Hey girl! I’m so grateful and happy that you’re listening into this episode today. We’re going to dive into a topic that is SUPER important – and one that is very near and dear to my heart – learning how to navigate through uncertainty and fear of the unknown. At the time that I’m recording this episode, I imagine this feeling is shared between all of us as we are not only working through a global pandemic, but also a presidential election – and
So for a lot of us right now, we’re finding ourselves navigating through this uncertainty. Whether that’s uncertainty within our career, politics, our relationships, or maybe it’s even an uncertainty around the growth (or future) of our own business – there’s a good chance that there’s not only feeling of uncertainty, but it might even be paired with some feelings of, stress, overwhelm and anxiety
I spent some time doing some research around the topic of uncertainty and I came across this old quote that was really interesting to me – it says “the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
How many of us can acknowledge our fear around the unknown?
It’s honestly something that’s so common for ALL of us because our brains are hardwired to want to know the answers or to at least be able to find the answers to questions. You know what I mean? We really don’t like feeling like we don’t know the answer to something or feeling like we can’t explain why something is happening.
It’s a rather unsettling feeling and is often something that many of us live with on a regular basis. Have you experienced a time recently when something was happening that was outside of your control, and that you had to come to terms with the fact that you had NO IDEA of how the situation was going to turn out? It produces a very strong set of emotions and we usually remember these moments in our lives because our fear of uncertainty is so strong.
All of our anxieties are future focused
And in doing more research on the topic, this feeling of uncertainty usually lays a groundwork that fuels our anxiety BECAUSE almost all of our anxieties are future focused. We usually feel really stressed or anxious thinking about all of the possible things that “could” or “might” happen to us in the future. So this feeling of uncertainty not only creates a physical response like anxiety, but it causes us to mentally start worrying and stressing about all of the possible worst case scenarios. We talked about this recently on the podcast – this idea that how we perceive stress in our life, actually affects our physical body and the ways that our bodies react to stress. For a lot of us, when we start to feel this anxiety around challenges or fear of the unknown, we immediately dive into thoughts of how things are going to turn out negatively.
“things must change inside you before they ever change around you”
I read this quote recently that said “things must change inside you before they ever change around you” and I thought it was really beautiful, especially when it comes to this topic around uncertainty. I think so often we get this idea that if we can control what’s happening around us or if we can control the outcomes to certain situations, that it will somehow make life easier and less stressful. We often think that some positive external event will help us magically be able to cope or deal with things better.
I know for me, I sometimes get in my head and think that if only my morning routine was better, I’d feel less stressed — or if I spent more time reading personal development books, I’d feel somehow more equipped to face life’s challenges — it’s so easy for us to tie these things together — a positive situation or external circumstance (that we control) will help us cope or be better equipped to handle life. It SEEMS like it makes sense, right?
Become very aware of your perspective
But let’s think about it for a second – just reading the book, doing the workout, having the morning routine – it’s not the act of DOING those things that changes our lives, it’s our MINDSET and our CHOSEN PERSPECTIVE that makes the difference. The reality here is that the key to handling life’s challenges, already exists inside of you. It doesn’t exist in a book or a workout or a meal plan or a routine – it lays in your thoughts, in your attitude and your beliefs about yourself.
So Girl, pull up your chair or get comfy on your couch. Grab your favorite blanket and your coffee or a tall glass of wine – because we’re going to chat about some things that you might be doing today, unconsciously, that might be feeding into this fear of uncertainty or worrying — and we’ll ALSO talk about how we can make a more conscious effort to strengthen our muscles that help us cope in a more healthy, positive way.
And just as a reminder before we dive in, please know that if you feel like you are struggling right now and that you need someone to talk things through with, I encourage you to speak to a coach or a therapist – there is so much power in finding that right person to really help guide you on a 1:1 level. My hope is that you can use these tools that we chat about today as invitations and potential ways to help you navigate through these times of uncertainty – while still continuing to do the deeper work necessary to really accept and embrace this season of life.
