Hey, welcome back to

your Daily Mindfulness.

In today's session, we're going to

work with a unique way to reframe

the experience of fear and anxiety.

So there's something interesting

about fear and anxiety, which is that

it's nearly the same physiological

experience as excitement and enthusiasm.

So let's paint a picture

because that could be a little

confusing of how that's possible.

Imagine two people on a rollercoaster,

they're sitting next to each other.

One person is gripping the bar like this.

They're sweating, uh, sweat

dripping down their face.

Their heart, heart is racing.

Um, their teeth are clenched like this.

And the other person, same thing.

Hands gripping, sweat going

down their face, heart beatin

fast, breathing a bit shallow.

One person is terrified and

the other person is excited.

And you could kind of imagine how

that would be possible, right?

How both of those experiences, both

of those physiological experiences are

familiar as fear and anxiety, and also

familiar as excitement and enthusiasm.

The main difference between those

two people is not the physiological

experience, but it's the meaning that

they're applying to the experience.

One person is going, I'm terrified.

This is going to be awful.

I hope I make it out alive.

And the other person is going,

this is going to be awesome.

I can't wait.

I want to do it again.

Different meaning, different relationship

to the physiological experience

and different experience entirely.

Now, there are a lot of ways

to work with fear and anxiety.

We talk about those ways on the app.

Simple things like redirecting the

attention back to the breath, noticing

when the anxious thoughts come up

and not taking them as seriously.

And all of those are valuable, but this

is unique in the sense that instead of

turning away from that physiological

experience, the encouragement is to lean

into it, to say, yeah, this is here.

And instead, try to shift the

meaning that you're applying to it.

So if you feel that going on in your

body, your heart beating fast, the hands

gripping, and it's something like before

public talk that you have to give,

notice what's going on in your mind.

Are you thinking about all

the ways it can go wrong?

All the ways you're terrified,

imagining what the people are going

to think if it doesn't go well.

Well, what would it be like to switch that

up, and instead start thinking about it

going really well, how excited you are.

Using that physiological response as a

way to create meaning in your mind that

this is something I can't wait to do.

It's something that takes some

practice, but it can be a powerful

reframing of an experience that

we typically associate with fear,

anxiety, or just overall negativity.

So try this out.

We'll talk a little bit more

about it than the meditation.

As always, thank you for your practice.

I'll talk to you soon and take care.