Letting Go of Worry

Worry.
Anxiety.
Stress.

Do you feel anxious about the future?
Do you use distraction as a coping strategy?
Do you tend to control situations?

Worry is “negative future thinking”, which postpones the happiness
that is available to us at the present moment.

One common scenario of feeding worry is called, “tragic future thinking”. The moment we start indulging in fear, we get lost in a cycle of reactionary thoughts such as “ What if…” leads to “How I am going to manage…?” Before we know it, we have somehow traveled all the way to a complete tragedy in our minds.

When you obsess about tomorrow you cannot control, your mind gets too busy to fully experience the good that is available and happening right now… and you get trapped in a fear-driven thought cycle about the potential for discomfort down the line.

And when our minds are flooded with worries, our bodies also get affected, responding in different ways, to name a few, from depression to anxiety, from tension headaches to insomnia. Does this sound familiar?

As worry turns into a habit, we become good at imagining worst-case scenarios, which intensifies our sense of anxiety – activating the amygdala, best known as the part of the brain that drives the so-called “fight or flight” response and associated with the body’s fear and stress responses. Think about it, if you are worried and anxious, not only are you raising cortisol levels in your body, which is bad for your health, but also, when we are in that part of our brain, we are not thinking clearly; we are not well resourced.

As we let worry get the best of us, we don’t only loose our sense of reality, but also move away from our best resources – our intellect and intuition.

The good news is that regardless of the circumstances, we can do something to combat emotional and psychological distress that is associated with worrying. We can learn to channel worry into something good— into being productive, being prepared, or deepening our spiritual practice.
We can transform worry into something more constructive and bring more peace into our lives.

“Worry is a poor use of our imagination” Dan Zadra

Below find some coaching strategies to get over worry:

1) Self-talk . When you feel fear about something going wrong, instead of looking for distractions, pay attention to your “worried inner voice”– Then, put one hand on your belly, and the other one on your heart and say “I am safe”

2) Move into gratitude, soothe your “worried inner voice”-, and make a conscious decision to choose gratitude. Relay on gratitude to re-establish your sense of reality and inner peace. Even thinking about gratitude, offers a profound sense of strength and tranquility. Gratitude has the power to turn problems into gifts, the unexpected into perfect timing, chaos into order, denial into acceptance, and confusion into clarity. Gratitude makes brings peace for today and creates a positive vision for tomorrow. Gratitude is a great frequency to move us out of anxiety or obsessive thinking. Moving into gratitude and truly feeling it, is so much more effective in soothing your worries than distractions.

3) Greet your anxiety with love and remember it is just your “worried inner voice” that is trying to protect you. Trust and have faith that you are already protected by a force greater than yourself. Trust and let go, things are being worked out in you and others, that prepare you so you can accept the all the good that you deserve.  You can be at ease. You are safe,

4) Mindful breathing: Feel your breath. Follow the sensation of your breath as it goes in and out your nose.
When you notice your mind is wandering, simply return your attention to the breath.
Be kind. Don’t judge yourself nor obsess over the content of the thoughts. Just keep coming back to observing the sensation of your breath.

5) Be present: Observe when your thoughts go into the uncertain future and train yourself to bring your mind back to the present moment. Each day notice, when your mind starts to drift into fear and anxiety and at that moment ask yourself: What is right at this moment? What is good? What is good about other people?, What is working in your life right now? Your work, your day, your relationships, yourself, our world?

6) Designate “worry time”: Instead of worrying all day,  designate a 30-minute period where you can think about your worries. According to Penn State University research study, a four-step stimulus control program could help you take control of your anxieties.
Step one: Identify the object of worry.
Step two: Come up with a time and place to think about your worry.
Step three: If you catch yourself worrying at a time other than your designated worry time, you must remind yourself to think of something else.
Step four: Use your “worry time” productively to find solutions to your concerns.

7) Get your heart pumping. Research shows that exercise affects brain activity of serotonin (a so-called “happy” brain chemical) as well as reduce the effects of oxidative stress, The New York Times reported. While other clinical studies show that exercise interventions can result in lower anxiety levels than people who stay tied to the couch. “Several studies have found the effects of  exercise – walking, yoga, dancing, biking, swimming etc…- to be initially similar to those of medication,” However, in the long term, exercise seems to work better.

8) Have faith in some force bigger than you- Higher Power, God, the Universe, or whatever resonates with you- is key in letting go of control, of worry, of anxiety, and of attachment to the outcomes.
Having faith is about letting go. It’s about calming your mind into the knowing that there is a Higher Power taking care of you, taking care of your situation, and taking care of the people you love.

Oh, one more thing, don’t believe your worries. Most of the things you worry about, never happen 🙂

I wish you peace of mind, and a worry-free,  healthy life.

Love and Light,

Veronica