How do you handle worry? Do you allow it to permeate your being and get the best of you? Do you show it on your face or feel it in your body? Do you give it permission to control you?

I bring this up because recently I had a new inspiration as to what to do with the little worries that enter my daily thoughts and the big worries that take up residence in the curve of my neck and right shoulder blade. This new idea came while in meditation. A place where much of my inspiration comes. It is in meditation that I not only clear the clutter, but I make room for what must come in. One of my visualizations is me sitting in my imaginary garden at a long table. There is always a shed in this scene. And after years of not knowing what was in the shed I decided to start placing my worries inside this sturdy shelter. It makes sense to only me and it is working so that’s all that matters. Logic need not enter the picture.

Did you know that your mind can not differentiate between real and imagined thoughts? If I visualized it, then it happened in my mind’s eye. According to Dr. Joseph M. Carver the brain doesn’t know if a file is real or imagined. Dr. Carver tells us, “The Brain makes files based on information it is given, usually through our senses but often through our thoughts.” The brain will only react to the file or image of putting the worries in a hole, a shed or sending them off to space in a rocket ship.    

I also have used a worry box over the years. I write down my worries, fears, prayers on small slips of paper and tuck them inside my little purple box that only I know where it is in my closet. The idea being when I start to think of them again, I remind myself that they are being handled in the purple box, they are no longer my concern. I recently checked on my purple box and discovered that every slip of paper could be removed from the box and recycled. These concerns no longer consumed me, they had been resolved.

This is what I am doing with my shed. At the beginning of my daily meditation, I open up the shed in my mind’s eye and invite the worries to scoot on inside. It is a great check-in with myself to see what worries are getting in my way, what I am holding on to, and what is clouding my vision. I tell myself, (ok, here I may get a little woo-woo for you), but I tell myself that my angels are handling my concerns. There is also a window in my shed (the beauty of imagination) so that light can get in and transform the worries into something life giving.

Before using the shed, I forgot to breathe and I held my concerns in my body. The tightness in my shoulder, my furrowed brow and the ache in my neck have been released because I gave the worries another place to go rather than taking up residence in my body. I am beginning my day lighter, making space for thoughts that nurture and grow my spirit. At the end of the day I have noticed the worries have stayed in the shed, no longer obstacles in my path. I imagine in this new place they are transformed or simply they simply have flown out the window.

Do you have worries taking up valuable real estate in your body, perhaps clogging your brain? I invite you to have some fun, play with putting them elsewhere. Try a shed, a cloud, a deep hole, a rocket ship, anywhere, but within you. Give yourself permission to not hold on to them anymore. They aren’t exactly helping you, so what are you waiting for?

Hello! I’m Jenny Gwinn McGlothern, Certified Transformational Master Coach for your Life and Spirit. I have been leading retreats for women and coaching them since 2009. One of my favorite ways to fill my own cup is by writing. May my weekly blog give you a sip to reflect, a nugget to chew, a thought to refill. If it is an accountability partner you seek, I offer life and spiritual coaching for women, men, teenagers, and couples, in person in Seattle and by phone.  2017 Mini-retreats in West Seattle 9:30 – 2 pm. Next one, September 15 (2 seats left). Limited availability, register early. info@mamaneedsarefill.com or 206 255 0463.