Emotional “Aspirin” for Pain and Anxiety

^{This post was originally shared Jan. 2018 on the original Annie Forest blog, but it's a concept I love so much and fall back on so often that I wanted to bring it back to life.}

Quick thought for the day …

Sometimes pain (physical pain, metabolic dysfunction or anxiety for the purposes of this post) can manifest simply because our fear responses are outweighing our joy responses!

I offer this:

This week, instead of focusing on adding in healing modalities to get rid of pain or suffering (drills or exercises or diets…), focus on finding just a few things that bring you SO MUCH JOY that you are infused with a sense of wellbeing, even for just a few moments each day.

1. Find something that makes you smile the second you think about it (or find something that USED to make you that freaking happy)

2. Insert it into your day with purpose (this is a single-tasking event)

3. Focus on the pure joy it brings you for at least 10 seconds after the experience has completed (the song ends, the hike is over, whatever)

Repeat as often as possible!! I like to think of this as emotional aspirin… those moments when your joy makes you feel like a brilliant, bright light!

example:

A few weeks ago, I was trying to put together a Facebook ad, and had to walk away because they’d changed the algorithms AGAIN and I started getting neck pain flares in conjunction with the chorus of voices in my head telling me that I’m stupid and shouldn’t even be trying to reach out via online mechanisms.

Instead of doing eye drills or meditation or trying to talk myself down…. I threw on The Best of George Harrison on my new turntable and threw myself a DANCE PARTY with my coffee mug. And you know what? The ad didn’t write itself and my neck is still kinda pissy but the voices STFU and I feel like a million dollars!

Things you can try!

• Find your favorite childhood activity and try it as an adult
• Download Spotify and make a playlist of songs that make you dance involuntarily (feel free to snag any of mine – my profile is linked!)
• Go play with the kittens up for adoption at a local rescue

... I'd love to hear your ideas. What activities bring you PURE JOY?

Go be Love in the World. It needs you.

xo

-A

P.S. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't also incorporate healing modalities into your life focused on helping you heal pain - only that they shouldn't be your exclusive focus. We'd love to help you come up with a game plan for relieving your pain that incorporates a good dose of both healing modalities and joyful activities - because it works. Schedule your free assessment to work with us here.