With all of the travesty in the world, from the ongoing violence to the pandemic, the prevalence of anxiety has risen over the years and continues to climb among all demographics. To put it simply, anxiety arises out of fear, the unknown / uncertainity, to which we sure have had a lot of.
Symptoms of anxiety are having that fight, flight, or freeze response. Heart starts to race, trembling may occur, racing thoughts, nausea, butterflies in stomach, etc. It is important to pay attention to your body because if you notice any of these symptoms, then it is time to take a step back and check in with yourself, to see what is happening for you in the moment.
Instead of running from anxiety, sit with it. Running from it will not cause the anxiety to disappear, but rather fester. In a Fast Company article, a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the City University of New York, Tracy Dennis-Tiwary stated, “The problem is not that we feel too anxious, the problem is that we haven’t mastered how to feel anxious.” I like this statement because so many times in my sessions with clients, they are often asking what is wrong with them for feeling anxious, to which my answer is always, nothing is wrong with you. It is all about the way you frame things.
I was told years ago that anxiety is a protector, it tries to help us navigate situations that may be harmful. The problem is sometimes it can be maladaptive, causing stress verses helpfulness. Anxiety causes people to leap in the future rather than being present. View it as being a vehicle trying to help us instead of causing hurt. As the driver, you need to steer it in the direction to best serve you. So, how are you going to steer your anxiety?
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