Feeling anxious at night

Do you ever lie awake at night worrying about mistakes you might have made… or how to fix a mistake you definitely DID make?  

It’s always worse in the middle of the night. 

You’re too tired to see things objectively, so your worst fears have a party! 

And everything seems SO true. 

I used to think… maybe THIS is reality and the rest of the time I’m kidding myself. 

Maybe I AM s**t at my job … and everyone knows it … and I’ll probably get fired soon and end up poor and alone…. ☺ 

Funny now I’m awake Not so much in the middle of the night. 

I would be lying if I said this doesn’t happen to me anymore. After all, I still have a human brain, whose main priority is to point out danger. 

But I have found a way to get through it MUCH more quickly. 

These days, I just ALLOW the anxiety. I don’t try to argue against it. I don’t try to make it go away. I’ve learnt to accept it as part of my experience as a human. 

So, I just BREATH through the feeling rather than focussing on my racing brain. I don’t engage with the negative thoughts… I just remind myself that: 

• I’m safe. 
• My brain doesn’t tell the truth in the middle of the night. 
• This is just part of my experience of being alive. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not lovely, but it LEAVES more quickly. 

I know there’s a temptation to fight or resist the feeling, because we desperately want to go to sleep, but the more you engage the longer it lasts…

Try my approach instead.