As I write this, I’m surrounded by half-packed boxes, my familiar German surroundings slowly transforming into cardboard chaos. In a few weeks, I’ll be calling Dubai home. A thought that fills me with equal parts excitement and, if I’m being honest, a familiar hum of anxiety that I’ve come to recognize as hypervigilance.
You know that feeling, don’t you? That constant scanning for what might go wrong, the mental rehearsing of every possible scenario, the way your nervous system stays just a little too alert even when you’re trying to rest. It’s like having an overzealous security system that treats every creaking floorboard as a potential threat. Hypervigilance is my own personal challenge, and it is definitely stretched across all aspects of my upcoming move.
When change meets the hypervigilant mind
Big life changes, like moving across continents, have a way of amplifying this tendency. My mind wants to map out every detail of what life will look like in Dubai: Where will I buy groceries? How will I navigate the healthcare system? What if I can’t find my favorite brand of tea? (Yes, hypervigilance can make us worry about the smallest things.)
While some planning is helpful, I’ve learned that hypervigilance often masquerades as productivity when it’s actually keeping us stuck in cycles of worry. Instead of helping us prepare for the future, it robs us of presence in the current moment. And ironically, being present is often where we find the clarity and calm we need to handle whatever comes next.
Two resources that have been anchoring me
In the midst of this transition, I’ve found myself reaching for tools that help ground my nervous system and bring me back to the here and now. I wanted to share two resources that have been particularly helpful, in case you’re navigating your own season of uncertainty.
1. The Plum Village App: “We Were Made for These Times”
The Plum Village app offers a course called “We Were Made for These Times” that feels like it was designed specifically for moments like this. The course gently guides you through mindfulness practices that acknowledge uncertainty as a natural part of life rather than something to be feared or controlled.
What I love about this approach is that it doesn’t promise to eliminate worry. Instead, it teaches you how to hold space for both anxiety and calm, for both excitement and fear. The meditations are practical and accessible, perfect for those moments when your mind is spinning with what-ifs.
2. Somatic Approaches from Firefly Therapy
For the physical side of hypervigilance, that tension in your shoulders, the shallow breathing, the feeling like you’re always “on,” I’ve found incredible value in somatic approaches. Firefly Therapy’s guide to somatic approaches for hypervigilance offers concrete techniques for calming an overactive nervous system.
These aren’t just mental exercises; they’re body-based practices that help reset your physical state. Simple techniques like conscious breathing and gentle movement can shift you from a state of hyperalert scanning to one of calm awareness.
What I’m learning (again)
This move is teaching me, once again, that uncertainty isn’t the enemy, resistance to uncertainty is. Every time I catch myself catastrophizing about life in Dubai or the logistics of our move, I try to pause and ask: “What if this unknown thing could be wonderful? What if I don’t need to figure it all out right now?”
The truth is, I don’t know what my life will look like in six months. I don’t know which coffee shop will become my regular spot, or which route I’ll take to work, or how quickly I’ll adapt to the desert heat. And slowly, I’m learning that not knowing is actually okay. It’s even, possibly, exciting.
A gentle reminder
If you’re in your own season of transition or uncertainty, please be patient with your hypervigilant tendencies. They developed as a way to keep you safe, and honoring that while also gently expanding your capacity for the unknown is delicate work.
You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to be perfectly calm about big changes. You just have to keep breathing, keep taking the next right step, and remember that you’ve navigated uncertainty before. And you can do it again.
Here’s to the messy, beautiful, sometimes anxiety-provoking adventure of creating new chapters in our lives. May we find our ground even when the earth beneath our feet is shifting.
What tools or practices help you navigate uncertainty? I’d love to hear what grounds you during times of change.
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