I Keep Waiting for Everthing to go Wrong

If there's a part of your mind that's always scanning the horizon, waiting for the call, the diagnosis, the relationship that breaks, the job that disappears, then this session is for you. That feeling that everything is fine right now, but it won't be, I'm going to help you put that part of your mind to rest. Welcome to calming anxiety, I'm Martin Hewlett, a clinical hypnotherapist, a former frontline paramedic. I'm here every single day with a free 10 minute session, and if this is your first time, there are well over 2,000 episodes in the library, always free, always here.

So please do subscribe, I'll be here with you again tomorrow. But right now, let's do this. Find your quiet place today. You can sit or lie down, somewhere you feel supported, somewhere you won't be disturbed for a while, and if it's safe to do so, let your eyes close gently.

We begin with the vagus nerve recent. Your body's physiological off switch for the anxious scanning mind. We will breathe in slowly through our nose, pausing at the top for a counter two to appreciate the stillness, and then always, exhaling through the mouth, calm, measured, being aware of your shoulders, relaxing, the muscles in your jaw and neck, just melting. So ready with me in 2, 3, 4, hold 2 and out slowly, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Beautiful. Let's do that again, ready? In 2, 3, 4, hold 2, out 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

That extended exhale sends one message and one message only to the nervous system. There is no emergency right now. Let's do it twice more. In 2, 3, 4, hold 2, release 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

In 2, 3, 4, hold 2, relax 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Good. Your heart rate is beginning to settle. Your body is starting to believe what I'm telling it. And now, I'd like you to imagine something.

Picture yourself standing at a window. Outside, the sky is wide and grey, the kind of sky that makes you feel like a storm is coming. You've been standing at this window for a long time, watching, waiting, certain that at any moment something terrible may arrive. I want you to notice something.

The storm hasn't come. It hasn't come today. It didn't come yesterday. And yet your body has been braced for it, muscles tight, jaw set, mind on full alert.

As though being ready for the worst might somehow stop it from happening. As a paramedic, I spent years responding to real emergencies. And I've learnt something important. The people who suffer the most are not those in crisis.

They are often those waiting for the crisis that never comes. The hypervigilance, the constant scanning. It's exhausting. It exhausts the nervous system far more than the actual threat ever could.

Your anxious mind believes that worrying is a form of preparation. But if you expect the worst, you'll be protected from it. But it isn't protection. It's suffering in advance.

It's paying a toll for a disaster that may never happen. So now, I'd like you to step back from the window. Turn around. See the room behind you.

It's warm. It's still. The fire is low. There is a chair, your chair, and it's waiting for you.

Sit down in it. Feel the weight of your body surrendering to its support. You are inside. You are safe.

And right now, in this moment, nothing is wrong. To allow these words to settle into every part of you, repeat them inwardly. Allow them to land. I am safe in this moment.

My mind does not have to solve the future today. I release the need to brace the what hasn't happened. I am allowed to rest. The weighting is not protecting me.

I can let it go. Deeper now, softer. Let the weight of your body sink a little further into the surface below you. You are held.

You are grounded. You are here. One more time. Allow them the words to move into you.

I am safe in this moment. My mind does not have to solve the future today. I release the need to brace for what hasn't happened.

I am allowed to rest. The weighting is not protecting me. I can let it go. And within this moment of calm.

Here are your three daily caring tips for when your mind keeps waiting for everything to go wrong. One, name what you are doing. When you notice the scanning starting, the what if this falls apart loop, set it out loud or in your mind. I am catastrophizing about the future, naming it separates you from it.

You are not the thought. You are the one who notices it. Two, ask one honest question. When the dread arrives, ask yourself, is there anything actually wrong right now in this very moment, not tomorrow, not last week, but right now?

In almost every case, the answer is no. The suffering is happening in the imagination, not in the room. And three, give your nervous system proof. Stand up.

Put your feet flat on the floor. Rest down gently and feel a solid ground beneath you. Your body responds to real physical information. The ground is real.

You are here. This is the truth your nervous system needs, not reassurance, but evidence.

And now my friend, very gently, begin to come back. Feel your fingers and your toes. Bring your awareness slowly back into the room, back to the sounds around you, back into this moment, which is safe and real in yours. Take one more full breath in and as you let it go slowly, stretch out the muscles in your arms and legs.

And when you are ready, open your eyes. Let you just did, choosing to rest instead of brace, choosing presence instead of panic. That took courage. The anxious mind fights hard to keep its watch.

You chose to step away from the window. Don't forget, I've got over 2,300 sessions in my library, just for you, always free, always here. And if you are ready to go deeper, my anxiety circuit breaker course is waiting for you at calminganxiety.fm 5 clinical hypnotherapy sessions for only $67.

I'm Martin. This is calming anxiety. And in everything you do today, my friend, be kind.