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Transcript:
Welcome everyone to another installment of the Esoteric Wellness Blog. I am your host, Coach Kyle. So what is on my mind today? Well, firstly, I find it really fascinating that after spending the day in multiple client sessions, there's often a common theme or thread that emerges. Sometimes, I even have nearly identical conversations in multiple sessions. It’s interesting how this always seems to happen—different people working on different issues, at various points in their journey, yet somehow, there’s this alignment in what they are dealing with. Today, the common thread was uncertainty.
Uncertainty is something we all face and dislike. It can exacerbate issues we already have. Uncertainty is any situation where we don’t know what will happen, and any prediction we make is likely to be inaccurate. We don’t like uncertainty because it’s an evolutionary adaptation. Our brains are energy-intensive machines, consuming the most energy of any organ. They’ve developed a way to save energy through making predictions and assumptions. The brain builds patterns based on all of our experiences and uses these patterns to make predictions, saving energy by not analyzing every bit of sensory and memory information.
This explains why optical illusions can trick our brains. They fit a familiar pattern, prompting a prediction, making us see something that’s not actually there. But if we encountered an illusion that was dangerous, our brain would quickly learn to avoid making that prediction again. This is why uncertainty often makes us feel anxious. Some level of anxiety in uncertain situations is normal, but it can be problematic if it’s excessive and exacerbates other issues, like chronic symptoms or health conditions.
For example, one of my clients is preparing for surgery next week. There’s a lot of uncertainty around the surgery—whether it will work, recovery speed, challenges during recovery—which has caused a flare-up in their chronic pain and some new symptoms. We quickly realized that the uncertainty is amplifying their discomfort and anxiety, which in turn is worsening their chronic symptoms.
So, how can we manage times of high uncertainty? One way is to expose ourselves to it more often. Avoidance of uncertainty increases our discomfort when we eventually encounter it. We like predictability and routine, but excessively controlling our lives to avoid uncertainty can reduce our quality of life, as it removes spontaneity and surprises. Dealing with uncertainty naturally involves filling in details. But we tend to fill in those details with everything that could go wrong, which, while it reduces uncertainty, also increases anxiety.
Interestingly, we can use this technique to our advantage by filling in the details with positive scenarios. When we envision everything going well, our brains react as if everything will go well. I tried this approach with the client preparing for surgery; we visualized everything going smoothly, from surgery to recovery, opening up new possibilities for them. After just 10 minutes of positive visualization, their symptoms calmed significantly.
With regular practice, we can train our brains to go down a more positive path. Many people tend to spiral into negative possibilities when facing uncertainty. Be gentle with yourself if this happens—our brains are predisposed to focus on threats as a survival mechanism. But with consistent practice, we can guide our brains toward positivity.
Another helpful technique, especially when we need to make a decision, is called the “perfect day visualization,” developed by Martha Beck. This technique focuses on filling in details of how we want to experience our future, rather than fixating on the specific “what” of our decision. I had a client who needed to decide on a career change after their previous high-stress job contributed to chronic pain. Instead of focusing on what they would do, we started by imagining an ideal day in their future life. This includes details like waking up, morning routines, commuting, and work environments, without specifying the job itself. Filling in these details helps clarify what kind of experience they want, ultimately making the “what” of the decision easier to figure out.
This technique doesn’t just help us make decisions—it also calms our minds by reducing the uncertainty that can lead to anxiety and chronic symptoms. It allows us to navigate uncertainty positively and to craft a vision aligned with our desired experiences, bringing to light our ultimate “why.” Many find that focusing on the experience we want rather than the specific “what” provides clarity and relief.
So, that’s my take on uncertainty. I hope you found this useful, and maybe one or more of these tools will benefit you. Remember, uncertainty is a part of life and being human. It doesn’t have to generate anxiety or other issues—it can be something we learn to manage and even appreciate to some degree. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in once again. I look forward to the next one. You are beautiful. You are loved. Until next time.
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