Episode 697: 5 Steps to Calm Your Mind When You’re Bracing for the Unknown (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT697 – 5 Steps to Calm Your Mind When You’re Bracing for the Unknown

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Hello food bloggers. Welcome to this mindset and self care focus episode of Eat Blog Talk. So happy you are here joining me again for another mindset episode. I love recording these so much. In today’s episode we’re going to talk about five steps to calm your mind when you are bracing for uncertainty, the unknown impact. However you want to describe that stuff that happens in the future that we’re not so certain about. Have you ever found yourself stuck in a cycle of worry?

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I’m sure you have. We’ve all been there, some of us more often than others. Maybe you are bracing yourself for something that’s coming up that hasn’t happened yet that you have anxiety about that is maybe a little bit scary. If so, this episode is for you. Very recently I found myself in that exact cycle as my family and I prepared for a mix of vacation and time with family, followed by a real, real life moment, which is our son having surgery.

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Last week we took a theme park vacation, something we enjoy doing frequently throughout the year, and we had scheduled our son’s surgery the day after we got back from vacation. We did this to maximize our time and energy. Because he was on spring break, we didn’t want him to miss a ton of school, so that was kind of our thinking.

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But when it came down to it, it was like, okay, we’re doing vacation and then immediately after we’re switching gears and we’re doing surgery. Not exactly two things you want to have back to back before we left for this vacation, knowing myself very well, I knew I was going to need to come up with a plan so I could actually enjoy and experience everything I wanted to while we were on vacation.

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I knew that if I just went into it and winged it, I would absolutely flail and I would not get as much out of our trip and my time with family. So I came up with a little plan and it ended up helping me tremendously to calm my mind as this big life event loomed over me and unfolded.

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So in this episode, I would love to share these five steps that help me to stay calm and present even in the face of fear and uncertainty. And I truly hope that they will help you as well.

Sponsor (Brittany Roche)  03:16

Hey, food bloggers have you always wanted to diversify your income with brand partnerships but don’t want to feel gross and salesy or maybe you’re just overwhelmed by all the advice out there about working with brands and don’t even know where to start. I’m Brittany Roche, a food blogger at PlantPowerCouple.com and a blogging coach who focuses specifically on helping bloggers like you build a system for working with brands that helps them reach their business goals, but also feels natural and genuine to them. Whether you’re looking to make brand partnerships a consistent part of your monthly revenue or just want to have a solid system in place that you can pull out of your back pocket. Anytime you see your RPMs take a hit and you need to bring in some extra income. My three month goal and mindset based coaching and support program can help you break through your own mental barriers and start making it happen. If you have any questions about coaching or want to sign up just send me an email at [email protected] That’s Brittany with two T’s A N Y. You can also sign up for my free weekly blogging email for brand work focus tips, ideas, motivation and support by going to plantpowercouple.com/coaching. Thanks for taking time out of this episode to listen back to you, Megan.

[00:03:41]   

Whether you’re looking to make brand partnerships a consistent part of your monthly revenue, or just want to have a solid system in place that you can pull out of your back pocket anytime you see your rpms take a hit and you need to bring in some extra income, my three month goal and mindset based coaching and support program can help you break through your own mental barriers and start making it happen.

[00:04:01]   

If you have any questions about coaching or want to sign up, just send me an email@brittanylantpower couple.com that’s Brittany with two t’s a n y. You can also sign up for my free weekly blogging email for brand work, focused tips, ideas, motivation and support by going to plant power couple.com coaching thanks for taking time out of this episode to listen.Back to you Megan.

[00:04:25]  Megan Porta 

As entrepreneurs and parents and humans navigating this chaotic world, at times we often live in that land of what if, but when a real life what if appears on the horizon, it can totally hijack our sense of peace. And that is where this method comes in. Before we get to the steps, I want to share this quote that I found and I love this quote about worrying.

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It’s from Unknown so I can’t source anyone, but the quote is worrying is like praying for what you don’t want. So to alleviate worrying and to just get rid of it and not do it and to find peace. Instead you can go through these five steps. Okay, let’s talk through them. Step number one is awareness.

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The very first step in calming your mind is to just simply be aware that you need this help and that your thoughts are jumping ahead into a future worst case scenario. For me, I knew if I was not proactive that I would be spending our entire vacation worrying about Thursday when our son’s procedure was scheduled.

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Bringing that awareness to the surface was very powerful for me. And very important. If you do this, it gives you back control and it reminds you that you get to choose where your focus goes. You are in charge of that. Awareness is that gentle nudge that tells your brain, yes, you might be spiraling right now, but you don’t have to.

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Awareness is not judgment. It’s just an observation. So start there. Step two is intention. Once you become aware, now is the time to set the intention to stay calm and grounded. Just decide that you are going to be present for whoever you need to be present for, whether it’s for your loved ones, for yourself, just for the moment you’re in, whatever.

