Hi,
I'm Scarlett,
Therapist and meditation teacher.
And in this video,
We are going to talk about the anxiety of sitting and waiting for test results,
Specifically around our health.
So this is,
Of course,
A very anxiety-provoking time.
And obviously,
I have no idea what you may or may not be waiting on and the potential severity of that.
Really vary but nonetheless it's a really scary time or can be a really scary time either way.
So much like my video on the anxiety before going to a doctor's appointment.
Similar things apply here in terms of where we can,
Can we draw upon the practices that you may or may not know around support for your body,
Your nervous system,
Tools and techniques to try your best to support yourself there.
We also might think about giving space and permission for any feelings that are coming up to come up,
You know,
Not trying to tell ourselves that we have to feel absolutely fine.
If you're waiting for test results,
Then it's okay to not feel fine,
It's okay to not feel okay.
Obviously,
We're trying to lower that anxiety,
Yes,
But we don't want to push that down to the point where we're saying,
I can't have any feelings that aren't positive around this.
So we might name that,
We might allow some self-compassion and compassion from anyone in our support system too.
One of the things I'll say though,
Specifically with anxiety around test results on our health is that.
.
.
Or what can happen and what can cause more anxiety.
It's actually,
Strangely enough,
The feeling of our.
.
.
Body or our results or our fate kind of lies over there because obviously the test results,
The things that are being run are over there at your doctor's surgery,
Your hospital,
Your practitioner's place.
And so it can end up making you feel as though.
.
.
A bit like if a lottery ticket was being pulled over there in another building,
That what's going on for me over here is dependent over there.
So what we might want to recognize is that actually what's going on with my body is here with me.
And obviously,
I don't know how much right now support I'm going to need with that in my body.
I don't know what my test results are going to be.
But as strange as it sounds,
My body's not over there.
My body is here.
And what that can do is it can allow you to call back a little bit of your power and a little bit,
Dare I say,
Actually,
A little bit of certainty in an uncertain time.
Because in a way,
What we're saying is,
Well,
What my body's doing,
It's already doing.
And to some extent,
It's already here,
It's already with me.
So like I say,
Even if it's things that I don't want it to be doing,
It's not over there,
It's here with me.
The other thing I would say is that when you're waiting for test results.
.
.
Another feeling similar to this can be around feeling light.
Somebody else knows something about my body before I do.
So let's say you're going to an appointment where your doctor's talking you through things.
Let's take an example of somebody who's going through fertility difficulties and they're going to visit their doctor to find out more information on their test results around that.
We're kind of combining doctor's visits and test results here.
Not a fun situation.
And what that person may want to frame in their mind is that This doctor in front of me hasn't known this information before me.
This doctor is,
Yes,
They're able to locate that information,
But my body already knew this.
My body is fully in the loop.
My conscious brain might not know this.
My sort of brain over here might not have known this exact information.
That's new to me.
But my body always knows.
My body knows exactly what's going on.
If there's anything out of balance,
My body already had that information.
And so it's not like a,
Oh,
Well,
I know more than the doctor kind of thing.
But I more just mean if that causes you to feel powerless,
That can be a really helpful reframe to feel like my body did unconsciously already know this.
Can feel this,
It knows everything.
My body is super smart,
Super clever and that the doctor has been a mirror to be able to show me things that I didn't consciously know.
So take or leave that if that helps.
The final thing I'll say on this is that when you're waiting for test results,
And especially when the mind understandably can catastrophize and can really go to worst case scenarios,
Regardless of whether we were going to hear difficult news or not,
And the level of what that might look like,
What can actually happen is because we start to get into our mind that something's not right in my body,
Which of course may be going on with our body,
Our ecosystem,
If you like,
Is out of balance.
What can happen is the body receives that information and then the body starts to kind of work with that.
So there's many stories of people feeling like kind of weaker whilst they're waiting for test results.
And they almost develop things that they didn't even have before.
Maybe they feel a bit sort of like they're coming down with a cold or maybe they feel like they can't lift things that they used to.
And what I would say is really don't underestimate that psychosomatic connection that regardless of whether there is something going on in your body that you are going to potentially support with magic clay.
Nonetheless,
On top of that,
Believing we're weak,
We're not capable,
My ecosystem has collapsed,
My body has collapsed,
The body can really feed on that.
And so,
Like I say,
We end up feeling more vulnerable than actually we maybe need to.
So we're not saying,
Right,
I'm waiting for test results and I need to run a marathon regardless.
No,
We need to listen to our body.
But really be mindful of,
If I can tell myself,
Look,
I might need support here,
But my body is actually really capable.
My body's amazing,
In fact.
This ecosystem,
And a lot of work I do on health anxiety,
Starting to see your body as an ecosystem is fantastic.
You know,
This ecosystem is powerful.
So I'll leave you on that note.
And obviously,
If you're waiting on something like this,
I'm wishing you all the best because I understand that may be a really difficult time.
I'll see you in another video soon.
