The Body-Mind Addiction
It's 7 am and you're running late for work. As you are going through your mental checklist of what you need before you leave, you feel a huge rush of anxiety.
Suddenly you find yourself thinking about how you wilL complete all the tasks that require your immediate attention. Then you remember your day is packed with meetings leading you to think about how you're going to balance the wellbeing of your team and at the same time ensure they are performing. As you're driving to work (or cycling as we do here in the Netherlands), you start rehearsing the conversations you need to have with your team, going through all the different scenarios in your head just so that you are fully prepared.
All of this thinking increases your level of anxiety, now at an all-time high.
You finally get to work feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and stressed. Sound familiar?
This is what Dr. Joe Dispenza calls the body-mind addiction. There will be no reason at all, but the body will suddenly produce a rush of adrenaline and cortisol, and then the mind will go looking for a reason as to why you feel anxious and panicked. Suddenly you are down the rabbit hole of reasons you feel so stressed leading to more anxiety in your body.
Fortunately, there is a way out of this addiction to fear. Here are some tips below:
BREATHE. Breath is the number one way to calm your physiology. We can stimulate the vagus nerve via deep and slow breaths, reducing anxiety and stress in the body, and helping to break that body-mind addiction.
Meet your fear every day. Even if it's just a slight feeling of anxiety, mild stress, or negative thought. Meet it. Be curious, open, and willing to learn more about it.
Find a practice to raise your vibration (& mood), like music, painting, walking in nature, chanting, or cooking.
Practice stillness and silence for a few minutes every day.