543: How to calm worst case scenario thoughts when we have good reason to believe them
This week, we’re responding to a question we received about how to handle catastrophic thoughts when we feel we have good reason to believe them.
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Notes from this week’s episode:
“I know you have talked about catastrophizing many times, but this is such a problem for me. I would love if you could talk about how to stop thinking the worst when you have valid reasons why you believe the worst could actually transpire. I’m very convincing in my arguments to myself as to why these “what if this, then this” things could genuinely happen.
I am struggling so badly with being able to stop catastrophizing in all areas of my life. This is a constant source of anxiety and upset for me and I would love any thoughts you could offer on this in a podcast. I doubt I’m the only one with this runaway brain!”
There are two energies on the mind that are provoked with this kind of anxiety. The airy nature of the mind is provoking general anxiety, and the fiery aspect of the mind, with all its ability to scrutinise and convince, is applying its arguments to the already anxious mind.
**This is a challenging type of anxiety because it quickly becomes relentless and challenging to placate.** But it can be done, with support.
What helps?
Engage your intelligence
Our intelligence can get caught up in scrutinizing the worst possible outcomes and trying to convince us of the varied ways they might happen. One way to work with this kind of anxiety is to redirect and engage the intelligence. Find something interesting and challenging and give your intelligence something else to chew on.
For example:
Learning a new skill or language Taking a course Studying a healing practice like yoga — get to know some key teachings Listen to an audiobook that gets you thinking Create something beautiful — paint, draw, arrange flowers
The clue to handling this kind of anxiety is in the final words of this question: “I doubt I’m the only one with this runaway brain!”
The way to peace is to support the runaway energy in the mind and then engage the hyper-vigilant intelligence in daily activities that occupy it in the moment and reign it in.
Let go of the need to control your thoughts or emotions.
We spend a lot of time and energy anxiously resisting our unwanted thoughts and predictions. We push them away, and they come back, we fight them, and we get exhausted.
But our unwanted thoughts are not threats or facts, they are just unwanted thoughts, and often we can diffuse their power by letting them wash over us instead of resisting and letting them stick us.
Understand the nature of the mind
How many times have we feared the worst and things turn out just fine? The mind is easily disturbed, and when it is out of balance it likes to disturb us. It knows exactly what to say to unsettle us, and it will find the best moments to do it.
When we understand this is the nature of the mind we can start working to protect ourselves from its false authority and propaganda. And when the fear thoughts come we can label them for what they are: thoughts, not facts.
Understand the nature of the mind
How many times have we feared the worst and things turn out just fine? The mind is easily disturbed, and when it is out of balance it likes to disturb us. It knows exactly what to say to unsettle us, and it will find the best moments to do it.
When we understand this is the nature of the mind we can start working to protect ourselves from its false authority and propaganda. And when the fear thoughts come we can label them for what they are: thoughts, not facts.
For deeper support with the anxious tendency to think the worst we’ve recorded a Guided EFT Tapping Session for our Patrons, you can download the session here
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who’s supported the podcast on Patreon this month.
If you found this episode supportive, we hope you’ll consider becoming a patron! We have over 90 Anxiety Slayer downloads available on Patreon including our guided relaxations, Tapping Sessions and extra resources for calming your anxiety. Learn more at patreon.com/anxietyslayer