Handling uncertainty
So coming back to this feeling of uncertainty, I think a lot of the time, this fear of uncertainty is just the beginning – and it often grows into even more feelings of worry and fear. Because when we feel like we don’t know the answer or outcome to something, our brain will start trying to FIND the answer for us within our environment. But as we all know, our brains have no way of looking into the future to seeing the end result. Or at least, they don’t have that power YET lol.
And so what happens is that when we start to feel these feelings of uncertainty or fear, we start to visualize all of the possible scenarios that could happen – and we USUALLY start with the worst case scenarios – am I right? It’s not very often that we dream up best case scenarios when we’re coming from a place of fear or anxiety. And when we’re in this state of fear our brain goes into survival mode because it wants to protect us! It’s primal motive is to keep us alive and safe, and so it immediately starts dreaming up these scenarios in an effort to help “protect us” from possible threats in our future.
What are we allowing to fill our thoughts??
But the more time we spend thinking about these things, these worst case scenario situations, the more we are literally TRAINING our brains that this is the response that we WANT it to take. Because here’s the thing, our brains, just like every other muscle on our body, has muscle memory – and so the more time that we spend doing or thinking something, the more our brains will automatically revert back to that thought or activity in the future.
It really is so amazing just how complex our brains are, and we often take it for granted because it works without us having to tell it to. So instead of spending hours thinking about worst case scenarios, and strengthening THOSE muscles, let’s start taking time to practice more positive self-talk – to listen in and tune into our body and our needs – to check-in with ourselves and our emotions and make sure that our inner voice feels heard and taken care of. Because at the end of the day – we will likely never know the outcomes of any situation in life.
Everything that happens in life happens outside of our immediate control, and if we spent time worrying about those things we’d LITERALLY spend every second of every day worrying. 24/7. Non-stop. So maybe you’re feeling this fear and anxiety towards uncertainty right now – whenever you feel your brain start to spiral down that path of coming up with the worst case scenarios, take a moment to stop – breathe – and remind yourself that you are capable of working through any and all situations. If it’s helpful for you, maybe take a moment to think back to a time or a situation where something felt scary and you weren’t sure how you were going to push through, but you did.
Remind yourself that no matter what the outcome of any situation is, you already have ALL of the tools necessary inside of you to face it and keep going.
Another super common coping mechanism that popped up when doing some studying of this fear of uncertainty, is our desire to try and seek out any and all information around the topic at hand so we feel more “educated” and “better equipped” to handle the situation. Which to be honest, is a COMPLETELY REASONABLE response, right? Of course when something new or scary is happening we want to feel educated or prepared to face it — BUT just like how cramming for an exam the night before didn’t help our brains retain information, neither does it work for us in times like these. Our brains are only equipped to be able to process and make sense of a limited amount of information at a time – and that feeling of “information overwhelm” is a completely legitimate thing.
So at the end of the day, if you feel the urge to research and learn and to try to educate yourself when something feels uncertain, know that it’s 100% okay to do your research, but like anything else, try to do it in small daily amounts. And remember, although research might help you gain more insight around a specific topic, it may not necessarily help equip you to be able to face it any better. When we try to learn too much too quickly about something, it often leads us to feeling more confused than when we started.
Remember that you already have the tools you need inside of you
So do your research in small pockets, but remember that if you are faced with uncertainty, you likely already have the knowledge that you need and the capability inside of you to be able to work through it. I know this because here you are, listening to a podcast all about PERSONAL GROWTH!
Another thing that I found on this topic that we actually recently talked about on the podcast, is the desire to want to zone out or just “turn off” when we’re faced with the fear of uncertainty. This feeling that if we just numb ourselves enough or distract ourselves enough, we won’t have to face the reality of the situation. I am VERY familiar with this one because I was a world class distractor when it came to dealing with uncertainty.
As an enneagram 9, I crave structure, peace and harmony in all things. So when things would start to feel uncertain or I started feeling anxiety towards the unknown, it was all too easy to just find things I loved to do and completely distract myself and turn away from acknowledging my feelings.
