Preface

Welcome! I’m really happy that you’ve found this book, because I know it’s going to assist you with the issue of worry and anxiety. Worry and anxiety is very prevalent in our society today, and with good reason. There are so many things which can cause huge stress in our lives, from concern about the safety of our children to going to the dentist; from balancing finances to being worried about what people think of us.

I know that we are all capable of dealing with worry and anxiety in a positive way. In this book you will find tools and techniques to help you do that. You will be provided with practical, tangible, useful methods that you can use in your everyday life so that you can deal with and eventually be free from worry and anxiety.

Chapters 12 and 13 address broader parts of life. They are included as food for your thought, and are areas you may wish to explore further.

I have been working in this area for 25 years and have conducted over a thousand seminars during this time. Hundreds of thousands of people have successfully used the techniques I teach, many of them applying them to the area of worry and anxiety. I am confident that you too will find these methods easy to use and of great benefit in your life.

How this program works

This book explains the science of the mind and ways to use it to your advantage. It employs the techniques of guided imagery, visualisation, emotion, goals and meditation.

You will have already noticed that this online e-book comes with 6 online audio tracks:

Track 1 – Building Your Peaceful Place (PP)

Track 2 – Getting to Your PP in 3 minutes

Track 3 – Porpoising

Track 4 – Making Your Emotional Anchor

Track 5 – Bringing it all Together

Track 6 – Overcoming Worry and Anxiety

My suggestion for how to use this material is to read the book, do the exercises in it and listen to the Tracks when directed to do so. However, if you do wish to go straight into a meditation, then do Track 1, Track 2 and then Track 6 (which is the track to repeat subsequently). Then read the book and do the exercises.

If you wish to first read the words of the track before you play it, you can find them in the appendix of this book. The reason the words are included is so that you can be comfortable with what is said before listening to it, if that is important to you.

As you progress through the book, you will be practising a useful method of achieving goals faster within your deeper, inner mind which will help you to formulate a new habit to replace the one of worry and anxiety. You will be able to do the goal in 30 seconds, and indeed you will be able to relax and release stress in 30 seconds. The 6^th track is a meditation track, and it will be suggested that you do this meditation every day for at least 30 days.

Your new habit of being relaxed, calm and worry-free will be imprinted in your deeper, inner mind. Congratulations!

Chapter 1

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INTRODUCTION

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Experiencing worry and anxiety is something which is common to many of us. To worry is to feel uneasy or concerned about something. To feel anxious is one step further than this. Anxiety is usually described as a feeling of apprehension and fear, and can have accompanying physical symptoms such as palpitations and sweating.

Anxiety Can Become a Habit

For a long time we have been hearing about the increase (or sometimes just the recognition) of depression in our society. In the Western World the number one cause of disability is depression. The 200th report by the National Institute of Mental Health in the USA, says that the 5 anxiety disorders (general anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and phobias) afflict approximately 3 times as many Americans aged 18 years or older as depression. Yes, anxiety disorders are now more prevalent than depression!

In times gone by, we simply described anxiousness as "nervy" or just "being a worrier", and said "don't think about it - you'll get over it"! However, the numbers of people now experiencing anxiety disorders are so huge (18% in USA) that this area of ill health is being addressed continually by medical professionals, including counsellors and psychologists.

Anxiety may not always necessarily be a concern. We can often be in a heightened state for example when we may have to attend an interview or give a speech, and that's OK. But when the anxiety becomes stressful or we become chronically stressed, then the anxiety has become an issue which must be addressed.

Often the anxiety a person experiences sets in to the body. The physical effects can be difficulty in breathing, fear, insomnia, sweating, heart racing and difficulty in thinking clearly. When panic attacks occur the autonomic nervous system is now in control. This can become almost like a habit for the body, occurring over and over again.

How does this happen? How does anxiety become a habit for the body? Dr Joe Dispenza writes in his book Evolve Your Brain (p. 321) "....if we could trace anxiety back to the beginning, for most people it starts off with some major difficulty that caused intense emotional pressure. After the event, the memory of that experience causes the person to think about that episode, over and over, in anticipation of a similar event occurring again. As they mentally review their past, the brain starts to make the appropriate chemistry to handle the stress, and those thoughts signal the sympathetic (SNS) impulses to begin. They become anxious and afraid about their future moments and what potentially might happen. Their attitude (cluster of thoughts) now is making the chemicals for anxiety and worry. Their thoughts about a particular stressor, not the stressor itself, are creating the stress response."

The next step that happens automatically is that all the previous "worry" memories, which have similar patterns, flow forth and the body creates those chemicals relating to the "worry memories".

