Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts
Sometimes our mind feels LOUD.
Anxious thoughts can be something that feel deeply uncomfortable, even scary. It can be hard to tell what feels “real”. Maybe we begin to doubt ourself and what is around us, even what we do. There is another way.
The first step that we often miss is actually one of the most important. I call it making friends with our brain. The anxious thoughts feel unsettling, worrysome and as such we start to feel like our mind is trying to punish us or make us overwhelmed at how to cope with it. In truth, our mind is trying to complete it’s number one goal—to keep us safe, to keep us alive. It feels counter-intuitive that a mind that is meant to be keeping us safe is also causing us so much pain. Yet our beautiful brain is really just trying to predict the possible things that could happen, even the hard ones, because it is programed to beleive that if somehow we can predict it, then we can prevent it.
That is one of the first well-intentioned lies we tell ourself—-the prediction and prevention are in our control. Our mind works based on the information we have, the experiences we have either via our own life or others we have been exposed to (including the media) and then adds what we think might be possible. Our imagination is fueled by our fears and it can create a domino effect of thoughts that really take away our energy and hope.
Healing is not about control, not the way we think it is. Healing is about a mix of being in the present, feeling capable and connected right now, and understanding the balance of what is and isn’t in our control from a place of empowerment versus fear. So in our very first tip for calming anxiety, remember that the intention of your brain is just to keep you safe. It is not your enemy
Tip 1- Your mind is just trying to keep you safe. It is not your enemy
After we give our brain a little grace, then we must pay attention to our body. Your body has the exact same goal as your brain does—-to keep you safe. Sometimes the responses our brain and body have learned kept us safe in one situation, are just not helping us heal in our new situation. It is not that our skill is “wrong”, only that it just may not be helpful in our new place in life. It is about teaching our body that discomfort does not equal danger. We get to teach our body that we don’t have to sound the danger alarm every time that something feels different.
Insight- Discomfort does not equal Danger
In order to feel this, we need to get our body on board. It means taking the steps to reverse the safety response of our nervous system