And I can tell you, from personal experience, while it might seem like a good idea in the moment – our emotions and our feelings are an active energy that live inside of us, and eventually that energy needs to be processed and accepted. So unless we plan to distract ourselves literally every day of our lives (and really, who would want to live a watered down version of our life like that!?), this technique really isn’t helpful in strengthening our brain and our coping mechanisms.
Worst case scenario anxiety is real
And girl, trust me when I say — I KNOW that these times can feel SO TOUGH. I hope you know that I’m not speaking just from a place of knowledge – I truly am speaking from the heart because these are truths that are VERY REAL to me — the desire to imagine the worst case scenarios – the feeling like we constantly need to know more and be more educated – and that feeling of wanting to remove ourselves from the situation and zone out in front of our favorite Netflix shows — These are ALL feelings that I’ve experienced THIS YEAR, and some even within the last MONTH!
And hear me out — we should absolutely be making time and space for us to give ourselves a break or a night off – to spend a couple of hours watching our favorite movies or tv shows. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY OKAY TO DO – as long as we are using it as a reward and a break from our hard work, and not a long term SOLUTION. Like everything in life, there’s a balance between work and play – and the same rules apply on our personal growth journey. Give yourself nights off. Let yourself relax and unwind. Just be conscious of how these things make you feel, and be sure they’re not moving you back into the feelings of fear and anxiety.
So what are some things that we can do RIGHT NOW, TODAY when we start to feel these feelings of uncertainty and anxiety?
First things first – remember to breathe. Changing our breathing patterns, our thoughts, and even changing our locations are GREAT ways to get us out of our own heads, and back into the present moment.
When we take deep breaths, we are signaling to our nervous system that we need to slow down – and so it not only slows down our breathing, but according to the American Institute of Stress: it allows our hearts to beat slower, our muscles to relax and release tension, and can even help decrease our blood pressure. You can use this breathing technique when you start to feel anxious or afraid of uncertainty, but it’s even more impactful when you proactively add it into your day. Just taking 5 minutes can really make such a big difference in the long run.
Take a relaxing bath or shower
One of my favorite ways to help navigate through feelings of stress or anxiety, is Take a hot (or a cold) shower. I can’t tell you how many times a hot shower has instantly cured a bad mood or helped me feel less anxious about something happening in my life. And the hot or cold shower is completely up to you. There’s research that shows that by taking a cold shower, it can help decrease your blood pressure, decrease cortisol (as stress inducing hormone), and release endorphins. Personally for me, I find that the steam and hot water from a hot shower helps me take slow, deep breaths, which naturally helps to bring down my heart rate. It’s also just so incredibly relaxing and calming. And it’s even better when you add in some soft, meditative music to help you really slow down and come back to the present.
Change your location, atmosphere & energy
Also, when you start to feel these feelings of uncertainty, change your location / Get outside. There was a study that found that spending time in a natural (outdoor) environment seems to act almost like a “reset” button on our brains and helps us feel less anxious. For example, if you’re anything like me, when I think of the PERFECT day it usually consists of “laying by the beach or going for a hike or maybe laying by a pool or traveling and exploring new cities” — and what’s the one thing that all of these have in common? They’re all outdoors, and usually all involve being in the sun and soaking up some Vitamin D.
When we can take a break from our work, get out in the sun, and practice some slow breathing, it truly makes a world of a difference in our bodies and within our minds. When we can focus on nature and it’s calmness and natural beauty, we start to feel more positive emotions that can help us create a fresh new perspective – even if just for a few moments.
Remember, You’ve GOT THIS
Girl, I hope you know that I am SO dang proud of you. I hope that you can take a second today to look inward, see the version of you that is doing her best and pushing past her fears to make big moves, and I hope you take some time to truly celebrate the heck out of her today. I hope that you know that you’re not in this alone. That we are all learning how to navigate through these feelings and fears of uncertainty and that it is truly a PROCESS.
