Anxiety Buster
It’s time to bust apart any anxiety you may be feeling during this holiday season (and in truth, all other times). This can seem difficult when those around you are in worry mode. Anxiety is contagious, but you have a choice.
Here is a simple method to help you let go of the anxiety and increase more of the feelings that give you hope, gratitude, and ease.
You will be changing a behavior (also known as a habit). To get the best results, keep your focus on what it is you do desire. This means do the new behavior a lot until it becomes second nature.
Change your focus. First, stop resisting what you don’t desire. Second, focus on what you do desire. What you are going for is the sense that you are okay no matter what happens.
When you resist something, you think that the resisting is “keeping you safe.” When in fact, you are attracting it to you. To be aware of what it is you are resisting, you have to constantly be conscious of it. Think of having to hold your hand up as a traffic cop and still be aware of all the traffic. This takes a lot of effort and energy.
Anytime you resist something your energy drops, and this takes a toll on your body (including your immune system). Resisting anxiety doesn’t save you. It just takes a lot of effort and (since you get what you focus on) by resisting, you are actually focusing on what you don’t desire. Therefore, by resisting the anxiety, you are actually paying attention to it and increasing it. Weird. And true!
It’s time for something new. Instead of focusing on what you don’t desire, focus on what it is you do desire.
Replace your anxious thoughts and feelings with something that feels fantastic.
Imagine things in your past that feel effervescent. Choose a time when you actually felt that feeling and relive it. It can be something very simple, such as the excitement you felt when you made a decision, and you just knew it was the right one.
Marinate your imagination in the visualizations, complete with feeling those champagne bubbles. By focusing on something, you are actually repeating the feelings you do desire.
Spend time in this effervescent feeling. Every time the anxiety comes up, tell yourself, “I’m not focusing on that. I choose to focus on ______________.” Then let your mind and body wander in the imagination and build the feelings you do desire.
Your mind doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what isn’t. Use this to your advantage. You have control over what you focus on. Why let anyone else steal your happy?
