Anxiety is a common experience for most of us. Some have it more strongly than others. Anxiety disorders or conditions have a wide variety of ways that they show up for people. Some have grown over time while others are triggered in stressful situations and then continue.
In my research of anxiety, it has been stated that anxiety often arises from a number of factors: a parent with an anxiety disorder (genetic), traumatic events, stressful situations, substance abuse, or health problems. These are not the only reasons, but the most common.
In my experience (and as defined by others), anxiety is a persistent fear or worry about every day circumstances. Anxiety is also focused largely on the future or something upcoming, whether real or imagined.
For anyone who has had anxiety or has an anxiety condition, we will know what it feels like to be anxious. How it impacts the body, mind, and emotions. How it leaves us feeling when we are in it, either from time to time or sustained over time. If we are not aware of our anxiety, we have a great opportunity to better understand it and to overcome it in our different ways.
What might not be known by people who know me is that I have lived with an anxiety condition or disorder for my whole life. It has sometimes been intense, challenging, and destabilizing for me. I experienced myself largely as a peaceful, calm, and collected soul, always willing as well as trained to step up to help others. My work in the healing arts and many other professional endeavors over the years have been "service-orientated." To help others heal and grow. But to do any of this work, we often have to go through it ourselves.
Anxiety has been a real part of my journey and I've gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge about it. And still am.
First, here are some tips for understanding anxiety from my experience:
1. It is often just a "passing wave of energy" or experience that will subside if we allow it to run its course.
2. Often what we think is going to happen to us "when anxious" isn't based on what will actually occur. I'm not saying the fears can't be real or feel real, it's just that they are often exaggerated and sometimes misplaced or imaginary when we are "in it."
3. Anxiety isn't often about the "present moment" even if we live it that way. Anxiety is rooted in a fear of the future or a memory of the past.
Here's an explanation to this last one:
Anxiety is often a projection into the future, usually based in fear or worry. It's about something that might happen that we have no way of knowing it will actually occur. But we think it will because we often have a "memory from the past" that triggers our anxiety. We fear the past will repeat itself in the future. We are often conditioned to believe this from our experiences. Part of our healing, however, is letting go of certain beliefs and bringing more awareness to what is actually going on and to a sense of our "true safety." (I will expand on this in a future blog)
Here are a few ways to help us overcome some of our anxiety:
1. Don't resist it. Allow it to arise and be released. We can say to ourselves: "I acknowledge that I am feeling anxious right now and that it will pass."
2. Take a few minutes and do the following grounding exercise or body scan: "Focus our attention on our feet before on our legs and hips and then our tailbone. From the tailbone slowly follow the spine up to the neck and then followed by attention on the chest to our shoulders and arms to the hands. Continue with our attention to the face, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth plus jaw. Focus our attention on each body part as we work our way upwards. Remember to breathe as we go.
3. Go for a run, dance, move our body or exercise, and practice breathing! Do anything healthy that will keep us focused in the now and that moves our body!
If we have longstanding anxiety, the above ways will only begin the process of healing. That said, we have to start somewhere. Understanding and overcoming the most destabilizing aspects of anxiety require a deeper process in mind, body, and soul, but one that is completely attainable with time.
Thank you for reading and much love. We overcome our anxiety together.
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