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And this doesn’t mean ignoring the hard things that lie ahead that are maybe looming over your head a little bit. It just means that you are giving yourself the gift of peace. Now. This intention became my anchor during those moments in between riding roller coasters in the past week with my family, I so badly wanted to remember the laughs and not the stress of thinking ahead and worrying about the future.

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Even just saying out loud, I intend to be here now totally shifted my energy. Step three is the first part of this 333 method that I came up with. And this step is focusing on breath. Now comes the actual practice. The first two steps were prep work. These last three steps are what you’re actually going to do when you find yourself leaving the present moment and diving into a future worry or story about what’s about to happen.

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So you’re aware that you need to calm your mind. You have set the intention to stay calm and grounded and to do this work. Now you’re feeling your brain start to worry about something, starting to go to that place of anxiety pulling you out of the moment that you’d rather be enjoying. So you’re going to initiate step one of the 3 3, 3 method, which is to take three deep, very intentional breaths.

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Not the quick kinds of breaths. I’m talking about really deep shoulder relaxing, nervous system calming breaths. This alone can shift everything. If you are somewhere where you can close your eyes, do it. If not, that’s okay. Both are very powerful. So you’re going to give these three breaths all of your attention. You are breathing in calmness, love, peace, joy, and just present moment living.

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And you’re not just breathing, you are anchoring yourself. You are sending a signal to your body that it is safe to be here and to do the next few steps. It’s as simple as that. Step one is breath. Three deep, intentional breaths. Now move on to the next step, which is sensory awareness.

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Inside of the 333 method once your breaths are done, you are going to immediately name or think or say out loud three things in your environment. Something you see, something you hear, and something you can feel, smell or taste. This is going to bring you back into the present moment your mind cannot live in the future when your body is tuned in to the right now.

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When you name three things, focus on the first things that come into your awareness and try to focus on three different senses. An example is I see the shiny red feathers of a cardinal, I taste coffee from my morning snack, and I hear the whirring of my computer fan. And don’t just rattle through these three things in five seconds.

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Take the time to really notice and appreciate each one. When you linger a little bit with each sense, even just for a few seconds, you are giving your mind something solid to focus on and bring you to that present moment. The next step is redirecting your thoughts and this is the third step of the 333 method.

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Step five of this episode. Lastly, you are going to redirect your thoughts in three quick ways. Number one, think of something you’re extremely grateful for just off the top of your head. Number two, flip the script from thinking about a negative what if to a wonderful what if? And three, envision something you’re really excited about.

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These redirections will help rewrite your mental scripts. And I’ll give you an example. I am so grateful for the hug my kid gave me this morning. And after you think that, just sit with that gratitude for a moment. Really feel how grateful you are for whatever it is that comes to your mind.

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And for the second one, flipping the script from a negative what if to a positive what if? One that I focused on last week was what if surgery goes better than expected? And I would sit with that and think of the relief and the joy that I would feel. And spoiler, it did go better than expected.

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So whatever what if comes to your mind, just feel it and imagine that what if that wonderful what if actually happening and how good and relieved and awesome you’re gonna feel. And for the third, envision something you’re excited about. Something else I thought of often last week when I was going through this process so many times over and over was I’m excited about our upcoming summer road trip in our RV that we take every year.

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And I would just close my eyes and really feel how it feels to be in close proximity with my family for a couple of weeks exploring the United States and just how good that feeling was and how excited I was for that adventure. When you go through these, it’s totally fine if this feels a little bit forced at first.

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Your brain might resist it, especially if you’re not in the habit of thinking these sorts of things. But the more you do it, the more you practice, the easier it is going to be to train your thoughts. And literally, you guys, that is it. This might be the shortest episode of all time.

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Simple, but so powerful. So to wrap up, we do not always get to choose what our circumstances are in life. What comes to us. I didn’t think we’d be bringing our youngest son to surgery ever. We didn’t necessarily want it, but we had to deal with it. What we can choose, though, is how we show up to the circumstances that come to us when we meet the unknown.

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With calmness, a little bit of curiosity and presence, we show up better for ourselves and for our loved ones, the people who we value and love the most. This 333 method and the awareness and intention that lead into it have helped me immensely during this emotionally charged week. It truly has helped me to meet each moment with presence, peace, and I would say even hope.

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And all you have to do is remember the number three. Three steps and three little things to do inside of each step. So we’ve got breath, senses and thoughts. Three breaths, three sensory observations and three thought redirections. Gratitude, Positive what if? And excitement. If you are facing something scary or uncertain, try this method.

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Try these steps and please let me know if it helps you. I would love to hear from you if you try it. Send me an email and share if you’re comfortable. Thank you truly so much for listening. I will see you again next week.

Outro 

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.