342 April Seifert: How To Navigate Mental Maps of Anxiety

If we can all just agree that we are humans with brains and realize that brains tend to respond to times of uncertainty, change, and real threat in very predictable ways as anxiety, worry, and fear...then we can immediately be compassionate with ourselves because it just means that we're human. Every single person that is going through COVID19, they're human and they're experiencing what it means to be human which is: We react to our surroundings in these predictable ways. - April Seifert

 

If thoughts and feelings are not us then why are they there in the first place?

 

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Wellness Force Radio Episode 342

Social-cognitive Psychologist, Life Design Strategist, Co-Host of the Building Psychological Strength Podcast, and Co-Founder of Peak Mind: The Center for Psychological Strength, April Seifert, shares why time and wealth are our most valuable gifts, what anxiety actually is, how to navigate rational and irrational thoughts, and how to build momentum by acting now.

Discover how cognitive behavioral therapy can radically shift your entire life with just one simple practice.

 

Listen To Episode 342 As April Seifert Uncovers:

 

[1:30] What Anxiety Actually Is

• April Seifert
• Building Psychological Strength Podcast
• Peak Mind: The Center for Psychological Strength
• 0153 | How to EMBODY Psychological Strength with Josh Trent
• Leave Wellness Force a review on iTunes
• Organifi
• Why Peak Mind psychology isn't just for athletes; it's for everyone.
• Her own traumas and personal hardships that she has experienced in life even from an early age.
• The diagnosis of her multiple sclerosis and how that has impacted her life.
• How her own adversity has inspired her to share her work even more with other people because psychology was what helped her thrive through multiple obstacles.
• 311 Mark Wolynn
• The fact that she went blind twice due to her multiple sclerosis and how she gained back her sight.
• Unpacking the easiest way to give yourself self-compassion during times of anxious feelings.
• 129 Gretchen Rubin
• The power of giving yourself permission to feel your negative emotions rather than just going into a shame spiral.

 

[13:00] Navigating Our Rational & Irrational Thoughts

• Why so much of our fear is connected to irrational thoughts.
• How we can navigate and know the difference between rational and irrational thought patterns.
• The importance of building up psychological strength and what steps we can take to do that.
• Why we can be there to support our partners but it is not our responsibility to fix or manage their emotions.
• One of the central tenants of Life Design from Peak Mind is that you are at the center of your life and other people are at the center of their own lives.
• How to design your life for you, not for other people, and be 100% radically responsible for it.
• Why hitting the pause button is the no. 1 most important thing you should do and why we find it so difficult in the first place.

 

[23:00] Creating Momentum By Choosing To Act Now

• Understanding that there is great power in making a decision and creating momentum.
• Why you should put some psychological distance between you that is consciousness and your thoughts.
• How to sit back and truly observe and get curious about your thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
• What anxiety actually is and it's not you - it's just a bodily emotional and thought process that is happening in your body and your mind but it is not you.
• Why thoughts and feelings are not the answer; just bits of information for you to weigh among other bits of information.
• Eckhart Tolle
• How to better understand and map your stress and anxiety during the coronavirus pandemic especially with all of the news media pushing fear.
• Alan Watts
• How we can see COVID19 as a reminder to treat the planet, one another, and even ourselves with love and higher respect.

 

[39:00] Your New, Easy Gratitude Practice

• Why so many people struggle with having a daily gratitude practice.
• April's new gratitude practice for you: ask yourself what you miss right now and then flip that into action.
• Steven C. Hayes
• The concept of mental and emotional resilience and how they have changed for her throughout her training.
• Psychological flexibility that allows us to be more resilient while our anchor points keep us grounded.
• Understanding what is true and not true for you from a mindful point of view.
• Their mission behind Peak Mind and how they're helping people live life well by helping them better understand how the mind works.
• Why you don't have to be an expert to help people but you can guide them along a journey that you also personally understand.
• The silver lining in COVID19 at macro and micro levels from the environment to our home life.
• M21 Wellness Guide
• Wellness Force Community

 

Power Quotes From The Show

 

The Greatest Self-Care Hack

"If you are feeling anxious, worried, emotionally exhausted, and unable to focus, the very first thing you need to understand is that there is nothing wrong with you. You are not deficient, weak, or handling this worse than anybody else; it is just that you are a human who has a brain and that brain is reacting in ways that brains do given the circumstances that we're in and that is nothing to be ashamed of, ever." - April Seifert

 

What Are Anxiety And Fear?

"You are not your thoughts nor your emotions. You are also not your bodily sensations of fear. What do fear and anxiety mean? They are just bodily, emotional thought processes that are happening in your body and in your mind but they are not you. You can be an observer of that and the more distance you put between yourself and that process, the more you'll be able to move through it, feel it, and realize that they're nothing that has to do with your next step."  - April Seifert

 

 

You Are Your Rooted Consciousness

 

"If it's not accurate or helpful, you don't have to buy into that thought. You are not that story, you are not your belief systems, you are not your thoughts nor your feelings. You are that centered consciousness awareness that is deeply rooted in the things that don't change no matter what situation or circumstances you're in; that is your core." - April Seifert

 

Links From Today's Show 

• Building Psychological Strength Podcast
• 0153 | How to EMBODY Psychological Strength with Josh Trent
• Leave Wellness Force a review on iTunes
• Organifi
• 311 Mark Wolynn
• 129 Gretchen Rubin
• Eckhart Tolle
• Alan Watts
• Steven C. Hayes
• Peak Mind Free Resources
• Peak Mind Starter Pack
• M21 Wellness Guide
• Wellness Force Community
• April Seifert
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
• Peak Mind: The Center for Psychological Strength
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

About April Seifert

April Seifert is a social-cognitive psychologist, life design strategist, and co-founder of Peak Mind: The Center for Psychological Strength. Her presentation will explore how the choices we make with respect to self-awareness, flexibility, and psychological strength can transform our minds into our biggest liability — or our most valuable asset.

 

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