What if it’s okay to not feel okay?
That phrase popped into my head this week. And, as it did, it immediately made me feel relaxed.
This past month has been Mental Health Awareness month in the UK, and there is so much out there that focuses on having to do something when you feel out of sorts. From strategies to think positively to meditation and mindfulness practices. And, if you saw the series on TV here of celebrities sharing their stories about depression and anxiety (including Nadiya, winner of The Great British Bake Off), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – or CBT as it’s known – seems to be the go to therapy.
What if there is another way?
A different perspective on thought itself
What if we took a step back and looked at the very nature of thought, and how that creates our experience before we started prescribing techniques or strategies to deal with the content of whatever it is we’re thinking and thus feeling.
Living on the River I often refer to thought as just part of the ebb and flow of life, which is a good analogy for it. The definition for ebb and flow is “two phases of the tide or any similar movement of water.The ebb is the outgoing phase, when the tide drains away from the shore; and the flow is the incoming phase when water rises again”.
Living in the flow
It’s the same with thought. If left alone, all thought by its very nature will just come and go in the same way hence me referring to this new understanding as ‘Living in the Flow’. When we just let thoughts come and go and get on with living and being in the moment, rather than attaching all kinds of meanings and stories to them.
Of course, that doesn’t mean to say that thoughts can’t feel very real and uncomfortable at times, but when you see them for what they are, it opens up a space to let go of your thinking and for new thought to flow.
Feelings are our wake up call
Instead of doing anything next time you’re feeling uncomfortable, anxious or insecure, see it as a wake up call. Not to overthink or go into over analysis mode, but rather just a nudge that your thinking has gone off track. Nothing to do or worry about. And nothing to do with what’s happening externally in your situation or circumstances. Just a wake up call to leave your thinking alone.
Life goes on regardless of how we feel
And what’s wonderful about this new understanding is that life continues to live us regardless of how we’re feeling. It’s so often only our overthinking about anything and everything that causes our anxiety or stress. Where if we just see thought as neutral, let thoughts settle down, our natural state of mind will reset without doing anything at all.
When you see that’s just how the system works, you start to have a totally different relationship with your thoughts, and a greater sense of natural wellbeing that can’t be touched!
If you’d like to experience a different relationship with your thoughts then I share more insights in my Living in the Flow series of ‘nudges’. Just click on the link to receive the first one. This understanding has made the world of difference when it comes to replacing anxiety, stress and worry with a much greater peace and freedom of mind. But don’t take my word for it, check them out and see what rings true for you.