I think most people have a sense of what anxiety feels like when it's in their mind.
It's a state of worrying,
Going over and over things,
Double-checking things,
Questioning your decisions,
But what does it feel like when anxiety is in your body and it's not even in your thoughts or you've like set the thoughts to rest?
Even if you're the person who can do these things,
You know,
Who can really be like stop,
Set it down,
And I'm gonna focus my thoughts elsewhere.
I can't do anything about it.
I'm just gonna take a bath.
I'm gonna focus my mind elsewhere.
Even when we do that,
What happens to the anxiety?
Does it just leave the body?
It does not,
And this is what I'm calling ghost anxiety.
Ghost anxiety happens to everyone.
People process it in different ways,
And paths are more likely to have an expanded experience of this.
The thing that I think a lot of people,
Especially women,
Especially healers,
Teachers,
Caregivers,
Providers,
Don't understand because it's a myth that we grew up with,
You can care about someone without carrying anything for them.
It is your divine right to have full presence and full control of your body and your space,
Your mind,
Heart,
Body,
And soul.
You have zero requirements to hold or carry anything for anybody else on an energetic level.
Zero.
When you're dealing with people close to you,
That might feel callous.
It isn't.
It's actually self-preservative to let go of what doesn't belong to us,
Doesn't hurt anything.
It was in the wrong place,
And you're just returning it back to source.
I cannot resolve this for my friend,
My neighbor,
My partner,
My kid.
I cannot resolve in my body what someone else is going through.
I cannot.
I can still love them,
And I can still care,
And then I have to offer the rest of it up.
You can practice saying in your head,
I care about you.
I just can't carry this for you.
So right here,
Right now,
In this moment,
I want you to check into your body,
And I want you to see where is there any kind of energy that is disruptive to you.
Could be anxiety,
Could be grief,
Could be anger.
Something that feels not calm,
Basically,
Not stable,
Centered,
Etc.
How much of that energy do you feel?
Where do you feel it?
Here's the question I want you to ask that you may never have asked before,
And you're just going to ask this question of your inner knowing.
Don't overthink it,
Just ask this question and see what the response is.
What percentage of what I'm feeling,
The tension,
Tightness,
This jaw,
The shoulders,
The stomach,
What percentage of this is actually mine?
Mine to work,
Mine to resolve,
Etc.
I just want you to get a percentage.
Whatever number comes is the right number.
So right here,
Right now,
In this moment,
I want you to tune into that space where you felt the 25% or 75%,
Whatever doesn't belong to you.
I want you to focus in on that space,
And knowing that you are safe,
Held,
And protected.
This is your permission to let that go.
Mind,
Heart,
Body,
Soul.
If it does not belong to you,
You can drop it and release it.
Listening to the body for the information,
Staying centered as we receive it,
And then adapting to what needs to happen to move it out.
That could look like anything you want.
It could look like discharging it at the bottoms of your feet into the ground,
Into the center of the earth,
Into the hot magma that just disintegrates it.
That's one of my favorite releasing methods.
It could look like pulling it out of yourself and dumping it into a fire.
It could look like being under a shower of light,
And the light washes away anything that isn't yours.
Really see this happening and feel it happening as you release the part that isn't yours.
I know this is a piece of extra work,
And it's hard because it's self-care,
And it's like,
I have to have the energy to do the care for myself when I'm already depleted in energy.
I get it.
All I'm saying is,
Carrying stuff that doesn't belong to you makes it a bajillion times worse.
So it is worth the small amount of effort each day to check in and be like,
What's here that doesn't belong here?
Get out of my system.
So I am not perfect at this either,
But when I do it well,
I am much happier and healthier on a regular basis,
Despite everything being challenging.
If you practice these things,
I can nearly guarantee you,
You're going to experience a different day-to-day.
