Thinking of space and the cosmos is the only that cures my anxiety.

Submitted by EarthInteresting9781 t3_11nuoy5 in space

Hopefully posts like these are allowed.

I have really bad anxiety issues. I try to stay drug free, and do a lot of meditation and exercise to help keep my anxiety in some level of control.

That being said, a really simple trick that’s worked for me when I’m having an anxiety episode is to shift my mind on space and scale.

I often compound thoughts and make them larger than they really are - but then I think of the larger picture and how my issues are so meaningless to an extent. The scale of my problems versus the scale of my apartment versus the scale of my neighbourhood versus the scale of my city versus the scale of my state versus the scale of my country versus the scale of my continent versus the scale of the earth versus the scale of our galaxy versus the scale of our universe…something just puts my mind at ease.

I reality my issues, my problems are just a fraction of the size of a grain of sand, if even that, in the larger scale of things.

I don’t know, space just puts my mind at ease. Knowing how insignificant my problems are, in reality, puts my mind at ease.

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panzuulor t1_jbp52dk wrote

I do that too, to be able to fall asleep. Not only it is an interesting thought process but it completely takes away any thoughts about other shit going on.

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iwoodificood t1_jbp9j8f wrote

Me too. I listen to John Michael Godier on YouTube or something similar.

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Baroque1750 t1_jbpb4fp wrote

Do other aspects of nature work? I find being in a forest or at the beach also helps

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tonniecat t1_jbpmpky wrote

I imagine im floating in space, looking at Jupiter and its moons - it calms me

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_insertsfunnyname_ t1_jbpq9lp wrote

That’s a beautiful though process, OP. I kinda do something similar for myself but never tried to put it into words before. Yours are a great explanation of this thinking 👏

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benleo9 t1_jbprexp wrote

Not sure being on Reddit will help you with anxiety.
Any form of social media blasting bad news all day amps up anxiety. I like Reddit but too much of it mixed with Twitter and all the noise really creates a lot of anxiety for many people.

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RoseCroix343 t1_jbprglt wrote

I have severe anxiety as well but have really overcome it to a huge extent by constant studying of subjects I loved (ancient civilizations and their spiritual beliefs and practices as well as the cosmos as it tends to tie in among a few other topics that tie in as well). After many years of studying the anxious part of my brain turned into a meditative and contemplative part of thinking instead. My anxiety was cast aside and it is like I can hold a meditation while thinking about regular subjects. Very strange but lifesaving for me.

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wheelontour t1_jbq4vkd wrote

Have you already heard about that asteroid that is likely to collide with earth in 2046?

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msocial t1_jbqawsv wrote

I do the same! I thought I was the only one. I think about the insignificance of things in comparison to the expanse of the universe. How heaven only belongs to us because we are bigger than other animals or insects, when in reality we are tiny ourselves.

To make things or problems even more insignicant, think about the billions of people who have lived and died before us. Our time will come and pass. In the end, no one will care.

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UnderwaterMoose2020 t1_jbqcdar wrote

One of my favourite ways to go to sleep is to listen to my MP3 player, especially audio books about space. Also the radio 4 program "In Our Time" has some good MP3 downloads of past episodes, the ones about space or general science discussions are very good for mental distraction.

Alternatively find some long cosmology videos on YouTube and record the audio.

From a meditation point of view, the big picture, likely infinite universes, do mean that on that scale our existence is insignificant, there is some comfort to be had from that. But on the other hand without conscious life the universe has no meaning. So as well as being made from star dust we give the universe the ability to reflect on itself. Not bad for an insignificant ape descendent.

Personally I tend to overthink things and live too much in my head. Getting outside and smelling the flowers and seeing the beauty and even making bubbles in the garden is recommended.

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CraigBrown2021 t1_jbqm5yp wrote

It helps me as well. That and watching animal documentaries primarily lion documentaries. It really makes me realize how blessed I am when I see the cruel reality wild animals have to go through. Watch more documentaries and less tic tok videos.

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EverlastingM t1_jbqmrnx wrote

If you find the cosmos soothing, another topic I enjoy feeling small about is deep time. A natural history twist instead of a space one.

In college I made and gave public presentations on a scale model of the solar system. Many people were nervous or felt intimidated by the size of the space they saw, but a few people had their eyes opened to how comforting it is to be insignificant. You're in good company!

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The-Toby t1_jbqo26p wrote

I do the same. The world is so filled with hatred you sometimes think that karma exists but evil is the one rewarded in this world. Dealing with constant homophobia for example makes you not want to live. But then you remember the cosmos you live in is fascinating and the issues you see are an insignificant portion of what exists.

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Pelicantevn t1_jbqoiw0 wrote

Thank you so much for sharing this. I really needed something like this right now

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jdiesel878 t1_jbqwrbq wrote

Have you ever watched the short video called Powers of 10 (1977)? Even though the video is going on 50 years old and our understanding of the universe has progressed it remains an amazing visual example of where we are human fit.

https://youtu.be/0fKBhvDjuy0

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Bluffwatcher t1_jbqzkxw wrote

I don't have anxiety but I do like dozing off listening to space shorts on YouTube. Space is so fascinating. In the morning I'll re watch them and let it sink in!

