How to Stop Overthinking Your Health: A Journaling Prompt

For a long time, I would just stand in front of the mirror and criticize what I saw.

I can't tell you how many hours of my life I have used for this. It's not like I would stand there for hours at a time.  It would happen as I was getting ready for my day, putting on my makeup, doing my hair.  But it was always more than just doing those things.  For several prolonged minutes, I would stand there and try to get rid of the zit- only to make it worse and have to spend more time fixing my makeup and then catastrophizing over what I would think that other people would think when they saw me. Trying on endless outfit combos to see what I thought would be best so that I could feel appealing, feel wanted. 

I would spend extra time at the grocery story, obsessing about food, how many calories it was, what was in it, the amount of added sugar hoping that if I ate the perfect diet that my body would start looking the way I wanted it to. And I would still doubt all my choices because, guess what, it didn't dramatically change the things that I wanted to change about my body (the acne, the bloating, the headaches...).  And of course now, I really dislike grocery shopping.  Like hate it 😂 which I suppose makes sense because my body now associates it with such a negative, stressful experience (and as I write this out, I can see how this is an opportunity for some mindset work for me to change this relationship... journaling prompt for me later lol).

It was so stressful.  Can you relate? 🙋‍♀️

Little did I know that I was paying attention to (and massively overthinking) the wrong things. Or rather, maybe not the "wrong" things, but ineffective things.  

I look back now and see how much time, energy, and money I spent on the things that didn't actually matter. My strategy and behavior wasn't helping me get what I actually wanted (to feel healthy, happy, desired).

Not because I was dumb or misguided- it's not like the things I was doing are bad things to do.  But my strategy was off because my beliefs, my desires, and my fears were creating an unconscious misalignment.

How, I see my body so much differently, my beliefs have been transformed.  And because of this, I am much more able to pick effective, aligned strategies to support me to feel the way I want in the moment.  This shift happened as I became more aware of the beliefs, the fears, and the desires that were unconsciously creating these patterns and behaviors. 

Now, I look in the mirror and see myself as strong, capable, beautiful in my own way. I no longer spend extra time perseverating, catastrophizing, over-thinking.  And I can use this now free time for anything that strikes my fancy (a few extra moments of peace drinking my coffee in the morning, an extra quick walk outside with my dog, a few extra minutes hugging/cuddling with my husband). 

Because I am more aware, I have more choice. More control. More freedom.

So if you are someone that finds yourself getting caught up in the moments I described and wants to feel more free, then this practice is for you.

I invite you to take 5 minutes to go through the following prompts.  If you don't have 5 minutes right now, save this page to come back to later as a journaling prompt.  Set a timer for 5 minutes, about 1 minute for each prompt. You want to give yourself enough time to reflect while leaning into your intuition, writing the first thing that comes to mind and then moving on.  This practice is meant to help increase self-awareness of the beliefs that are creating your current patterns.  Once you see them, then you can decide if its something that you want to keep or release. Becoming more aware of our beliefs is an essential first step.  Join my newsletter to stay up to do date on future blog posts, where I will continue to take you a bit deeper in this process.

1.  Write out the phrase, "Health is..." and then write everything that comes to mind that the word "health" means to you. You might write down positive things, negative things, or neutral things.  Just write as many judgments/conclusions as possible.  

2. Write out the phrase, "My body is..." and then write everything that comes to mind. Same as above, writing down positive, negative, or neutral beliefs that surface.  As you write, try paying special attention to the thoughts that bring up a feeling resistance or tension in your body.

3. Write out the phrase, "I should be..." and then write everything that comes to mind.  Following the pattern for the prompts above.

4. Write out the phrase, "My body should be..." and complete it with anything that comes to mind. Continue to follow the pattern for the prompts above, writing down everything that comes across your mind. 

5. Quickly review what you wrote like a curious scientist or journalist.  What surprises you?  Were there words or phrases that brought up resistance or tension the most? Were there any words or phrases that brought up joy or delight in you? Simply take a minute to notice.

6.  What is one grounded and simple action you can take in the next 24 hours to align with what brings you joy or delight based on your insights today?