What Is, Not What If

I've been feeling my anxiety hard these past few weeks. When I get anxious, it's a pairing of strong physical sensations in the body and questions that fill my head with what if. It's overwhelming to the point where I can't even hear someone speaking directly to me.

Here's what's been bringing me back down to earth: what is, not what if.

When you spend your emotional, physical, and mental energies and resources on worrying about the future or ruminating on the past, you are only robbing yourself of resources that could be used in the present moment.

Don't get me wrong: the human ability to question and reflect on the past and plan for the future and consider alternatives are evolutionary adaptations that have helped us survive and continue to improve our experience. But there comes a point when we expend so much energy on the what ifs that we lose sight of what is.

When we ground ourselves in what is happening right now, when we can fully give our emotional, physical, and mental capacities to this moment, we become powerful in our fully embodied experience of the present.

So this week I challenge you. When you notice yourself thinking about could of, should of, and would of, can you catch yourself and choose to live in the what is, rather than the what if?

And if this is a struggle, check out a class. Moving the body and breath can also help bring you back to the present.