Welcome.
My name is Keri.
I'm a licensed professional counselor and a mindfulness teacher.
And I'm here to talk with you today about tolerating uncertainty.
And we will conclude this video with a brief practice.
But first I want to give some insight because.
In learning to tolerate uncertainty.
It's helpful to first understand why uncertainty is so intolerable.
And think about it this way,
Without getting too deep into neuroscience,
Recognize that the mind is an association machine.
Meaning it's learns the world through different connections.
It creates increasingly complex understanding of the world around us by linking certain ideas together.
By taking data from the past and creating predictions for the future.
In order to stay coherent,
In order to navigate all the data around us.
So we're kind of,
We're.
.
.
Creating associations,
But we're also using a lot of shortcuts in our mind.
And so when we're faced with something that really is.
Uncertain.
We can't tell the future.
It challenges that deeply.
And it's the discomfort around it is less around.
Uncertainty itself and more around the mismatch of the lack of certainty with how our brain functions.
So we're constantly populating.
Imagined certainty into the gap that's there.
And so again,
If you're.
.
.
Uncertain about a health.
Concern.
It's not that you're fearing the uncertainty itself,
It's that you're fearing the possible negative outcome.
And just the way the mind operates,
It takes this limited data set that you have and it projects forward with a lot of certainty,
Even if it's negative certainty.
So in learning to tolerate uncertainty.
What we are training our brains is not to stop that projection forward.
It's going to happen.
That's just the nature of the brain.
But we're training ourselves to deprioritize them.
And reprioritize with our attention the immediate here and now,
Our immediate surroundings.
We're trusting that by anchoring into this moment,
We're not being naive to potential future failure or future pain.
We're just.
.
.
Recognizing that the brain left to its own devices is going to project forward and kind of guarantee future pain.
And we're saying,
Okay,
Brain,
You can project that you can play that movie,
But I am training my attention as the observer onto where I am here and now.
So let's practice.
Start by finding a comfortable seat.
You can be,
Well,
You can be seated or you can be lying down.
Some people prefer standing up,
Um,
And that's fine.
But find a position where you are.
Accessing rest.
It's going to feel like heaviness.
Which can feel like softening in certain tense places.
But where you can also be upright.
Engaged,
Awake.
And just start there,
Because.
.
.
In practicing presence in the face of uncertainty.
We want to remain upright.
You don't want to lean back or dissociate from this moment.
But we also don't want to lean in.
That's where our mind starts populating with negative certainty.
We want to be upright.
We want to be coherent.
And take a full round of breath in.
Side out.
Notice that sound of that sigh.
Do it again.
Breathe in.
As you sigh out,
Notice the sound of it.
One more time like that,
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
And now let your breath settle back into a more natural rhythm.
Breathing in and out of your nose.
Unless you're stuffed up or for some other reason can't breathe through your nose,
Then you're welcome to use your mouth.
And then allow into your field of awareness a recognition of uncertainty here.
Path in front of you is murky.
You can't see all the way ahead.
Maybe it's blocked by trees in your visualization.
Maybe it's blocked by fogginess.
Maybe it's this cliff.
Where the path hasn't yet formed forward.
And here you are standing at the precipice.
And the goal here is to stabilize.
Around just where you are.
And that doesn't mean preventing your mind from jumping forward.
That's what it does.
We can thank the mind.
Thank you,
Mind.
For being such a proactive association machine.
Seeking certainty.
Seeking an outcome.
It's a form of protection.
But we can also acknowledge the limitations of that thinking mind.
It can't tell the future.
Creating predictions based on outdated data,
Data from the past.
Instead of following those projections down a rabbit hole.
We can notice where our spine is in space.
And again,
If you are visualizing yourself out that path,
Notice the rootedness of your feet into the earth.
There's nothing uncertain about that.
You can feel,
If you are seated,
You can feel the rootedness of your seat into the chair.
Nothing uncertain about that.
It's real.
You can notice the breath moving in and out of your lungs.
You're training your attention to be.
Where your body is.
And again,
If there are thoughts and images.
Populating in your mind.
A certain chaotic or pressure or anxious.
Thinking pattern.
Towards that which is uncertain.
Just acknowledge it.
Just acknowledge it as these firings of neurons.
Trying their best to keep you safe.
Trying to predict what's coming.
And it's just very limited in what it can do.
So by drawing your attention back to where you are,
You're accessing what's truly creative.
And that is this quality of presence.
When you can inhabit the moment as it is.
You gain access to a much wider range of skills of the mind.
So by training your attention.
Onto where you are.
You're not avoiding the reality of uncertainty.
Just prioritizing your own natural skills on this.
Trust that as things continue to unfold,
As more data continues to arise.
This presence.
Will really allow you to interact with it skillfully,
Fully.
But for now.
You're letting the limitations.
Of your thinking mind.
Be simple.
A simple reminder to just be where you are.
And if this is very difficult for you,
You're not alone.
This is very difficult for humans.
Again,
What a miraculous tool of a mind we have.
Constantly synthesizing,
Constantly prepping.
Difficult to disrupt that.
But it's still worth practicing.
And if it's difficult,
Instead of having judgment to self.
Instead of having fear of the thinking mind or irritation towards its incessance.
Have a level of self-compassion.
It is hard to use,
To have this tool.
Of a thinking mind.
And to not be able to fully shut it off ever.
It is difficult.
It doesn't mean you're doing it wrong if this is challenging.
For these final few moments.
Bring your attention back to something very physical.
If your eyes are open,
You might notice.
Colors and shapes around you.
Or you might just notice the temperature of air on your skin.
You might notice the inner fluctuations under your skin.
The tiny pulses.
The little spasms.
You are the observer.
Final few seconds here.
And then as you begin to return to your surroundings.
Return to your day.
And keep these reminders with you.
The mind is a beautiful thing.
It keeps us safe.
It does its job well.
But we don't have to always prioritize it.
You can prioritize.
Being where we are.
Disciplining our attention to where we are right now.
Interesting at that.
Does unlock.
The fullest version of our brain.
To navigate whatever life throws at us moving forward.