I hope that you remember that the strength, knowledge and courage that you need to face another day already exists inside you. I hope that you take some time today to check in with yourself and your feelings and just acknowledge and accept that who you are right now, is enough. And girl, remember to breathe today. Take a long hot or a cold shower and just allow yourself to be present and enjoy that moment. If you can, get outside and let your body soak up some much needed vitamin D. You’re doing amazing and I’m so grateful that we can continue to figure all of this out together. I am always here for you and cheering you on. Until next time, friend…
View the Full Transcript:
Hey girl, and welcome to the She Calls or Shots podcast, where we are all about making a bigger impact while learning how to live bolder, brighter, and happier lives. My name is Krista, and I’m a photographer, creative, and an entrepreneur, and I am so excited to navigate through this journey together as we deep dive into creating a life, business and personal growth journey.
Journey that we are totally obsessed with. And in this podcast we are all about real talk and having honest and open conversations as we share insights and tips on how to play a bigger game and live a life that we truly love. So girlfriend, let’s make some moves and start working on our dreams.
Hey girl. I am so grateful and happy that you are listening into this episode today. We are gonna deep dive into a topic that is super important and that’s learning how to navigate through times of uncertainty and. Just fear of the unknown. And at the time that I’m recording this episode, um, I imagine this feeling is shared between all of us as we currently are not only working through a global pandemic, but we’re also navigating through a really crucial presidential election.
And so for a lot of us right now, we might be feeling lots of feelings of fear, of stress, of overwhelm, and we might be finding ourselves navigating through this uncertainty, whether it’s uncertainty within our career, within politics, maybe within our relationships, or maybe there’s an uncertainty around the growth or the future of your own business.
And there’s a good chance that there’s not only these feelings of underlying uncertainty, but it might even be paired with some feelings of stress or overwhelm or anxiety. I recently spent some time doing some research around this topic of uncertainty because it was so prevalent right now in our community.
And I came across this old quote that was really interesting to me, and it says, the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear. And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. How many of us can acknowledge, you know, right now that one of our biggest fears is around this feeling of the unknown?
It’s honestly something that’s so common for all of us because our brains are literally hardwired to want to know the answers or to at least be able to find the answers to questions. You know what I mean? We really don’t like feeling like we don’t know the answer to something or feeling like we can’t explain why something is happening, and honestly, it can feel really unsettling and it’s.
Often something and a feeling that many of us live with on a regular basis. Have you experienced a time recently, you know when something that was happening was outside of your control and that you had to come to terms with the fact that you had no idea of how the situation was going to turn out?
Chances are, if you’re anything like me, this happens on a daily basis. There are so many things that happen in life that are outside of our control that we just have to learn. To live with that uncertainty and it produces a very strong set of emotions and we usually remember these moments in our lives.
The, the ones that kind of stand out to us the most because this fear of uncertainty is so strong and so deep in our lives and in, you know, my research on this topic lately, I found that this feeling of uncertainty usually lays a groundwork that fuels our anxiety because almost all of our anxieties are future focused, right?
We usually feel really stressed or anxious thinking about all of the possible things that could or might happen to us in the future. So this feeling of uncertainty, it not only creates a physical response like anxiety, but it causes us to mentally start worrying and stressing about all of the possible worst case scenarios.
And we talked about this recently on a podcast episode, this idea that how we perceive stress in our life actually affects our physical body and the ways that our bodies react to stress. And for a lot of us, when we start to feel this anxiety around challenges or fear of the unknown, we immediately dive into thoughts of how things are likely going to turn out negatively.
And I read this quote recently that said, It was so beautiful. It said things must change inside you before they ever change around you. And I thought it was really beautiful, especially when it comes to this topic around uncertainty, because I think so often we get this idea in our head that. If we can control what’s happening around us or if we can control the outcomes to certain situations that we might see in our lives, that it will somehow make life easier or less stressful.
Right? Like, have you ever had this where like we, you know, we think that some positive external event will help us magically be able to cope or deal with things better. I know for me, I sometimes get in my head and I think that, you know, if only my morning routine was better, I’d feel less stressed. Or if I spent more time reading personal development books, I feel somehow more equipped to face life’s challenges.
And it’s so easy for us to tie these things together because usually when we’re practicing these positive activities, it does produce, you know, some sort of positive outcome in our life. For me, when I’m spending time on my morning routine and when I’m spending time reading personal development books, it does produce positive outcomes, but it’s not necessarily because I’m doing those activities.
