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Painful past experiences.
We’ve all had them. Broken relationships. Abuse from the people who were supposed to watch out for us. Traumatic moments and events. The list keeps going on and on.
With each painful past experience, you developed ways to help you survive, get through, to overcome the hurt you were going through. You know what, you did. You survived.
You have not only survived, but you have overcome 100% of every hurtful, traumatic experience you have gone through. Just hold on to that reality for a moment.
You have overcome 100% of every hurtful, traumatic experience you have gone through!
Now you’re in a different place in your life. You’re not where you used to be. But parts of your brain don’t know that. Those parts of you are still doing what they did best to help you survive and overcome your past experiences.
But even though you’re not there anymore, every time an experience today even remotely feels like a painful past experience, your brain kicks in and wants to protect you from it all over again and you experience:
- Racing and unwanted thoughts
- Restlessness and shortness of breath
- Anxiety and excessive worrying
- Inability to think straight and feeling foggy
- Feeling like you’re having a heartache, even though you’re not
The good news is that overcoming anxiety from painful past experiences, retraining your brain, calming those symptoms, and establishing new patterns of dealing with what’s going on in your life today that is in line with how you want live, not how your brain is telling you to live, is possible.
You can live the life YOU want to live instead.
Try this simple breathing exercise to start on the journey to live the life YOU want to live.
Go to your favorite comfy chair or quiet place. Concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in slowly through your nose for 4 beats and then slowly breathe out of your mouth for 8 beats. Set an alarm on your phone with a gentle and peaceful tone and do this exercise for 2-3 minutes, 2-3 times a day.
Overcoming your anxiety from painful past experiences begins with simple steps like this. What’s next?
