How to Banish Worry
Before we dive into the how-to let us take a quick look at the why. Why do we worry?
Well, one reason might be, that we need to prepare emotionally for potentially negative outcomes and unfortunately (or not as the case may be) we humans come pre-wired for negativity. We call this “negativity bias” and we have a natural tendency towards it. We draw on negative experiences, memories, things we read or hear about more often than positive ones. They’re just a bit more “sticky”.
Let’s face it, if early men/women skipped out of the cave without a care in the world, ignorant of dangerous predators, we probably wouldn’t have lasted very long as a species. But today, physical danger is, in the main, kept to a minimum, and so worry can just get in the way.
Worry is your inner voice repeatedly going over something that makes you feel anxious and imagining all the various ways things can go pear-shaped.
Persistent worrying can cloud your judgement, steer you in the wrong direction, make you miss opportunities and impair your mental and physical health.
Is it possible to live a worry-free life?
“I have spent most of my life worrying about things that have never happened.” ~ Mark Twain
Well that depends. Living without worry is a matter of changing your mindset. Basically learning how to control your thoughts and emotions. And you can.
You can still prepare for inevitabilities without endless worries, like having a plan B, C or D, which will leave you free to focus on living in the present, looking after numero uno, taking care of yourself emotionally and physically, doing more of the things that make you feel good and less time spent worrying about things that may never happen.
So how to banish worry in 60 seconds.
Breathwork. That’s right. If you read my blogs, if you’ve read my book or you’re one of my wonderful clients, you will have heard me bang on about breathwork…a lot. And for good reason (not to mention scientifically proven reason)
Worry hates deep breathing, so this is one of the quickest and easiest techniques that I know of, to banish it.
Close your eyes and breathe in through your nose for a count of 7, when you get to the top of your breath…
Breathe out through your mouth for a count of 11.
As you breathe in, don’t focus on your chest, instead take the breath deep down into your stomach, pushing your stomach out as though you have two big balloons expanding outward. Count slowly to 7.
As you breathe out, push the air out from your stomach, you can even squeeze your stomach in order to empty your lungs from the bottom to the top. Count slowly to 11.
Do this 5 times and it should (with practice) take just 60 seconds.
Breathing in this way results in a full exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. This will reduce adrenaline and cortisol in your body and release neurochemicals like serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine and endorphins. Happy hormones.
