Fear and Survival - How You Are Wired

Do you ever wonder why you focus on the “bad stuff” so much?

That sometimes no matter how positive you try to be you find yourself bombarded with scary worrisome thoughts. And it all seems so valid and logical to keep hyperfocusing on the terrible things. It’s because, as a survival mechanism we are wired to focus on negative stimuli. 

As a kid I would daydream about any and all scenarios that I might find myself in, especially scary situations.

It was an attempt to keep myself safe.

I thought if I could figure out every possible thing that could happen in life and how I would respond, then maybe I could finally relax.

I was very aware of energy, others moods, and could see spirits from a very young age. All of the things that I see as beautiful skills and gifts now, were very overwhelming then. 

Also, if you are stressed out the tendency to have negative thoughts increases as higher cortisol levels contribute to scary and intrusive thoughts.

You may notice you have weird intense dreams at times when you’ve got too much going on and haven’t given yourself the rest and quiet time to rebalance.

What you can do- 

1.) Remind yourself that you are safe. Thank the parts of you that focus on all the unwanted and scary thoughts of things going wrong. It is simply trying to keep you safe. Changing your perspective towards this part of you will get you out of the habit of being in a fight with your thoughts.

2.) Make sure you are eating enough and regularly. Not eating regularly and or eating foods that aren’t nourishing for your body (everyone is different) can cause blood sugar spikes and dips which can contribute to stressful negative thoughts. You may become shaky, nervous, confused and many other unpleasant symptoms as the fight or flight response is activated within your body.

3.) Regulate your Nervous system. Some popular easy to do this are cold plunges, but that is NOT good for most people who have nervous system issues. Some more gentle approaches would be singing or humming, hugging yourself or gently massaging your ears. Deep mindful breathing can be very helpful, but may also be triggering for some people. Do what feels most comfortable and soothing for you.

Any or all of those tips will help you tremendously in feeling more calm, centered and powerful!

Remember, to get a different result you must BE different.

So start small and stick with new healthier habits in alignment with feeling safe and stable within yourself.

If you’d like more help achieving that state. Check out my Resilient Nervous System Healing Audio here