Today I want to talk about the whole chicken and the egg scenario of our thoughts and feelings. Moms will ask me, “are my thoughts creating my feelings or are my anxious feelings creating anxious thoughts? ”
This is a very good question! It’s hard to discern which comes first.
Most Of Your Thoughts Are Subconscious
We hear people talking everywhere about how your thoughts create everything in your life! And while I agree with this it can seem like the feeling happens first, because it’s so hard to identify our thoughts sometimes, because about 90% of them are subconscious.
It’s pretty much impossible to be aware of every little thought we have and it would be exhausting!
When you tune in to the physical sensations of anxiety in your body you’re naturally going to start thinking thoughts about it, you might think … oh man not again, why is this back, ugh it’s so uncomfortable, I can’t feel this now, I have to go do a certain task, this is so inconvenient, I thought it was gone for good, what the heck!?!?!
Naturally when we get on the “hamster wheel” that negative thought loop we’re going to exacerbate the feelings and make them worse. Our heart will start to rev up and fight or flight mode kicks on in an instant!
The Thought Cycle
There’s a model called the thought cycle pictured above, and I didn’t create it, but it’s a nice little visual for how our thoughts, feelings and actions impact one another.
I believe we can tackle our feelings from different angles, we don’t always need to go find that hidden thought buried deep in our psyche.
Ask These 2 Questions
When you’re feeling anxiety, you can go one of 2 places. Ask yourself the following questions.
- What am I thinking that could be causing this feeling of anxiety? (do a brain dump in a journal)
- What am I doing or not doing that could be causing this feeling of anxiety?
Maybe your avoiding a task I need to be doing and putting it off is causing anxiety, then I know I need to get moving, create an action plan and get going so I don’t have to stress about the task anymore!
Maybe you realize you’re thinking something destructive that is contributing to the anxiety.
Wherever your awareness is, you can move out to the 2 other points on the thought cycle and course correct from there.
This thought cycle is a nifty little tool I use to get back on track when my thoughts, feelings or actions are out of whack!
When you become aware that one of these areas is off balance then you can figure out where the source of your anxiety is and then change it!
I’d love to offer you a free health coaching call. Just book one below!
I’m rooting for you!
xo
Hannah
