Question: Can someone put a curse on another and manipulate them through the power of their thoughts or words?

Answer: Someone can only manipulate another through curses if the person being cursed believes it or is open to it. Someone who knows that they are Divinely protected cannot be harmed through any “magical” means. The power of thought and prayer pervades us all, and we’re all affected by this power. If it’s a negative thought from someone else, if we’re not solid in the belief of being protected, then it can influence us or our life.

I had a friend who had a former boyfriend who tried to manipulate her life through “psychic” means. At the time, this friend was learning not to let others take advantage of her. As she became stronger in saying “no” to others demeaning her, the former boyfriend’s influence became weaker and weaker. That’s what I meant by a person has to be open to it. She was open to being manipulated and belittled, so the former boyfriend’s thought was able to affect her. When she became stronger in her own worth, his thought no longer could harm her.

If someone says something with great emotion to a person he wishes to curse, the emotion will impress the subconscious mind of the person. Think of how it feels when someone says something nasty to you. Generally, you’ll feel bad. Words have power to hurt. But the stated curse can be reversed, because it’s all within the person’s own subconscious. It has very little to do with the person doing the cursing.

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
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attitude · beliefs · believe · empowerment · personal development · personal growth · self-help · self-improvement

Question: Can I listen to a self-hypnosis audio or CD in the car while I’m driving?

Answer: My answer is an unequivocal, absolute “Please, no!” Not even with headphones. Not even if you aren’t driving. Self-hypnosis audios and CDs (whether mine or someone else’s) lead you to focus your attention inwardly, to the extent that everything in your outer world fades away.

When you’re driving, you need to be alert and aware. Even if you fast forward past the beginning part, the induction, the voice on the tape is going to be soothing and gentle. That alone will lull you into a relaxed, more inwardly directed state. Think of how it feels when you’re driving and listening to elevator music or music that bores you.

Once upon a time, I told a client not to listen to her individualized audiotape while driving. I wasn’t specific enough. At one point, her son was driving her to an appointment in a nearby city. She figured, “I’m not driving,” so popped her audiotape into the tape player in the car, and sat back to listen to it.

Soon, she became aware that the tires sounded funny. She opened her eyes and discovered that her son had succumbed to the relaxation on the tape and the car had drifted into the emergency lane. So I’m much more specific now when I warn people not to listen to their hypnosis recording in a moving vehicle.

Copyright 2002, 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

self-hypnosis

Question: Will the subconscious mind accept negative or false suggestions during hypnosis?

Answer: Your subconscious will accept anything that you tell it and believe to be true. There are many documented cases in which a person with an allergy to a rose, for instance, is hypnotized and told that a plastic flower is a rose. They experience the same allergic symptoms to that plastic flower as they would to a real rose.

However, your subconscious won’t accept suggestions that go against a strong principle or belief for survival. For instance, if you have an imprinted belief that success will harm you in some way, your subconscious will reject any suggestions for success.

In hypnosis, you suggest ideas that currently aren’t so, to create a new reality for yourself. Your subconscious can’t distinguish between what is positive or negative, so be sure to phrase things positively and know what it is you really want.

Copyright 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

beliefs · change · goals · self-hypnosis · success

Question: While I am in hypnosis, can I use one or more affirmations?

Answer: You can use more than one affirmation in a session, as long as the affirmation still focuses on one particular subject. If you try to deal with too many areas of change at one time, it overwhelms the subconscious and you won’t get anywhere.

In my newsletter, each article I write has an accompanying affirmation that is several sentences long. As long as the phrase isn’t so long that you forget what is says, or don’t understand it, it’s great to use an affirmation with more than a single sentence. This helps to build up expectation and address other areas within that one main topic that you want to change.

Copyright 2011 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

affirmation · attitude · beliefs · believe · expectation · self-hypnosis

Question: Why is it that, as I begin to change, more blocks begin to surface?

Answer: It’s not unusual that more stuff (blocks) rise to the surface as you begin to change. You’re loosening up the stuff that’s been stuck for a long time. There are a couple of reasons why that could be happening.

First, your subconscious could be uncomfortable with your changes and may be trying to get you back into your old patterns. It may feel unsafe with what you’re doing. In this case, persistence and reassurance are called for. Persistence in the direction you’re going, and reassurance to your subconscious that it’s safe for you to do so.

Secondly, your changes could simply be stirring up old stuff that’s been dormant deep within. It’s called ‘chemicalization.’ My teacher explained it as “Imagine a glass half-filled with water (all that is good and positive) with a layer of mud (negativity) on the bottom of the glass.

When you pour in more good (positive), it stirs up the mud (negative) so that the clear water is now mixed with the mud. Eventually, when you pour enough clear water in, the mud settles back down, and you have a greater proportion of clear water than mud.” Again, persistence is the key. Things will begin to settle down. Eventually.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
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Question: How can one know that an affirmation has taken root and what outward signs show that the seed is growing?

