Welcome.
Thank you for being here and for choosing to make yourself a priority today.
This is your Mandala Card of the Day.
A gentle pause to breathe.
Reflect.
And explore.
Before we begin,
I invite you to have a journal or a blank page nearby,
Along with a pen.
This session includes time for journaling.
For now,
Allow yourself to settle in.
There's nothing to fix,
Nothing to figure out.
Just this moment and this breath.
As you begin to gently settle into this moment,
Close your eyes if that feels comfortable.
Allow your shoulders to soften.
Let your hands rest wherever they feel comfortable.
Take a slow breath in through your nose.
And a gentle exhale.
Out through your mouth.
Again,
Inhale slowly.
And exhale fully.
With each inhale,
Breathe in lightness,
Warmth,
And presence.
With each exhale,
Release the mental noise,
The circling thoughts,
And the worry about what has not yet happened.
One more time,
Breathing in steady and calm.
And breathing out long and soft.
Now allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Notice the quiet space you've created.
Notice that you are here.
Present.
Fully aware.
Support it.
And love.
The theme for today is worry and overthinking.
I want to start by reframing why we overthink.
Overthinking is not a thinking problem.
It feels like one.
It looks like one.
It arrives as thoughts,
Circling,
Repeating,
Returning to the same worry again and again,
As if one more round of analysis might finally produce the certainty that you're looking for.
But psychologist Susan Nolan-Hawksama,
Who spent decades researching rumination and what drives it,
Found something both surprising and important.
Overthinking is not about the thoughts themselves.
It's an emotional response.
Specifically,
It's what the mind does when it's trying to avoid feeling something that feels too uncomfortable to sit with directly.
The worry about the future is often standing in for something more vulnerable underneath.
A fear of loss.
A fear of failure.
A fear of not being enough.
A fear of something going wrong that you will not be able to survive.
And so the mind keeps thinking,
Keeps planning,
Keeps rehearsing worst case scenarios.
Not because thinking will solve anything,
But because thinking feels safer than simply feeling what is there.
Nolan Hoxham's research showed that the more we ruminate,
The worse we feel.
Not better.
Worse.
Because overthinking does not process the emotion.
It amplifies it.
Each loop of the same worry strengthens the neural pathway that leads back to that worry,
Making it easier for the mind to return there and harder to find a way out.
But here is what her research also showed.
The antidote to overthinking is not more thinking.
It is presence.
It is feeling.
It is the willingness to ask,
What is actually underneath this worry?
What am I actually afraid of?
What am I avoiding by staying inside my head?
And then letting the answer land.
Not to fix it,
Not to solve it,
But to simply be with it in a way that overthinking never allows.
It is really about mindfulness.
I've watched people I love do this,
Worrying about the same thing over and over,
Turning a possibility over in their minds until it feels like a certainty.
Missing the beauty of the moment they're actually in by living inside a future that may never arrive.
And I recognize it,
Because I've done it too.
We all have.
The mind fixates on what might go wrong because it's trying to protect us.
It believes if it can just think enough about this one more time it will find the answer.
And if an answer can be found,
Then everything will be safe.
But safety does not come from more thinking.
It comes from presence.
From being here in this actual moment.
Which is almost always more manageable than the future that the worried mind has been rehearsing.
The moment you are in right now is okay.
It is this moment,
And this moment is enough.
To step fully into this moment now,
Bring your awareness back to your breath.
Inhale slowly.
And exhale gently.
Before we move into journaling,
I want to invite you into a very brief body awareness moment.
Simply notice where your worry lives in your body right now.
Your chest,
Your stomach,
Your jaw.
Wear you tight.
Where are you holding hard?
Now take one slow breath directly into that place.
And as you exhale.
Ask yourself gently.
What is underneath this worry?
What am I actually feeling?
Let whatever arises be here.
Without judgment.
Without needing to solve it.
Just let it be seen.
And carry that awareness onto the page.
I invite you now to turn inward and explore this theme more deeply through journaling.
This is your journal prompt today.
What have they been overthinking lately?
And what might I actually be feeling underneath the worry.
You might also explore.
What is the worst thing I'm afraid will happen?
And what would I do if it did?
What am I missing in this present moment by living inside a future that has not yet arrived?
And what would it feel like?
To set this worry down,
Even just for today.
Allow your thoughts to flow without editing or judgment.
There's nothing you need to get right.
Simply let whatever wants to be expressed come onto the page.
It is time to gently bring your journaling to a close.
Take a slow breath in and a full breath out.
I'll share an affirmation.
You can repeat it silently or out loud,
Letting the words settle within you.
I released the need to think my way to safety.
I release the need to think my way to safety.
I am present in this moment,
And this moment is enough.
I am present in this moment,
And this moment is enough.
I trust myself to handle whatever comes when it actually arrives.
I trust myself to handle whatever comes when it actually arrives.
Take one more breath,
Feeling quieter,
More present.
More here.
Thank you for giving yourself this time today.
Each time you return to this practice,
You're strengthening something important,
Your ability to come back to the present moment rather than staying inside the worry.
Your willingness to ask what is underneath rather than staying on the surface.
And your growing trust,
This moment,
Right here,
Right now,
Is enough to be in.
The future will arrive when it arrives,
And you will meet it then.
With the same resourcefulness and resilience that you've brought to every difficult moment that has come before.
For now,
You are here,
And that is enough.
If today's practice resonated with you,
I'd love to invite you to go deeper.
I have a 10-day audio journaling course called Return to Joy.
A guided experience that combines science-backed reflection,
EFT tapping,
And journaling.
To help you reconnect with what matters most and move forward with more lightness,
Clarity and joy.
And if you'd like to continue this daily practice with me,
Please follow me here on Insight Timer so you never miss a new session.
New guided practices are added regularly and I'd love to have you with me.
Until then,
Remember to come back to this moment again and again.
This moment is the only one that we are living.
And that is enough.