It’s the fact that I am changing my mindset and my perspective alongside those activities that truly makes the difference. Because the reality here is that the key to handling life’s challenges, it already exists inside you and inside me. It doesn’t exist in a book or in a workout, or a meal plan, or a routine.
Everything that you need to face these challenges in life, it lies in your thoughts, in your attitude, and in your overall beliefs about yourself. So girl, I want you pull up your chair, get comfy on your couch, grab your favorite blanket, or your coffee or your tall glass of wine because we’re gonna chat about some things that you might be doing today unconsciously.
That might be feeding into this fear of uncertainty and causing more stress or worrying in your life. And we’ll also talk about how we can make a more conscious effort to strengthen our muscles that help us cope in a more healthy and a more positive way. And just as a reminder, before we dive in, please know that if you feel like you’re struggling right now, if you feel like you need someone to talk things through with, I lovingly encourage you to speak to a coach or speak to a therapist because there is so much power in finding that right person to really help guide you on a more one-on-one level.
And my hope from our chat today is that you can use some of these tools that we’ll talk about as invitations and you know, potential ways to help you navigate through these times of uncertainty while still continuing to do the deeper work necessary in order to really accept and embrace this change and this season of life.
So coming back to this feeling of uncertainty, I think a lot of the time, this fear of uncertainty is, Just the beginning, and it often grows into even more feelings of worry and fear because when we feel like we don’t know the answer or the outcome to something, our brain will literally start trying to find the answer for us within our environment.
But as I’m sure we are all aware of, Our brains have no way of looking into the future as of yet anyway, in order to see that end result or to see how things are going to turn out. And so what happens, you know, like we chatted about, is that when we start to feel these feelings of uncertainty or fear, we start to visualize all of the possible scenarios that could happen.
And we usually start with those worst case scenarios. Am I right? It’s not very often that we dream up best case scenarios when we’re coming from this place of fear or anxiety. And when we’re in the state of fear, our brain goes into survival mode because at its core it wants to protect us. It’s primal motive is to keep us alive.
And safe. And so it immediately starts dreaming up these scenarios in an effort to help protect us from possible threats in our future. But the thing is, is the more time that we spend thinking about these things, these possible worst case scenario situations, The more we are literally training our brains that this is the response that we want it to take.
Because just like every other muscle on our body, our brain has muscle memory. And so the more time that we spend doing or thinking about something, the more our brains will automatically revert. Back to that thought or activity in the future. It really is so amazing just how complex our brains are. And I think we so often take it for granted because it just, you know, our brains just work without us having to tell it to.
It’s just an automatic response. So instead of spending, you know, hours thinking about these worst case scenarios, let’s. You know, strengthen the muscles that are going to help us practice more positive self-talk, the muscles that will help us listen in and tune into our body and our needs, and to really just check in with ourselves and our emotions and make sure that that inner voice that we have feels heard and taken care of.
Because at the end of the day, we will likely never know the outcomes of any situation in life. Everything that happens is outside of our immediate control. And if we spent time worrying about those things, we would like spend every second of every day worrying 24 7 nonstop. So maybe you’re feeling this fear and anxiety towards uncertainty right now, and you know, whenever you feel your brains start to spiral down that path of coming up with the worst key scenarios.
I want you to take a moment to stop. And breathe and remind yourself that you are capable of working through any and all situations, and that you already have all of the tools and the resources inside of you that you need to be able to push through. And if it’s helpful, you know, maybe take a moment in that moment to think back to a time or a situation where something felt scary and maybe you weren’t sure at the time how you were going to push through.
But you did do whatever it takes in that moment to just remind yourself that no matter the outcome of any situation, You already have all of the tools necessary inside of you in order to face it and to keep going. And another really kind of common coping mechanism that popped up when I was doing this research, um, was this desire to try and seek out any and all information around the topic that we feel uncertain about.
