Falling Pray To Your Thoughts: Doing is Knowing
Falling Pray To Your Thoughts: Doing is Knowing
Life is always a balance between living and trusting our senses, things that we see, hear, smell, touch, taste and engaging our imagination to analyze possible consequences and outcomes.
The issue is that when we suffer with anxiety, we prefer to live more in our imagination and only trust our senses minimally.
How to avoid the anxiety cycle
Here is a method to engage your senses more and focus on what you already know instead of falling prey to untested imagination.
1.When a doubt or obsession occurs that takes you beyond the senses and is causing anxiety, hold still and imagine yourself between two worlds – a path in the forest or a bridge between reality – things you can test with your senses (see, hear, touch, taste, smell) and the imagination (things that can happen but you’re just rehearsing the possible scenarios as you have missing information).
2. Focus your attention back on reality, and look at what is there within your senses, easy and simple to detect without needing too much effort.
3. Imagine yourself on the path or the bridge looking left is reality, things that you know, looking right is the world of imagination and fears. That world is a void, a world not tested.
4: Realize this void is imaginary, there is just fear and uncertainty in that world, while there is lots to value I the world of the senses. Try to feel that ground under your feet. It is common sense.
5: Act on the knowledge from your senses by letting go of the obsession and not engaging in crossing the bridge, just go back to the world that you know.
Carry on with your day, even if anxiety persists.
In that way you avoid intrusive thinking, rumination and spiraling out of control, and rather focus on what you already know and not what you do not know and you fear. Focus on what you must do, for example continue studying, take the bus to work, finish dinner, even if the distress is still there. Doing is knowing!
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Cristian's kind and empathetic nature always made me find our sessions a safe and happy place. I gained a new perspective on so many things that had been causing me anxiety by learning about the CBT framework of anxiety”
I have referred many people to York Region CBT - Cristian over the last year and would support anyone any parent who's child is dealing with OCD to make that initial appointment and start working with Cristian.
Cristian is methodical and will take you through the CBT steps without any judgment and drama so soon you will find new ways of looking at things in a different light without changing your personality or things you believe in.