Are you carrying the weight of futures that may never come?

In the healing world, we can often focus on the past, how it shapes the present, and the patterns we repeat that started often so very long ago. Today, I wanted to focus on the future. And not just the time that lies before us, but how we feel about it.

Over the past year or so, I have spoken to an increasing number of people who either themselves are experiencing anxiety, or are deeply affected by a family member or partner suffering from it's symptoms. Much of anxiety's makeup stems from a dread or worry about the future, one that has not yet been chosen or created.

I am very aware that our pain can feel so real, and that our fears can shout so loudly, it can feel all-consuming. So I wanted to help walk you back into the present moment, instead of jumping into a false future, or clinging to keep from moving ahead into a real one.

When I tune into the energies of anxiety, what shines through the most is that within deep Anxiety is a real lack of Trust and Awareness.

If you've ever experienced it before, you may be able to feel the sensation of your vision closing in, your heart or chest tightening, your body contracting, your breath becoming shallower. And in that contraction, our focus narrows to small, unclear points of memory, confusion, misunderstanding.

Take a moment to fill your lungs and then release the air. Allow your vision to expand through the room. Feel your spine lengthening, growing taller. And witness the anxiety releasing, resolving, moving out of your body and mind.

When that moment of constriction begins, we follow the progression of becoming smaller, maybe feeling younger or more immature. We can feel swept away in that moment, unable to stop the sensation. But your mind is not your ruler, it is mean to serve. 

The best tool I've found is a simple command. You can choose your own word, but simply stating "Stop" will disrupt the progression. Even better, imagine the word "Change" reverberate through your being. Don't try to overcomplicate it, or get too fancy - sometimes the strategy makes it more difficult. Make the command, and feel your energy stop and settle. And then... start to get curious.

When we are afraid of a future, we forget to be curious, we lost touch with our inclination to be open hearted or open minded. Our virtues diminish, and we forget ourselves.

Over the years, we can start to lose faith in ourselves - we make unhealthy choices, we follow bad habits, we regret what we've done. And so, with shaken faith, we fear that we will repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

And sometimes we do.

Until we don't.

Your anxiety is trying to remind you to make a better choice. It's trying to tell you that you have the courage and awareness to do better, to be better. Not perfect, but more aligned, healthier.

And this is what is being asked of you - that you simply make one better choice at a time. Each day, choose one thing that's healthier. A walk in nature instead of doom-scrolling. A cleaner, lighter meal, instead of refined sugar. Reading a book or article that lights you up, instead of pulling you down. It's not spiritual bypassing, it's making the higher choice for your greater good.

I had a hard few days last week where my heart ached over the news I was reading. I'm glad I read it - it gave me some awareness of some things that are happening right now. But I realised that I became very anxious about what was being done that was irreversible, unfixable, and how there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was anxious over a future that does not yet exist, and may not ever exist. 

When I took a moment to breathe, expand, and settle more deeply into my body, I realised that yes, at the moment, there was not a lot I could do about something happening half a world away. But it helped me to remember that the things I do today and every day have an impact, and help to shape the world I want to live in.

If you are anxious about the future, you are being called to create something better, greater, healthier, more aligned, more compassionate, more nurturing that what has come before. That's all. And it starts with you, your body, your paradigm. That's all.

Don't allow any anxiety to make you feel small. Breathe through it and remember that the future is what you create.

A few ideas to meditate on over the coming weeks:

• What am I worrying about that has not happened? What could I do to change my circumstances?
• What am I trying to prevent (consciously or unconsciously) in ways that are detrimental to myself? Am I people pleasing, bending over backwards, lying to myself?
• If I could move through the anxious feeling, what could I imagine in my future that is brighter, more promising, more expansive, more fun?
• If I could understanding that anxiety lies to me, what deeper truths could I experience?

Allow anxiety to loosen it's perceived grip upon you. Allow it to show you what you no longer want to choose, so that it can resolve, having finished it's job. You don't need it to help you plan or prepare. You can follow your intuition instead.

Sending blessings for peace, spaciousness, and new beginnings!

-Jennifer