Because these are anxious times, many people find themselves experiencing fearful thoughts about the future.  People are losing jobs, their homes, and are uncertain about what lies ahead.  Above and beyond the impact of our collective fear, our internal dialogue around our day-to-day anxieties can create excessive stress and discomfort.

As I’ve shared before, one of the things I learned a number of years ago that often helps me when I’m in the midst of some anxiety or another – especially when I have fears about the future – is to say to myself, “Here, in this moment, right now, I’m okay.”  If I keep coming back to just this moment, to just this breath, to right now, I find that my body relaxes, the scary thoughts quiet, and I actually find some space to feel more comfortable.

And so, for this week’s experiment, I invite you to notice what happens when you begin to track the thoughts that frighten you, and bring yourself back to just this moment.  Sometimes, you won’t notice that you’ve been pulled into frightening images or internal self-talk until you’re well on your way to increasing anxiety. Sometimes, you’ll catch yourself right away, with the first moment of thinking about the next scary thing.  When you catch yourself is much less important than the fact that you eventually discover that you’re taking yourself into self-hypnotic self-talk that frightens you.

In fact, the quality of suggestions and supports we give ourselves for moving through fear and meeting challenges is so very important.  I’ve written before about the glass half-full and the glass half-empty.  Both are true.  It’s a matter of how you look at it.  If you have a tendency to experience the glass as half full, you’re more likely to feel optimistic and hopeful.  If you tend toward experiencing the glass as half empty, you may be more likely to feel pessimistic or deprived in some way.

As part of this week’s experiment, I invite you to notice the quality of internal self-talk and awareness you offer yourself in those times when you meet challenges or are faced with fear or anxiety.  Do you give yourself images and statements that support your resilience and capacity to move through what comes your way, or do you tell yourself all the things that could go wrong or all the things that are out of place?  The kinds of internal self-talk you give yourself – your own, personal version of an ongoing self-hypnosis – play a big role in how comfortably you move through these experiences.

Along with bringing yourself back to the present moment, if you find that you tend to give yourself negative messages, notice what happens when you play with replacing half-empty messages with half-full ones.  For example, if you tend to tell yourself what wont’ work out, or what can’t happen, notice your experience if you stop yourself and say something along the lines of, “Actually, I don’t know that things won’t work out. Perhaps something will happen that is unexpectedly positive and, for right now, here in the present moment, I’m okay.”

As with all the experiments, there’s no right or wrong way to do it.  Rather, it’s an invitation to become increasingly aware of how you fill yourself with suggestions that support you or those that increase whatever fear and anxiety may be moving through you at any given time.  And, be sure to remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion, as curiosity is an antidote to fear.