i've been a little MIA since i've lost access to my laptop. i accidentally snapped the charger wire (don't ask) and when my laptop ran out of battery i fell into emotional dispair. ok, not really. i did get bummed though. hubby came to the rescue by ordering another charger and since he's out for the day i've decided to jump on his PC and fit in a quick blog.
i've been super busy working on new sequencing for my yoga classes, kickbox choreography and compiling new class soundtracks... you know me. i love my music! in between all of that i'm teaching, teaching, teaching like a little crazy person.
anyway, i wanted to get in a quick word about the Yamas and Niyamas i chatted about awhile ago. they are kind of like the moral codes of yoga and i talk about them in my Present Moment Workshop. i wanted to share some of them with you because i really do believe that its not just a matter of changing our energy or actions when healing from anxiety, but its also a matter of changing our thoughts. and those thoughts tend to be negative! we create horrible anticipations with "what ifs" and we tend to make catastrophies out of mole hills. so, let's touch on the first one... AHIMSA. ahimsa is the practice of non violence. now this can be anything from vegetarianism to not saying hurtful things to someone when engaged in an argument... but for those of us with anxiety, we should take extra caution to practice non violence towards ourselves.
stop beating yourself up! healing is a journey, not just a destination. and we all know anxiety is an emotion, so it will never just go away. we need to learn from it, understand it and put effort into helping ourselves. be aware of negative thoughts! my yoga practice really helped me create an awareness of my thoughts and meditation time helped me change old patterns and work on clearing the mind to keep it at peace. i recognize if my thoughts are crazy out of control or completely not logical. i didn't always used to be able to do this. i used to hang out with negative people, i used to feed into my negative energy and i never missed an opportunity to put myself down. i'd never treat another person as badly as i treated myself. when i realized this... i began to keep track of my negativity and my scary thoughts. if something anxious came up and my thoughts began to spin out of control, i took a time out and put all my thoughts on paper to clear my mind and worked on changing those negative, bad and scary thoughts to logical, calm and rational thoughts. it helps! and i used to underestimate the power of positivity and self kindness.
do you tend to hang out on the negative side? have you ever tried to see the good in scary situations or do you just jump to anticipating the worst? do you ever take the time to think about your thoughts??
try it today! keep track with little tally marks or numbers. see at the end of the day how many negative, bad thoughts you have and how strongly they impact your anxiety. they feed into it. after becoming aware of your thoughts you can have better control over switching the patterns. break the negative habit for a positive one. talk yourself logically through anxious situations and make an effort to create happy and positive "what ifs." create affirmations for yourself that remind you how incredible you are and how dedicated to this journey you are. and of course include the fact that you are strong and you can do this! you may find thinking about your thoughts eye opening.
No comments:
Post a Comment