Banish Anxious Thoughts!
If you want to alter your mood from anxious to serene, try seeing whatever has made you feel out of sorts from a new perspective.
Relax for a few moments, allow your body to release tension, notice your breathing, and try whichever of these is appropriate for you:
- Feeling overwhelmed by problems? Just for a moment visualise your body encased in a beautiful soft bubble, protecting you and giving you a break from life’s cares. Really conjure up the image in your mind’s eye. Rest there for a moment gathering strength to go on with your day.
- Listen to how you are talking to yourself, your inner dialogue. Are you slow and monosyllabic? Or fast and manic? Whatever your inner voice is, consciously make it do the opposite for a while. Make sure your inner voice is talking kindly to you, not criticising.
- If you are angry with someone, or someone is angry with you and you can’t remedy the situation just yet, imagine their face looking benign, happy and smiling kindly. Conjure up the image of them in your head of you and them together and all being well.
- If someone scares you, or produces feelings of anxiety within you, imagine them feeling the same way. Everyone has moments of anxiety and feelings of inferiority from time to time. Visualise your difficult person having such a moment and in your mind extend compassion to them.
Thinking in pictures, visualising, is a very powerful way of giving yourself a mental boost. It won’t solve your problems but it will help you see them in a new light, and help you relax for a short while. And if you find it difficult, just remember a time when you felt really happy and conjure images of that in your brain. There are Three Coaching Questions here which will also help.
By the Power of Grayskull! Ahem…
The other day I was delivering a rousing end of course speech to my participants, when the words “By the Power of Grayskull” left my lips! My audience laughed loudly, assuming I was deliberately being amusing (laughter is a strong component amongst all the serious stuff in my work!)
But in all honesty I wasn’t. The words just crept up unbidden and popped out when I wasn’t looking! I was talking about not giving away one’s personal power and a trip switch took me backwards.
The Origin
Now you may know exactly where the phrase comes from but I couldn’t remember for the life of me and so had to Google it. In case you don’t know, it’s from HE- MAN and the masters of the Universe! (It’s obviously ironic…)
And somewhere in my brain it had lingered since the days I sat down to watch children’s TV with my kids, now 28 and 24! I had used the word ‘power‘ in relation to the women I was coaching and an old neural pathway had opened up in my brain!
Now, apart from me looking a tad bonkers, my verbal slip did no harm. But sometimes old ways of thinking can creep up on us which are harmful to us, which will deter us from following our goals, from being successful. You may think you have conquered that lack of confidence but suddenly something will flip the switch, and almost without us realising we are following a well trodden pathway and our old un-confident self emerges.
What was your last ‘Power of Grey Skulls’ moment?
PS I Googled ‘he man’ to find a picture to illustrate this post. It is astonishing how many grown ups have posted pictures of themselves in He Man costumes!! I spared you….
Change – How to Survive Tip 5
When you hear a change outside of your control is on the cards, what are your automatic thoughts? Do you think:
“Oh great, this’ll be good for me!”
or
“Oh no, this will be terrible!”
Most of us tend towards the second response precisely because we have no control. But take a few moments now to think back over actual changes outside of your control, and what the outcomes for you were.
Was it all bad or have you benefited from unplanned changes in the past? Please do share.
Details about my change seminars are available by clicking here!
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