Answer: It’s hard to know when the seed has begun to sprout. When you forget about the concern, and have a solid faith that it’s being taken care of, you know that it’s begun to germinate.

Sometimes, you’ll get some mis-messages or dead ends as the affirmation is beginning to manifest. It’s as if your creative mind is trying out different situations as it works to manifest what you want.

Other times, it’ll manifest all at once with no warning. The main thing is not to dig up the seed to see if it’s sprouted. When you do this, you’re not letting it germinate, any more than if you dig up a seed to see if it’s sprouted when you’re gardening.

You have to have as much faith that your word is taking root as you have that a seed knows how to germinate and sprout in your garden. As long as you release the concern, knowing that God and your creative mind are working on the means, it
will come to you in Divine Time.

Copyright 2002, 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

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Question: If I say affirmation for positive thoughts 10 times in the morning and at night, will I see results within a week?

Answer: If you say affirmations to be more positive 10 times in the morning and evening for a week, you might see an improvement in a week. However, it would also depend if you’re also monitoring your thoughts during the day.

Affirmations or any such reprogramming techniques work when you’re also addressing the issue during the periods that
you’re not saying the, for example: the rest of the day. They’re not magical incantations.

Any reprogramming technique needs the conscious mind to support it and work with it. During the day, when you find yourself in a negative frame of mind, find a way to turn it around to think more positively about the situation, and then say the affirmation to yourself. This reinforces and strengthens the intention of the affirmation.

If you say the affirmation 10 times morning and evening, and during the day consciously choose to think about things
differently, as well as using your affirmation at those times, you’ll probably begin to see a slight improvement within a
week. If you keep doing it, that improvement will be progressive.

And when you find yourself more positive, you should keep monitoring your thoughts and saying your affirmation occasionally during the day to remind yourself to keep moving in the proper direction.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

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Question: Will I see results within a week if I look in the mirror and loudly say affirmations about confidence?

Answer: Looking in the mirror and loudly stating an affirmation about confidence will begin to reprogram your subconscious mind. Using your voice, with a lot of emotion behind it, is very effective to impress your subconscious. The more you can say it, just like when you learned to read, the more it re-conditions the subconscious. To make your subconscious accept it quicker, you’ll need to use the affirmation any time during the day that you feel your confidence sagging.

I don’t know if you would see a significant result within a week, but I imagine that you’d notice a subtle improvement in that time. This is an issue you’ve had for a while, and it won’t change overnight. You’ll have to keep at it for permanent progress.

To determine what affirmation to use, you’d need to discover where and under what circumstances you feel a lack of confidence. Is it in social situations, at work, or with specific people? And then you’d need to create an affirmation that would address that issue. To develop them, you could read books or go to websites devoted to confidence building.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
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Question: When I begin using an affirmation, I feel positive and optimistic. But after a few days, I begin to feel discouraged and just want to give up. Why do I feel like this, and what should I do about it when it happens?

Answer: When you begin affirming, it’s natural to feel enthusiastic and full of faith. But when the manifestation doesn’t appear immediately, doubts begin to arise. There are a couple of reasons that you feel discouraged.

#1 is that it generally takes more than a day or so to change your prevailing thought about the subject. Remember, an affirmation is only changing your mind, not the Mind of God. You’ve had an opinion or attitude about the subject of the affirmation for awhile, and it has been what has manifested. Now you’re changing your mind, and it takes a few days or weeks, or in some cases, months to fully change it to accept the reality of the affirmation.

#2 is that the old attitude may be fighting with the new choice. That’s why you feel like you want to run away. The affirmation is beginning to stir up old ideas and issues related to the subject, and it can become uncomfortable as they have to be released. The protective instinct of those attitudes then is to make you discouraged and hopefully give up, so it doesn’t have to change.

The solution? Keep on with the affirmation. If necessary, change it to include resolving old issues having to do with the subject of the affirmation.

Copyright 2002, 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

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Question: If I say an affirmation for three weeks, will I see results and think only positive thoughts by then?

Answer: If you begin saying a positive affirmation, and say it consistently every day for three weeks, you’ll notice an improvement in your attitude. However, you’ll need to catch each negative thought and idea and change it to a positive for the results to be most effective.

And you won’t have a permanent change in your thoughts after just three weeks. You’ll need to keep up with the affirmation, and transforming your negative thoughts even after that. But the negative thoughts will be fewer and you’ll be more positive overall.

This isn’t something you can do for a few days, weeks or months and then stop doing. It’s a focused change of thinking that must continue. You won’t have to be as diligent later on, because you’ll be more aware of your negative thoughts and automatically change them to positives. Affirmations aren’t magic. You have to use them consistently for them to work.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

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