Today I had a major fear spiral. I read something terrifying, when I was tired and hungry, and it overtook me. Here's what I did.

I noticed the fear was gripping my insides. I put my hand over my heart to acknowledge this feeling to myself. I made a conscious effort to try to move some of the energy through and out of my body by crying and gently moving around.

Then I reached out to a wise and skillful loved one. He helped remind me that while something of the content of my reaction will need to be acted on at some point, that time was not right now. Then, the emotional flood could feel separate from the urgent directive it was giving me to act. Not right now. Right now, I can afford to be calm.

He also helped me reground myself in the practice of acceptance, in the face of uncertainty and lack of control. Not the best news, but that's our project.

I sang some songs, which is a way of working with the vagus nerve and producing feelings of ease and connection. I dealt with my blood sugar and my fatigue as well as I could with breakfast and tea.

I made a few small plans of action for the day to try to feel like I would do something in response to my feelings. I gave myself extra permission to not venture outside, to take a nap after work, and to tell friends and colleagues I was in touch with that I was particularly afraid today from something I read. Because in situations like this, fear happens, and I was in very good company.

I also happened to skim this article, and found this practice extremely useful as the fear re-spiraled throughout the day:

"Let’s go back to anticipatory grief. Unhealthy anticipatory grief is really anxiety, and that’s the feeling you’re talking about. Our mind begins to show us images. My parents getting sick. We see the worst scenarios. That’s our minds being protective. Our goal is not to ignore those images or to try to make them go away — your mind won’t let you do that and it can be painful to try and force it. The goal is to find balance in the things you’re thinking. If you feel the worst image taking shape, make yourself think of the best image. We all get a little sick and the world continues. Not everyone I love dies. Maybe no one does because we’re all taking the right steps. Neither scenario should be ignored but neither should dominate either."

There is hope in the uncertainty. So as the worst-case scenarios popped into my head, I placed alongside them some best-case ones. It felt like a balm.

That's how I coped today. What do you do when you have a fear spiral?