Worries - The ghosts we never meet, but we fear so much
Worrying is anticipating painful scenarios in our life that in 99.99% of the cases never come true. Instead they mess up with our mental health and swipe away the present moment happiness that could enter our lives. That happens totally with our consents since our mind is our own play ground. Why do we let those destructive players on it? Some scientists say that it is one way of strengthening our brain to solve real life problems while others say that it is a habit perpetuated since childhood.
There is a cure though as it is for any other diseases. Matter of fact there are many, but I like to reveal to you some of them that I have discovered while I was a "professional worrier" and that I found useful. First of all would be to write down what worries you at the moment. It doesn't matter if you write it on a piece of paper or on your smartphone, but writing it. This way the brain will not only be assured that yes this is a serious problem that has to be solved, but at the same time will no longer need to repeat the scenario over and over again with no outcome. Most of the times when we wake up in the morning or when we read latter our very disturbing worries we will find that what we have imagined as being a problem is not anymore. It was just like a cloud on the sky. If it really is something we need to ponder on it than we should do that, but with clear mind focused on solutions.
Meditating will help a lot in wiping off worrisome thoughts from our busy minds. Closing our eyes and allowing our mind to take a break from its normal crunch could be of an tremendous help. Meditation is not particularly a spiritual practice dedicated to monks or zen masters. It is available to anyone from children to elderly people.
All we have to do is dedicate some of our time from useless worries to a good half and hour of meditation. Sitting in a quiet room with our eyes closed we can start meditating and enjoy its benefits. Through the process of meditation thoughts will appear one after another as being part of an old habit, but we just have to let them fly like the clouds on a blue sky background. No need to interact with them or follow them. We just have to breath and simply keep quiet. If it seems hard at the beginning moving our attention to the breathing process could help in calming the mind.
Physical exercises of any kind will simply make our mind forget of worries. No matter if you like walking, hiking, jogging or riding the bike. Going outside and doing this kind of activities will train our brain to stop worrying. When psychiatrists studied how worries work they have discovered that there are a lot of similarities to activating the "fight or flight" system, but on a lower level. This system is very useful when we face an angry dog and we just have to decide very fast if we stay and confront it or just...run. At the same time a complex process takes place in our body when the level of cortisol increases a lot and our heart starts beating faster and faster, setting our digestive to pause at the same time. It's normal to have this subconscious tool at use when in danger, but making it some kind of a habit will affect our health in time. By exercising especially when worries start "raining on us" our brain will simply understand that it's fun time and will put aside what squeezed its energy until that moment. At the same time going outside we can appreciate the beauty that surrounds us and be thankful for what we have instead of repeating again and again thoughts that are not at all productive.
