What is anxiety?
Anxiety is simply a feeling (for me- a vague fluttery vibration).
And no matter how intense it may be, it can’t actually harm you until you resist it.
Anxiety pops up when we feel some threat.
It is there to prime you to take protective action.
Like in the caveman days when we had to survive a saber-tooth tiger attack.
It puts you into survival mode, signaling to your body to conserve energy for things like thinking clearly and preparing to fight, freeze, flee, or fawn. 👊🏼 ❄️ 🏃🏻 🦌
The reality is that in modern times, we are rarely in life-threatening danger…
but our brains don’t know the difference.
Once our threat detection system is activated, it is ON!
So, when we have not learned to build awareness around what triggers our anxiety in advance and then compound that with resisting feeling it, we go down the path of a panic attack.
So how can we deal with anxiety?
💙The first step is shining the light of your awareness on the feeling by recognizing and naming it. Where does it show up for you in your body?
💙 You can say (either out loud or in your head) “Oh, I am feeling anxious right now.” Embrace it.
💙 Then, simply allow the anxious feeling to be there.
💙 Let it move through your body and pay attention to how it feels as it passes through you. You might initially notice your breath becoming shallower, your heart beating faster or your hands beginning to tremble.
💙 While uncomfortable, remind yourself that all feelings are temporary, nothing lasts forever, and the more you surrender to the anxious feelings, the more quickly they will pass.
💙 You can set a timer for 5-10 minutes and focus on breathing in deeply and slowly through your nose and then exhaling through your mouth.
Dealing with anxiety can be hard if you don’t have the tools to process the emotion.
Book a Discovery Consultation with me today and let me help you learn how to process ALL of your feelings in a more productive way. 🦋
