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Picture Yourself Free from Anxiety

Anxiety can be overwhelming, and it can be hard to picture yourself free from anxiety. However, sometimes picturing ourselves free from anxiety is exactly what will help get rid of it.

Picture Yourself Living a Life Free From Anxiety

It can be powerful to picture yourself living a life free from anxiety. Why, how, and what else do you need to do? When we're consumed by anxiety, we see anxiety. We feel it. We live it. We hate it; but often we don't know what we can do to break free. A powerful first step can be to intentionally ponder how, exactly, you will be when anxiety is gone from your life and what exact steps you will take to become free from anxiety.

It's important to move beyond, "I don't want to have anxiety," because with this, the focus remains on anxiety itself and it's hard to know what will take anxiety's place. Consider your whole self when visualizing the anxiety-free you:

  • What will your thoughts be like? Be aware of negative thought patterns that contribute to your anxiety and replace them with healthier ones.
  • What will your emotions be like? Fear, anxiety, worry, despair, and other such unpleasant emotions truly can recede into the background, allowing room for joyful feelings.
  • What will your behavior be like? In other words, what will you be able to do, what actions will you be able to take, once you are free from anxiety?

Take Action to Achieve the Vision of Your Anxiety-Free Self

Picturing ourselves living free from anxiety is, indeed, an important first step. We must go beyond imagining ourselves living without anxiety and take action to achieve it.

This involves determining what steps we need to take in order to embody the image we have for our ideal, anxiety-free self. Solution-focused anxiety therapy offers practical, realistic, easy-to-follow ways of working toward and ultimately achieving your goal. Essentially, we want to inch our way toward our anxiety-free life. What will move us toward our vision today? What little things can we do to make it happen?

Through visualizing how you will be when you are free from anxiety, and then taking action to move toward that life, you just might find yourself becoming your vision. In the video, I talk more about this and share a powerful metaphor (it relates to the above image) that has helped a great number of people, myself included, in meeting goals, not the least of which is living free from anxiety.

https://youtu.be/yd59VLvn1K0

You can also connect with Tanya J. Peterson on her website, Google+, Facebook,Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest.

APA Reference
Peterson, T. (2015, March 26). Picture Yourself Free from Anxiety, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, October 15 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/anxiety-schmanxiety/2015/03/picture-yourself-free-from-anxiety



Author: Tanya J. Peterson, MS, NCC, DAIS

Tanya J. Peterson is the author of numerous anxiety self-help books, including The Morning Magic 5-Minute Journal, The Mindful Path Through Anxiety, 101 Ways to Help Stop Anxiety, The 5-Minute Anxiety Relief Journal, The Mindfulness Journal for Anxiety, The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety, and Break Free: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in 3 Steps. She has also written five critically acclaimed, award-winning novels about life with mental health challenges. She delivers workshops for all ages and provides online and in-person mental health education for youth. She has shared information about creating a quality life on podcasts, summits, print and online interviews and articles, and at speaking events. Tanya is a Diplomate of the American Institution of Stress helping to educate others about stress and provide useful tools for handling it well in order to live a healthy and vibrant life. Find her on her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Pamela Chollet
March, 29 2015 at 1:47 pm

Great post! Yes, it is indeed important to be free from anxiety and prevent it for good, and not take it for granted.
Pamela
http://haartfelt.com

Sheila Bergquist
March, 26 2015 at 2:03 am

I love your sunflower analogy! Thanks for all the great posts you do...they help me so much.

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

March, 27 2015 at 10:59 am

Hi Sheila!
I'm so happy that these posts are helpful. I like to share info/tips/etc. that have been helpful to me personally and that have been helpful to others professionally. It was fun to share the sunflower analogy because it really is meaningful to me. :)

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