Let's talk about managing the worried mind. {Thread}

There's a natural tendency to continuously worry, catastrophize, imagine the worst-case scenario.

We tend to do this ESPECIALLY when the thing we're obsessing over is out of our sphere of control or influence.

You KNOW the thoughts aren't helpful, yet, your brain is stuck on THE THING.

There's a lot to be fearful of. There's a lot to worry about. So, the brain continuously imagines the various scenario and let's face it, the brain is excellent at imagining the worst.

So, the question is, how do you get the brain UNSTUCK? There's no pause button for the brain. (Although, wouldn't that be amazing?)

The practice I've found to be useful and there are plenty of studies to back this theory is to practice meditation.

Meditation can fundamentally change the way we understand our own minds, how we see ourselves, and how we experience our connection to others and the world.

One reason meditation can have such a powerful effect on people’s lives is because our mind is one of the very few things we have the ability to control.

We may not be able to control what happens to us, but by getting to know ourselves and our own thought patterns better, we can learn to control how we REACT to and process the events in our lives—and developing this ability changes how we experience life.

In the current COVID-19 crisis, our ability to effect any particular outcome is highly constrained.

Under these circumstances, getting to know our own minds and building our ability to deal with our mental reactions can be sanity-preserving!

So, back to meditation. There are a lot of different forms of meditation. One practice that is especially useful for getting the mind to gently let go of obsessive thinking is mantra practice.

Repeating a mantra is one of the oldest and simplest of all meditation practices.

The word mantra comes from the Sanskrit words man meaning “mind,” and tra meaning “protection,” so a mantra is something that protects the mind.

Repeating a mantra gives the mind something to do rather than engage in its usual patterns, which often involve repetitive and unhelpful cycles of thought.

SO, if you are interested in trying the mantra meditation, here's a short practice. Try it for 7-10 days and see if how it shifts your brain's relationship to anxiety and worries. https://jeenacho.com/bodyscan-2/ 

Here's one of my favorite quotes from @AnxiousLawyer