  Our minds are powerful tools. All that it takes is tapping into that power to begin bringing more of what you want into your life.

  This is an exercise that I use with clients in the clinic who have a hard time manifesting what they desire. Its excellent to really bring your goals into focus. Use it to help gain more insight and clarity.
 

• Take a few pieces of blank paper
• Like an author, begin to right a story about your current situation
• Write about your feelings, thoughts, concerns about the present. Remember, it is where you are now! When you are writing, get all of your senses involved. What do you see? What do you hear? Feel? Smell? Taste? Make it as real as you can!
• In your story, begin to write the future out come. Write about what it is that you want to achieve in your life. Make it realistic and believable.
• As part of the story, write down all of the steps that you took to achieve those goals and aspirations. Finish the story with you accomplishing your goal. In the ending of the story write down what you see, hear, feel, smell and taste. See the difference between where you are now and where you are going.
• Keep your story in a safe, private place. Focus on the ending of the story when you have accomplished your goal when you need to remind yourself of the direction you are moving in! It will instantly reset your mind onto the track of success!!!

Our new blog has been launched today. Stay focused on it and we will try to keep you informed with interesting news about hypnosis and personal change. You can read new posts on this blog via the RSS feed.