SEA is a channel I found recently and Space Time ofc... but if anyone has any more to recommend?

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To_Dream_Of_Ur t1_jbr1lss wrote

Welcome to the passion that is appreciating the cosmos, brother.

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boneless_sriracha t1_jbr1q1h wrote

I do this too to help with anxiety! But one time I tried to help an anxious friend out by talking about the scale of the universe and they said it made them feel worse and eve nauseous to think about how tiny we are. Oops 🤷‍♀️

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PandaEven3982 t1_jbr3ftf wrote

If it helps, then that's absolutely beautiful. The fact that you are looking at the art of old light and it speaks to calm you makes me feel good. So I thank you for sharing! The thought occurred to me that you may also enjoy music. If you do, then maybe there is deeper peace to be found by adding music to light?

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thezenfisherman t1_jbr47se wrote

I am with you. When the Hubble Deep Field came out I was just mesmerized by the profound depth of just that one picture. But, I have a friend that is actually overcome when viewing and has to turn it off.

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Tha_Watcher t1_jbr6i25 wrote

Couple this with deep, measured breathing. Thinking of space in connection with meditation is actually extremely helpful. Let your spirit/consciousness expand and embrace the circumambient atoms and gradually fill all of space!

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ValuableNorth4 t1_jbr6k0w wrote

You’re not the only one. I often look up to the sky and simply laugh.

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notsowisemonk t1_jbr9btx wrote

This is legit. If a single cell in your body told you that it has a lot of life problems and anxiety, you’d laugh, you’d say “your problems are insignificant, it’s not that deep. Get over yourself you little cell” i think you know where this is going…

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FrankFrankly711 t1_jbra5ug wrote

Have you ever seen the trippy movie “The Tree of Life?” It’s sorta about a family’s struggles in life. It will show the pain they go through, then cut to the silence of celestial objects so show the magnitude of the universe in comparison to their insignificance.

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SnooBunnies1811 t1_jbrbz2e wrote

I have a book by Paul Davies called The Last Three Minutes that explores theories of how the universe might end. I keep it in my nightstand and love reading it as I'm going to sleep. Really puts those anxieties in perspective. We anxiety sufferers are EXPERTS in catastrophizing, but the worst catastrophe we can imagine for our own lives is nothing on the scale of the universe.

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lookytherema t1_jbrix29 wrote

I like to watch/listen to Space Ambient Music on you tube-imagining I’m onboard a craft

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DJSauvage t1_jbrnqjw wrote

At the end of the day every day I put on astrophysics/space/universe documentaries. It's amazing how I can go from stressed, and worried about this or that from work or home, and suddenly I'm thinking about how far 4 light years is, or what the rings of Saturn look like up close, or what it must be like to be in orbit around a supermassive black hole 20 billion times the mass of the sun. My mind fills with wonder, it no longer has room for my daily worries, and I fall asleep. It's the closest thing I have to religious awe.

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Godoncanvas t1_jbrpsll wrote

You are trying to connect with the Devine, Source of everything,we are part of Source just experiencing a Human Life to learn to Love and Forgive each other. Look on YouTube at NDEs and you will get the picture. You are more powerful than you think. Don’t get down get creative and this will help your feelings to improve.

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comebraidmyhair t1_jbrwi9b wrote

I have Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot quote posted at my desk at work for this reason. It’s very grounding.

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SprayingFlea t1_jbryjzy wrote

This is called reframing brotha and I do the same thing

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Bright_Aardvark_4164 t1_jbs4qkk wrote

Exercise is the number 1 thing to cure anxiety. When you have no energy left, it’s so hard to have anxiety. Run your ass off for 30 minutes and report back. Your anxiety will be nonexistent

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GodLovePisces t1_jbsjwqb wrote

I do the same. It’s crazy to think that everyone and everything you’ve ever known and will know is all in a few pixels of a photo. Sagan's pale blue dot changed my perspective on everything.

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pippinator1984 t1_jbspg5x wrote

So glad you found a way to cope with your anxiety. Looking up is free and our world is a beautiful place. Thank you for sharing.

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MrHulthen t1_jbt3dn9 wrote

Sounds like you need to start playing Mass Effect (or replay the series again if you already have).

It might not be the ultimate cure for depression & anxiety, but damn if it isn't close.

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Awjeva t1_jbtc5in wrote

Oh thank god I thought I was alone in this! It's nice to find out I'm not.

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B00MB00MBETTY t1_jbthkvp wrote

Whenever I start to let myself have anxieties, I tell myself ZOOM OUT! We are on this spinning rock in outer space, only for a small blip of time.

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[deleted] t1_jcbyta2 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,206,996)

Expand that feeling into a packed show, Fall leg of tour. We were waiting for a Dark Star as it was elusive in the 80's. Then on October 9th, 1989, Hampton, we were amongst hundreds of bodies floating mid air expanding into the universe yet caressing the edges of the Now like rubbing softly against the smoothest of silk. Upon the first three notes dropping into our ears from the rail, bathing one in a nucleus of expanding energy, and when they hit that first drop in the bridge after the Grateful man sings: "through the transitive nightfall of diamonds..." I dare anyone find a more transcendent moment in time... it was everything and exactly how it should be. Nothing but magic and bliss.

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