We believe in staying in the present moment. However, it is important to also be able to see things from a wider perspective.
Staying in the present
We believe in meditation, mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) — and in trying to stay in the present moment. We believe that things are never as bad in the present moment as they are in the future that we’ve imagined, or in the past that we are remembering and bringing with us.
An important part of being able to stay in the present moment, however, is to still be able to be flexible in your perspective and see the present moment from a wider view.
A satellite view
Some therapists refer to this ‘wider view’ as the 10,000 ft view or as the hot air balloon perspective. We prefer to think of it as the perspective of a satellite looking down on a hurricane.
When you’re on the ground in a hurricane, all you can see around you is the storm. You don’t know how big the storm is or how long it will last. The storm is intense and feels as though it must be everywhere in the world, and that it will go on forever.
Despite how intense the storm feels on the ground, if you look at it through a weather satellite, you are able to see the larger picture. You can begin to see the boundary of the storm, where there is an eye wall, and if there is a clearing in the middle. You can see that the storm has bounds — it’s not everywhere, and it won’t go on forever. It’s not in Oklahoma, or in Tennessee, or in Florida — it’s just over Houston, at this moment in time.
Similarly, whatever it is that you’re going through at this moment — it’s finite.
Source: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University (CSU/CIRA) & the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
A moment on a timeline
Another visual you can use to better understand this ‘wider perspective’ is the idea of a timeline in a history book.
For someone who is living through a major, horrible event, it can feel like that event touches every corner of your life. For those living through World War II or the Black Plague, everything you touched, saw, did, and thought about was about the war or the plague. Everything was related to that event and it was all that anyone would ever talk about, and you might have barely even been able to remember what life was like before it started.
However, if you look at the timeline in a history book — it’s barely even a moment. In the U.S., involvement in World War II lasted only four years. In Europe, it lasted only six. It likely felt like a lifetime for the people who were immersed in it, but one day the war was over and they were moving on with their lives.
When you look at a timeline, it’s not even a centimeter in a long timeline of continuing history.
These visualizations may help you be able to put even the worst, biggest moments into perspective and help you rationalize that they won’t last forever.
About Us
Wells Medicine is a Houston-based practice designed to provide meaningful care for mental health. Providing targeted interventional treatments for Depression, Anxiety, OCD, PTSD and other conditions, with Ketamine Treatments, Stellate Ganglion Blocks, TMS, and Nitrous-Oxide Treatments. Focused on comprehensive care and integration with Psychiatry, Psychology, and Support Services. We are evidence-based, patient-focused and mission-driven.
The content here is for informational purposes and should not be relied upon for medical decisions. For the details of your specific medical conditions and treatments consult your doctors or other qualified healthcare professionals.
