The Morning Mantra is available on iTunes, Overcast, Stitcher, Youtube, Soundcloud, Spotify, Youtube and pretty much anywhere podcasts can be found. Transcripts forthcoming on the blog at www.coachedandloved.com
At this point, my anxiety has anxiety.
Hi! I’m Coach ____ and This is The Morning Mantra.
*cue intro music*
Hi, my name is MK Fleming. I'm a run coach based in Denver, Colorado. But this isn't a podcast about running, exactly. Don't tell my clients, but *whispers* we're never really talking about the running. When you know a crap-tastic event is coming it helps to have a mantra to keep you centered and focused as you move through it. You don't have to be an athlete to be hashtag #coachedandloved by coach MK. And if you are here, then you are hashtag #winningatlife.
*music ends*
Today’s mantra is: Still Going
The Running Life podcast does a special monthly series called “Lighten UP!” where I chat with Dalia Kinsey of The School Nutrition Dietitian Podcast, and Jummy Olawale of the Life, Live & Therapy Podcast. Jummy is a Gottman Method therapist, and I love every single thing she says. One of her favorite comments is, “the one true thing is your breath”, and I wanted to highlight it today.
Meditation is thrown around as a solution to all things, and we don’t break it down in ways that are helpful. The moments you need meditation the most, are the moments when you are least able to take in new information. Like, the moment you realize you are holding your breath, bracing your body, or that your heart is racing due to anxiety. One way of getting this under control is to shut your eyes and focus your attention COMPLETELY on your breathing. Inhale, exhale, feel the air coming into your nostrils, then exiting your mouth. Over and over until you feel calmer, or at least on the surface feel as though you are in control once more.
Again, this is overly simplistic, so this is where Jummy’s quote comes in:
The whole point of a mantra is that is must be true in order to be effective; most of the things we say to ourselves when we are scared...aren’t validating because they aren’t true. Saying, “I am safe” is useless if you don’t feel safe, not all anxiety is completely baseless or completely irrational; the name of the game is to function through it so we can get to, or create, a safe place. In the moments when you are overwhelmed by fear and anxiety, the reason we focus on breathing is because THAT is the one true thing: if you are breathing, you are still going, and if you are still going, there is hope.
Today, in those moments when you feel overwhelmed, I want you to shut your eyes, focus on your breath, and hear MY VOICE in the back of your head saying, “YEP! Still Going. Still Going.” The one true thing is your breath, here is a second: I will stay with you until the storm passes by, no matter how long it takes.
*cue outro music*
You are Coached. You are Loooved, and you ARE winning at life. And you're definitely winning at life if you subscribe to my Nuzzel Newsletter, follow me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. feel free to do all three!
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