What to Do When You Feel Stuck in the Past

You wake up in the morning excited to start your day. You start thinking about the meetings on your calendar, what you're planning to do for lunch, and any after-work t0-dos or plans. But then your mind starts to wander.

Something comes up in your day that reminds you of your childhood, an incident from college, or maybe something you feel like you did wrong just last week. For whatever reason, it still bothers you. And now you know you'll be in a funk all day because of it.

Maybe these feelings hit you at night when you're trying to fall asleep. Maybe they happen out of the blue when you're on your lunch break. No matter the timing, it almost feels like you're taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. So how can you move on from these past instances that are holding you back?

Here's what to do when you feel stuck in the past.

Acknowledge Your Feelings

You won't get over these feelings from the past if you keep burying them deep down inside. Allow yourself to feel and actually experience all of your thoughts and feelings. Try to determine why you keep thinking about things from the past and try to sort through them.

The sooner you're able to acknowledge and understand, the sooner you'll be able to process and move forward. Journaling is a great way to help you sort through the different thoughts, feelings, and emotions you may be experiencing at the moment. It's also a great tool to look back on to determine what coping mechanisms may have helped you.

Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude can be as simple as listing off the people, places, and things you're thankful for. When you find yourself wishing or hoping for something you once had in the past, it's a sign that you're not really in the present moment.

Practicing gratitude is a great way to help bring you back into the present moment again. It will help keep you grounded and embrace who you are and where you are in your life currently.

Move Your Body

You don't have to work out for hours on end each and every day. Moving your body just means increasing your heart rate and trying to break a sweat for at least thirty minutes each day.

Go for a walk outside. Try a new workout class with friends. Hop on your bicycle or go rollerblading around your neighborhood. Sign up for a club like indoor soccer or sand volleyball. Move your body in whatever way makes you the happiest.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is another great technique to help you stop living in the past and focus on the present moment again. Just like exercise, there are many different ways for you to practice meditation, so you'll have to try a few techniques out to see what works best for you. Here are a few of the different ways to practice mindfulness:

• Breathing exercises

• Mantras

• Meditation

• Visualization

• Yoga

These different types of meditation exercises can help calm your mind and keep it from wandering. Living in the present moment can help prevent feelings of anxiety about past or future events.

Seek Professional Help

If you're struggling to move forward in your life, help is available to you. There's nothing wrong with needing a little extra help sometimes. A therapist can provide you with a safe, secure, and judgment-free environment to help you tackle those thoughts and feelings.

If you're interested in working with a therapist to help you stay in the present moment and move forward in your life again, reach out to me today to set up a consultation for online therapy.