It’s kind of like this idea that if we, if we research more, if we become more educated, then we’re going to somehow become better equipped to handle. The uncertain situation, which to be honest, is completely reasonable, right? Of course, when something new or scary is happening, we wanna feel educated or prepared in how to face it better, but just like, you know, cramming for an exam the night before, how that didn’t help our brains retaining information.
Neither does it work for us. In times like this, our brains are only equipped to be able to process and make sense of a limited amount of information at a time, and that feeling of infor information overwhelm is completely legitimate. So in those moments of uncertainty, it might feel like the right response is to educate yourself and to learn more and to try and soak up all of the information as quickly as possible so that you feel better prepared.
And hear me out in saying that, researching something you are unfamiliar with or that feels. Unknown is absolutely the right thing to do, but avoiding trying to soak it all in at the same time because your, your brain will only be able to process and retain so much information and when we try to learn too much too quickly about something new.
It often leads us to feeling more confused than when we started. So yes, absolutely do your research in small pockets and just remember if you’re faced with uncertainty. You already have everything that you need and the capability inside of you to face it. And I know that because you’re listening right now to a podcast around personal growth and pace yourself.
Do your research, but don’t put pressure on yourself to feel like you need to learn everything all at once. And another thing that you know, kept kind of popping up, and we’ve actually talked about this on the podcast recently, is sometimes we have this des this desire to want to just. Zone out or just turn off.
When we’re faced with this fear of uncertainty, it’s this feeling that if we just numb ourselves enough or if we just distract ourselves enough, then we won’t have to face the reality of the situation and real talk. I am very familiar with this mechanism because I was a world class distractor when it came to dealing with uncertainty as an Enneagram nine.
I crave structure and peace. And harmony in all things. So when things in life would start to feel uncertain or if I started to feel anxiety towards an unknown situation, it was all too easy to just find things that I love to do and just completely distract myself and turn away from acknowledging my feelings.
And I can tell you from personal experience, while it might seem like a good idea in the moment, our emotions and our feelings aren’t. Active energy that live inside of us, and we can ignore them for a short amount of time, but eventually that energy, it needs to be processed and it needs to be accepted.
So unless we plan to distract ourselves literally every day of our lives, and really who would ever wanna live a watered down version of our life like that, this technique really isn’t helpful in strengthening our brain and helping us learn more healthy and more positive coping mechanisms. And also hear me out on this topic.
I strongly believe that we should absolutely make time and space for us to give ourselves a break or a night off. And what I mean by that is give yourself time to spend a couple of hours watching your favorite movie or your tv, you know, your favorite TV shows. Give yourself space to zone out and to have those moments where you give your brain and your body and you give yourself a break.
Just remembering that these are things that we are kind of rewarding ourselves with and get. We are giving ourselves break and a time, you know, a time off from, from doing the hard work because just like everything in life, there’s a balance between work and play, right. And the same roles apply for this personal growth journey.
Give yourself nights off. You know, let yourself relax and unwind. Just be conscious of how you know these nights off and these activities make you feel. And just be sure that they’re not moving you back into the feelings of fear and anxiety. And girl, trust me when I say I know that these times can feel so tough, and I hope that you know that I’m not just speaking from a place of knowledge.
Like, yes, I’ve done some research on this topic lately, but I am by no means an expert on any of this, but I am truly speaking from my heart because these truths are very real to me. And the desire to imagine the worst case scenarios and the feeling like we constantly need to, you know, know more and be more educated.
And that feeling of wanting to remove ourselves from the situation and just zone out. These are all feelings that I’ve experienced this year and some even within the last month. So with that being said, you know, what are some things that we can do right now today when we start to feel these feelings of uncertainty or this fear and this anxiety around the unknown?
So first things first, I just want you to remember to breathe because changing our breathing patterns. Our thoughts and even changing our locations are great ways to get us out of our own heads and back into the present moment. And I know you’re like, Krista, that’s so simple. Like it’s literally just breathing.
I do it all the time and I know that it can sound so simplistic, but likely when we start to feel these feelings of anxiety or fear, our heart starts to race. You know, our blood pressure rises, like we can literally feel our heart beating faster. And when we consciously take that moment to stop and take a deep breath, we’re signaling to our nervous system, Hey, like, we need to slow down.
