531: How to stay in gratitude when you're always waiting for something bad to happen
The feeling of waiting for something bad to happen often comes when the anxious mind pulls us outside the present moment. Today we discuss why this happens and share self-care practices into your daily routine to help settle your mind.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANXIETY SLAYER PODCAST:
APPLE PODCASTS | STITCHER | PODBEAN | GOOGLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY I TUNEIN
Points covered in this week’s episode:
The feeling of waiting for something bad to happen often comes when the anxious mind pulls us outside the moment.
Past Trauma, Stress or Anxiety
We might be experiencing the effects of a traumatic event from the past that broke into a happy day.
This can put us in a hyper-vigilant state where we don't trust happier times because we fear something bad will happen again.
Something from the past creates a shadow that gets thrown into or future as a warning. But it steals our day to day peace and happiness.
Future predictions
Anxiety often projects into the future with things we fear might go wrong. Sometimes they are relevant to us, possibilities that catch our anxious attention. Sometimes they are other people's stories that we fear happening to us.
An unsettled mind
Ayurveda teaches that this kind of anticipatory anxiety is caused more by our unsettled mind than outer uncertainty.
The unsettled mind anticipates something bad happening rather than being able to rest and let time unfold and meet events where they are.
Anxiety is increased by uncertainty, the anxious mind will look for things that could go wrong, or the things we think of as bad happening. Looking for things you trust to be constant and certain helps counter uncertainty. Try starting with something universal and simple like the sun rising every morning.
What helps us stay in gratitude?
Break time down into small chunks, even moments
Practice staying in the present with small and frequent gratitudes that feel safe to express. “In this moment I'm grateful for is ____”. Is an easy place to start. It might be a good talk with a friend, a few moments in the sun, a bowl of soup, clean hot water to bathe in. Every simple need met can be expressed in gratitude.
Address any specific fears with EFT Tapping
You can get help with our EFT Tapping for Anxiety Relief Course our in a Personal Tapping Sessionif you want to really know how to use Tapping to clear the fear of something bad happening.
Bring self-care practices into your daily routine to help settle your mind:
Start your day with some warm water, lemon and ginger to cleanse and hydrate your body.
Then spend a few minutes stretching and breathing with some yoga or qigong. Both help calms anxiety and settle us into the present moment.
Eat nourishing meals with gratitude. Don't rush, meditate in nourishing your body.
Finally, end your day with a few minutes gratitude journaling. Note how you supported yourself, and any small gratitudes you felt throughout your day. Writing gratitudes helps make them a daily practice and helps us pass our days more rooted to the present moment and less held in future fears.