Posted on by Courtney

Anxiety Is Actually Your Friend

Sometimes things can get so intense, it can feel like our anxiety is making it hard for us to live our lives. So hard that we can hardly breathe!

A few symptoms of generalized anxiety can include:

1. A feeling of impending doom

Something bad is going to happen you just know it!

2. Shortness of breath

Chest tightness or like there is just not enough oxygen in the room!

3. Difficulty concentrating

What did you eat for breakfast? What time is that meeting again?! Who knows!

4. Feeling tired or weak

Any task no matter the size feels like it takes up all your energy.

5. Difficulty falling or staying asleep

You are beyond tired but just cant seem to keep get the rest you need.

6. Irritability

Every thing gets on your nerves!

7. Muscle tension

Your shoulders might as well me up to your ears there is so much tightness.

So now you may have a better idea of what anxiety can look like. You may be thinking so what do I do about it?!  First, adjust your mindset.

While super uncomfortable all these things are happening because your central nervous system is responding to queues of danger that it perceives and is attempting to prepare to you to get a move on! We have survived as a species because we learned what berries could kill us and what predator footsteps sound like. It’s a part of our inherited biology. Thank your ancestors! But what that can mean is that sometimes our central nervous system gets it wrong. Particularly, if there has been a history of trauma.

Anxiety can come creeping up at home; school, work, or in that dreaded work meeting you just got roped into. But what about those times when you need something in your back pocket for in the moment when other people are around? Here are a few things you can try both in public or private!

Anxiety Coping Skills

1. The Push Pull Dangle:

Sitting in a hard bottom chair take the palms of your hands and push down really hard for 10 seconds. Then take your hands and pull up on the bottom of your chair for 10 seconds. Then drop your hands to your sides. Feel the warmth rush up and down your loose arms.

2. Hum:

Yep! Humming can activate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve wanders all the way from your brain to your abdomen. When we make contact with the vagus nerve it can help connect to the part of your central nervous system involved with resting and digesting.

3.  Get Grounded:

Nope not the stay in your room and not see your friends type! Get to know the physical room you are in. When we get anxious we sometimes can get so “in our heads” that we don’t notice where we are! Notice how many plants are in the room. What is the fabric on the chair you are sitting in? Count the amount of light fixtures. Is the table cold on your hands? How about compared to the temperature of the cup in front of you?

4.  Touch Yourself:

Place a hand on your chest.  Gently, rest your hand on your throat or neck. Give your self a hug. Press your hands together. Softly tap your knees.  Signal to your central nervous system that you are in your own body.

5. Take A Deep Breath:

I know you might be thinking you already know this one! But hear me out for a sec. When we breathe in we activate the part of our central nervous system that prepares for fight or flight (sympathetic). When we breathe out we activate the part of our central nervous system that is in charge of resting and digesting (parasympathetic). So blow baby blow! Making sure your out breath is slower and longer than your in breath. 

Okay so you’ve thought it over maybe giving therapy a chance is the way to go! Maybe that issue at work would be easier to manage if you could quell some of those racing thoughts. Perhaps you’ve tried some yoga, mediation, or working out on your own but just need more support. Here are four reasons to take the next step in healing.

Ways Therapy Can Help Your Anxiety

Here are 4 ways that anxiety counseling can help you.

1. Decrease Shame

When we share our experience with another person and that person can validate it; the experience of shame can decrease. Sometimes when people feel anxious they worry that they are “weird”. Sitting with a professional that has talked to lots (lots!) of people just like you can let you know that you are unique but not alone.

2. Develop Coping Skills

Therapy can be a place to talk about fears and worries as well as a place to learn what to do when they continue to pop up. A skilled therapist will have a number of methods to try out to help you feel equipped.

3. Get To The Root

Would you like to learn the triggers of your anxiety? Maybe you’re wondering if your fear of being accepted has something to do with that awful time in 7th grade when you were the new kid and targeted by the school bully.  A therapist will help you explore how your struggles came about!

4. Reframe It

What if just changing the language around a situation that brings up anxiety could help you enter that social situation with more confidence? The way we talk about things matters! A therapist can offer you a fresh perspective and help challenge some old stories you’ve been telling yourself that just don’t fit anymore.

Learning to befriend our internal experiences can help us regulate our responses. Put out the welcome mat for those anxious butterflies and racing thoughts. Sure you would rather them not stick around for dinner, but you are interested in what they have to say for the moment. Using ideas of Polyvagal theory, which was adapted from neurobiology concepts, the story we tell ourselves about our internal experiences follows our central nervous system state. So if we can get to know with compassion and curiosity, our anxiety symptoms we can change the story we tell ourselves about them.

Courtney
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