And so it not only slows down our breathing, but you know, I read on the American Institute of Stress, for example, like just this practice of deep breathing, it allows our hearts to be slower. Our muscles start to relax and release tension, and you can even help decrease our blood pressure just in our breathing practices.
And so when you start to feel that fear of anxiety or of the unknown, this breathing technique can be really helpful to just like stop, you know, for 30 seconds or for a minute, just practice like three to four second deep breaths in three to four second deep breaths out. And it can be so impactful in those moments when you start to feel that fear.
But it’s also even more impactful when you can practice these deep breathing exercises proactively, and when you add them into your day, into your morning, or when you take breaks during the day to just like, You know, calm yourself back down even if you don’t feel stressed or anxious in the moment.
Doing it proactively will help your body kind of stay more balanced so that you will overall feel less stressed throughout the day. And one of my favorite ways to help navigate through, you know, when I start to feel stressed or if I start to feel anxious is taking a hot shower. And this can be a hot or a cold shower.
There’s like studies on, you know, cold showers specifically and how cold showers can decrease your. Blood pressure and decreased cortisol, which is a, you know, the stress-inducing hormone and it helps release endorphins. But personally for me, I find, you know, taking a hot shower, the steam and the hot water, it just helps you remember to take slow.
Deep breaths naturally bringing your heart rate back down, and I honestly can’t tell you how many times a hot shower has instantly cured a bad mood or helped me feel less, less anxious about something happening in my life. And it’s even better when you can add in some soft, some, you know, meditation, music, and really just help you remember to be present.
And just slow down. Another thing that I think helps so much is when you start to feel those feelings of uncertainty or fear just changing your location and ideally if you’re able to get outside in the sun, there is a study, you know, while I was researching this that I found that talked about how spending time in a natural outdoor environment seems to act almost like a reset button on our brains.
And helps us feel less anxious. And if you’re anything like me, when I think of the perfect day, it usually consists of something along the lines of either laying by a beach or going for a hike or maybe laying by a pool or traveling and exploring new cities. For me, these are all things that just bring me so much joy.
And if I had to like, you know, create my perfect day, it would include all of those things. And what. Do all of these things have in common? They’re all outdoors and they usually involve being in the sun and soaking up some vitamin D. And it’s kind of an unconscious thing. Like I don’t think of those things as like me being outside, but when I think of the moments when I felt the most peace and calm, it usually involves me being outside.
So when we can take a break from our work, we can get out in the sun when we practice some slow breathing. It truly makes a world of a difference in our bodies and within our minds. And when we focus on nature and you know, the calmness and just its natural beauty, we start to feel these more positive emotions kind of flowing through us that can help us create a fresh new perspective, even if it’s just for a few moments.
And girl, I hope that you know that I am so dang proud of you, and I hope that you can take a second today to look inward and see the version of you that is doing her best, the version of you that’s pushing past her fears, that’s, you know, making big moves. And I hope that you take some time today to truly celebrate the heck out of her today.
I hope that you know that you’re not in this alone. I hope you know that we are all learning how to navigate through these feelings and these fears of uncertainty, and that it is truly a process. I hope that you remember that the strength and the knowledge and the courage that you need to face another day already exists inside of you, and I hope that you take some time today to just check in with yourself and your feelings and just acknowledge and accept the person that you are.
Right now and girl, remember to breathe today. Take a long hot shower or a cold shower and just allow yourself to be present and enjoy the moment. And if you can get outside and let your body soak up some much needed Vitamin D, you are doing amazing and I am so grateful that we can continue to figure all of this out together.
I’m always here for you and cheering you on. Until next time friend.
Thank you so much for listening in and for joining me on this journey. If you love this episode, I would so appreciate you sharing it with your girlfriends, or better yet, share it on Instagram and tag me. I would love to personally say thank you and hear what resonated with you the most. As always, I am so excited that we get to figure all of this out together.
Until next time, I’ll talk to you soon, girl.
