What If One Simple Practice Could Change Your Life—And Our World?

There’s a practice I teach my clients that has the power to shift everything—your mood, your body, your outlook on life.

I call it the “What If” practice.

In today’s world, with so much chaos and destruction, it’s easy to default to worst-case scenarios. Catastrophic thinking becomes our habit.

But there’s something profound about life on this planet. The world is held together by the balance of opposites. The yin-yang symbol is a perfect representation of this.

There is no up without down, no hot without cold, no masculine without feminine, no North Pole without South Pole—and no war without peace. We can’t know one opposite without knowing the other exists.

So, if worst-cast scenarios exist, the best-case scenarios must also be possible.

What if things actually work out better for you than you could ever imagine?

“But there is no energy unless there is a tension of opposites; hence it is necessary to discover the opposite to the attitude of the conscious mind.” — C.G. Jung, The Essential Jung, Selected Writings.

A Client’s Journey: From Anxiety to Balance

Client A came to me struggling with anxiety. She couldn’t sleep at night. Her mind raced with fears about the future and regrets from the past, locked in a relentless loop of worst-case thinking. Her body stayed stuck in fight or flight mode.

Together, we practiced somatic exercises designed to shift her nervous system into parasympathetic mode—our “rest and digest” state. As her body relaxed, her thoughts began to calm.

I explained that life is about balance—between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, action and rest, doing and being, masculine and feminine energies. Positive and negative thoughts both have their place.

Understanding Your Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system triggers our “fight or flight” response. It gets us moving—whether cooking a meal, working hard, or protecting ourselves. This is often linked to masculine energy: doing, acting, striving.

The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, supports rest, recovery, and simply being. It’s the feminine energy of slowing down, nurturing, and rejuvenating.

If we’re caught in negative or doom-filled thoughts, our sympathetic nervous system stays activated, keeping our body in a state of stress.

Breaking the Cycle: The “What If” Practice

How do we break free from these patterns?

The future isn’t set in stone. So what if we imagined a better one instead of a devastating one?

The law of polarities says everything has an opposite. Like the yin-yang symbol, each side contains a bit of the other.

If our natural pattern is to spiral into negativity, we can restore balance by inviting the opposite in.

What if things are always working out for me?

What if I find the perfect place to live?

What if I wake up feeling rested and peaceful?

The challenge is these negative thought patterns don’t form overnight. They’re learned from family, society and media—and are as ingrained in our body as driving a car. Often, we cycle through catastrophic ideas unconsciously, barely noticing—just like driving without remembering the route.

Catching the Spiral and Rebooting

The key is catching yourself in the doomsday spiral.

When you become aware of the pattern, you can interrupt it faster and faster.

Since 95% of our choices come from the unconscious, these negative thoughts are often automatic and body-locked.

That’s why it’s essential to involve your body in the “What If” practice:

• When you catch yourself spiraling, pause.

• Shift your thoughts to neutral, then take three deep breaths—like rebooting a wonky phone.

• After the breaths, begin your “What If” practice, saying aloud or thinking positive possibilities—the opposites to the negatives looping through your mind and body.

And this step is crucial: believe your “What Ifs.” Feel the truth of them in your body.

Permission to Feel Positive

We easily feel negative fears. Here’s your permission to feel positive thoughts, too.

What if I can break these negative patterns?

What if my body relaxes deeply?

What if peaceful, positive thoughts become my default?

What if happiness is my new normal?

After practicing this, Client A was amazed at how much better she felt.

Restoring Balance to Our Inner Ecosystem

The “What If’ practice is more than a mental exercise — it’s a somatic and spiritual rebalancing tool rooted in the natural laws of the universe.

Just as the Earth continually seeks balance, so do we. By inviting in the possibility of joy, peace and goodness, we restore balance to our inner fearful world—and ripple that energy outward.

So ask yourself:

What if peace is possible?

What if love becomes our default?

What if it really is all working out better than we imagined?

What if?