Now the body is "worried" and the brain registers that and we think and say "how worried we feel". The next step is that a panic attack can start and we can lose control. Now we are really "worried" and we don't like it ... but ... the body is getting used to it and the habit forms. The body "wants" it.

We feel the way we are thinking and think the way we are feeling. So the brain makes the "worry" network and we create even more brain chemicals to reinforce how our body is feeling.

Now our thoughts have become real. We can create worry, and the associated effects in our body. Anxiety feeds anxiety and when it's a habit, the body and our brain cells want it! It’s as though they become addicted to it. Any repetitive feeling, whatever that feeling may be, creates a state of being. We did that! That's how the chemicals in the brain work.

Why is change so challenging?

Any kind of change is always challenging. I’m sure that is most people’s experience. Have you ever tried to change a habit? That’s even more challenging! This is why we often end up holding on to habits we have formed, simply because it’s too hard to change them.

But why is it so hard to change habits? Well, habits are stored in your memory, and your memory is part of your subconscious mind. T he job of the subconscious mind (the deeper inner mind) is to keep you where you are now - with all the habits (good and bad - the subconscious mind doesn't care) that it’s got right now. This is a comfortable place for us – we can call it our comfort zone. The subconscious mind wants to stay with what it already has in the comfort zone and does not want something it doesn't already have.

So how can we change a habit then? Many people try to use will power to change a habit they don’t like. Have you ever tried to change a habit using will power? Like, quitting smoking by going cold turkey, with no help from your subconscious mind. It’s very difficult to do. Generally when we attempt to change a habit by simply using will power, it fails. Or sometimes we take on another negative habit to replace the old one, like eating excessively (and therefore putting on weight).

A far more effective way of changing is using methods to expand the subconscious mind and therefore your comfort zone. Your mind is like a plant - it can grow; and it is also like rubber - it can stretch. Our mind continues to grow after the body stops growing.

If we access our subconscious mind to change the habit of worry or anxiety which is stored there, and to expand our comfort zone, we are infinitely more likely to succeed at overcoming the negative habit of worry and anxiety. The new habit of being calm and relaxed is now established.

Success Stories

        I am writing to tell you about some of the wonderful ex-periences I have had using techniques you taught me at your CALM seminar. Since doing the Seminar I have been practising my PP and I really got the opportunity to test it out when I discovered I had to have some extensive dental treatment.
       Since I was a child I have always been terrified of dental visits and the worst moment for me was always seeing and feeling the needle. As I child I used to regularly faint when having injections! This time however, during the first visit for treatment, before the injection, I went to my PP, which I can now do very quickly, and my mind went somewhere else. Almost straight away I was in Alpha state and I felt totally relaxed and happy, even during the injection, and right through the treatment. Even though a part of my mind was conscious of the fact I was at the dentist, I was not experiencing any anxiety.
       I had to go for many subsequent visits and each time I practised my PP, sometimes going into a deeper meditation. I couldn't believe it – I was actually enjoying going to the dentist! My dentist was pleasantly surprised too.

Lindsay Roy

Sandy, I received your pack of “Piece of Mind” book and two CDs in October. If you had told me I could instantly gain noticeable improvement in one day I would not have believed you. I must also be a left-brained sceptic. I have been wallowing in despair for six years. I've read many self-help books and I could not rid myself of that constant feeling of dread, nor could I sleep at night. It took Sandy MacGregor to show me how to help myself. Since using the techniques I have now slept 7 to 8 hours every night. I've had interruptions to my sleep, eg. late night 'phone calls, storms with thunder and lightening and still have been able to return to sleep easily.
Furthermore, I have just returned from Canada and USA. In years gone by I have needed to take a Rohypnol sleeping tablet on these journeys. This time I slept for 7 hours during the flight over, and on the way back, with no drugs.

Kevin Gray

      Sandy, I want to let you know how very much your course has changed my life. As Norbert Wiener has said, the techniques you teach are nothing less than “the secret of life”.
      For some years I have been a nervous and fearful person, both of which were a manifestation of going through a marriage break up and bankruptcy proceedings. Confi-dence in myself had plummeted.
       Through the techniques you have taught me, my life has dramatically changed around.
       For example, my first book is on track to being published by September; my business is on track to being largely successful; and more importantly, all my relationships – family and friends – continue to strengthen.
       By using the techniques I have been able to cope with my stresses and work towards balancing the diverse demands of relationships, family and finance.
        It is electrifying to be associated with someone who understands the awesome power of imagination.
       Spiritually it is gratifying to know someone like you, who understands the power of forgiveness and the power of love. It can be truly said you are a walking example of one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's creeds – “Every soul is not only the inlet, but may become the outlet of all there is in God.”

Kieran John Forde