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What if we viewed anxiety as a bodymind messenger asking for loving attention rather than something we must try to “stop feeling” or “get rid of”?
What if we turned towards the feeling of anxiety we may be experiencing with curiosity, compassionate inquiry and gently ask, what is this symptom of anxiety trying to tell me?
What if this experience of anxiety is a natural response to an unnatural environment and immense societal pace & pressures?
There can be myriad reasons why a person may experience anxiety.
A more chronic experience of anxiety can often stem from past unresolved trauma memory in the body and a nervous system in a more perpetuated stress state. In this circumstance we may experience strong body reactions due to the amygdala in the brain overriding the executive function due to a perceiving a threat to our safety and wellbeing. The amygdala hijack often results in a heightened emotional response that may be out of measure in relation to the actual trigger or stimuli occurring due to the trauma memory in the body.
Other experiences of anxiety can include a social anxiety, or a more generalised anxiety that we feel day to day, or even perhaps a relatively fleeting experience due to a shift in gut health.
Whatever the reason, anxiety is a natural human response designed to keep us safe. It’s a miraculous in built protective mechanism designed to sense potential threat or danger and fight, fly or freeze our way out of the situation/danger.
When we experience anxiety in today’s modern society, often that threat or danger is not the tiger we may have once ran from as hunters and gatherers thousands of years ago. Rather these days it may be a looming deadline, a rammed calendar with back to back obligations, a post traumatic memory being triggered, being pulled in so many different directions meeting the needs of others, the never ending expectations of a capitalist society and so on.
Whatever the reason for our experience of anxiety, it is ultimately asking for us to look within. Anxiety is asking for our loving attention, it is asking for us to nurture the nervous system, to facilitate a feeling of safety & to potentially slow down from the speed at which we may be moving through day to day life.
As we allow ourselves space & time to rest, and facilitate a feeling of safety within the nervous system and bodymind, we may also start to look at our life and lifestyle choices in a bit more detail.
We may observe any areas that may offer the greatest feeling of resistance, ask why we feel such a resistance and potentially consider steps to make incremental change.
We may look at our food choices which impacts our gut health, which is our enteric nervous system that connects directly to the brain.
We may look at if we are moving the body daily to help facilitate (energetic & fluid) flow and (emotional) expression.
We may look at our function of breathing, which if we experience anxiety is going to requiring some attention to gently slow the rate of breath & deepen the breath.
We may consider if we are feeling and expressing our emotions in a healthy way, or are we (consciously or unconsciously) suppressing feelings & emotions deeper into the bodymind for them to present in other ways (symptoms) down the track?
Often embarking on a journey like this, we may have hopes or expectations for a quick fix. The beautiful news is if we make small & sustainable changes where we can from the outset, we can often see some shifts in the immediate term. However, the overall journey of healing a more chronic experience of anxiety can take time.
If we do experience a more chronic feeling of anxiety, it’s possible we may also experience some level of disconnection from our body (because the feeling of anxiety can be so uncomfortable, we unconsciously disconnect or disassociate as a way to protect ourselves from the feeling of anxiety - which is a natural response), and that takes time and a very gentle approach (in a way that feels manageable and safe) to slowly reconnect with Self & enhance that Self relationship.
It's important to note here, each person's experience of anxiety is going to be unique to the individual. As mentioned above, we can experience anxiety for any number of different reasons. As such, there can be a multitude of different approaches to potentially help a person alleviate their own feelings of anxiety.
If we are supporting a person experiencing acute panic, we can help them by communicating from a place of non judgement, listen to what the person is saying and/or asking for, embodying a calm and grounded energy and helping them to feel safe.
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Holly is a holistic counsellor, holistic lifestyle coach (CHEK), an advanced functional breathing instructor and teaches the Buteyko breathing method.
If you’d like to learn more or have a chat, connect via the contact page or email.
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