You Aren't In Danger, You’re Just Uncomfortable

Today I want to invite you into a conversation we had inside the Self-Love Masterclass recently...

When was the last time you felt uncomfortable? 

Perhaps it was during a time when you were having a difficult conversation. 

Or perhaps you felt anxious and you weren't sure why. Maybe the asshole voice in your head was winning an argument and insisting you really were stupid and unlovable or is that just me?

We all experience moments of discomfort on the daily. What I want you to remember with your spectacularly brilliant intellectual brain that:

Discomfort does not necessarily mean you’re not safe. 

This can seem difficult to understand at first because biologically we are meant to interpret discomfort as danger. 

The truth is 99.9% of the time, when we are uncomfortable, we aren’t actually in danger. 

99.9% of the time when we feel uncomfortable, we are just that, just uncomfortable, we aren’t in danger. 

We have to know that, remember that we are actually safe, and override the sensations in our body telling us otherwise. This is really important. 

So I want to share with you precisely how you can override these feelings of discomfort. 

First, when your the amygdala part of your brain sends you signals of “danger, danger, danger!” I want you to notice that. It feels different for everyone. Maybe you may feel queasy in your tummy, or a sudden headache, or shortness of breath. The point here is to know exactly how your body responds to this danger warning.

I want you to notice the alert going off and then notice what happens in your body. Kinda like it’s happening in slow motion. 

For example, when I get uncomfortable, my mouth gets dry like the Sahara Desert and I have to pee a lot (charming I know).

What happens to your body when you feel uncomfortable? 

Then, when you begin to feel this physical manifestation of discomfort, use your frontal cortex to intercept it: “aha! Something is going on here.” 

And then say “thank you amygdala brain.”

Because that’s all the amygdala brain can do. You aren’t going to change it doing its job to alert you to danger, and truthfully you wouldn’t want to on the off chance there really is danger. Now you can say, “Thank you, amygdala I will take it from here.”

And then - and no, I’m not shitting you here - next, look for actual danger. 

Is there a person with a bloody ax at your door? Are you about to crash your car? Is a bear going to eat your face off? 

Seriously, look around for real danger. And I bet you will find that 99.9% of the time, there isn’t any. 

So now that you know you are physically safe, what’s the next thing? You breathe. 

You breathe 6 seconds in, 12 seconds out. Belly breaths to massage the vagus nerve, which will send messages to your brain that all is well, overriding the warning message. 

And then you choose what’s next. You choose what’s next from this calmer place. This place that recognizes the discomfort for what it truly is. 

This is something I want you to practice until you have it down cold. Until you naturally whip it out in times of feeling discomfort. Until this becomes your go-to response. 

To help you try this: Today just notice how many times you think “oh shit.”

Each of those little “oh shit” moments is your amygdala brain looking out for you.

Practice noticing these moments. Practice thanking your amygdala. Practice your belly breath and taking the next step. 

And if you have examples of using this technique or find that you think “oh shit” more than you expected today, I’d Love you to share with me, this is all about Lovingly practicing awareness. 

And if this conversation resonates and you’re craving more Love, the doors are open now to join us inside the Self-Love Masterclass. I’ve got a seat with your name on it.

Sending big Love from my big juicy heart to yours, 

Tracey Lee