What is anxiety?
The answer is simple; it’s a false sense of reality that comes from our imagination manifesting itself into our physical sensations of the present.
Anxiety is future based, our mind is imaging a scary future, however the mind alone doesn’t know what’s true, instead it believes everything you tell it. This means that if you respond to an anxious sensation by taking action and doing something else the mind will respond to that, and believe that to be true instead.
We are what we think - - What we think we become - - We will be as we see ourself
Let me tell you a story.
Recently I experienced a surge of overwhelming anxiety, this wasn’t a real concern, the reality was that I was about to face something scary and therefore to feel anxiety might be expected.
Perhaps you can relate by remembering a time you were about to go into a job interview, present on stage, have a difficult conversation you would rather avoid or go into a medical procedure etc. In fact all these things are real and therefore the anxiety is prompted by anticipation of the unknown, although easier to understand or even justify this type of anxiety in reality the problematic symptoms of anxiety are caused by our mind creating a fear response to an unknown or uncertain future.
Sometimes anxiety can also be created without the prospect of something in our awareness, this can grow and become a problem.
Either way the symptoms and the way to resolve them are the same.
In this story I realised that what I was experiencing was anxiety, it had burned away slowly in the back ground, the embers growing and my imagination creating something to be fearful of. My mind responded by sending chemical signals out to my body – there was a perceived danger and the brains job is to respond to keep us safe. The truth is however I wasn’t in danger, my mind only behaved this way because I told it to do so. As my imagination took over my fear became a physical reality, I was now in the midst of an attack of anxiety. In this place its really difficult to see the wood for the trees, everything begins to feel foggy and we begin to feel out of control, that’s because our reptilian brain is starting to take over. So what did I do?
I stopped myself in my tracks and out loud (I was alone) I said “Gemma what would you do for someone else in this situation?” I immediately (and safely) stopped my car and pulled over, I then completed around 5 rounds of EFT (emotional freedom technique, a popular go to with my clients) by stopping and activating different parts of the brain I was able to acknowledge the fear, accept the emotion, reason with it, challenge the reality and shift my perspective. I then completed 2 minutes of yogi breath to reset my system and find a place of peace. All the while I repeated the mantras "I am safe, I choose to surrender, in doing so I am in control, I am safe" and the feeling of drowning in anxiety was replaced with something much calmer. When another wave came I breathed deeply and reminded myself, "I am safe". My mind needed that reassurance from me and when I chose to behave in a different way my mind responded and altered its patterns and signals.
I wont sugar coat it, it will feel hard for the first few moments when anxiety takes a grip to introduce a new behaviour but stick with it and you will see the sensations change when you don’t indulge the imagined sense of reality. Your body and mind with thank you for it and the great news is the more you practice these techniques (even when your not in a moment of crisis) the more you remember the benefit and the quicker and more powerful the benefit will be when you next need it.
With clients I use all these techniques and more, allowing you to visualise yourself the way you want to be, to experience sensations and notice what’s going on without having to drown in that experience. Learn to say no to fear and anxiety and stay with yourself, we are the creators of our reality.
Much Love
Gemma x