Anxiety - What is it good for and how can I calm down?

What is anxiety?

Everyone perceives anxiety differently, but many of us experience it as this lingering anticipation of what is about to happen.

Such unpleasant excitement comes with a whole lot of other trouble-makers. Does any of this sound familiar?

• Sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, fidgeting, stuttering,

• Fear, worries

• Our thoughts are chaotic and racing, we can’t think clearly or not at all 

Why is this happening?

What is this happening to me and humanity and what in the world is it good for?

Understandably, you may be troubled by your anxiety, but actually…

…anxiety means that your nervous system gets ready to deal with something, a threat, that usually occurs in the future. Such nervous system activation is super important because, without it, you would not be as able to fight something that’s dangerous (or flee from it).

Also, this threat detection system that is so engaged during anticipated danger helps you recognize that there is danger in the first place.

What happens to my body when anxiety visits (uninvited!)?

 Our system is rather genius. All these things start to happen in our intelligent bodies to help you fight or flee… whatever is needed to survive.

 Hormones are released (yup, that adrenaline…), your heart starts pounding faster, your blood pressure increases, your breathing gets faster, and your muscles activate….

Another interesting thing is that your thinking brain (prefrontal cortex) shuts down. Remember that mental block last time you felt overwhelmed or anxious? Exactly! It has a purpose! When a lion is about to attack you, you don’t want to be busy second-guessing what you should do while it is fast approaching. The mental shut-down is a survival response that tells you: DON’T OVERTHINK IT! ACT NOW!!

Feeling anxious? It means you are alive, and your survival system is working well….

Let’s give thanks to our sympathetic nervous systems (fight or flight system) ….because without them, humanity would likely not have made it ?!

But what happens when your sympathetic nervous system is working too well?... working when it should be resting…. Working when there is no actual threat to your survival… Going into overdrive!!!!!

 You are experiencing anxiety and suffering the effects of it. When our nervous systems gear up for survival, they are experiencing physical, cognitive and emotional stress. Such stress is good and has a purpose if it lasts a short while. It is meant to be short-term.

Such stress on your body helps you to perform, to outrun that wild thing chasing you, fight it or flee. It is said that mothers have lifted cars to save their babies. Whether this is true or not, it is true that such stress enables us to do what we otherwise would not be able to! So let me say this one more time: our systems are genius and what we consider anxiety actually drives survival and thanks to that you and I are here today.

Stress is meant to be short-term!

But…I hear ya…. stress is meant to be short-term! Long-term survival stress, let’s name it anxiety, affects our well-being, physically and mentally, and how we view the world around us. While stress is important in moments of threat, it is debilitating if it lasts a long time and/or is very frequent.

If you have experienced past trauma, your survival system had to work hard to get you through this experience and now it is used to working hard… Indeed, your brain may respond to those past events as if they are happening in the present…and we need to teach it, like a kind parent, that even though the experience of anxiety is strong, the threat is no longer there.

Even if you did not experience trauma, the experience of anxiety is likely still a familiar one. If you are human, you know what anxiety feels like…

What can we do about it?

There are so many different techniques to deal with anxiety, and I am sure you have heard about many of them and tried some of them as well. Generally, it’s important to teach our systems to relax, both in daily life and then in the moments when anxiety hits. Well, this is no small thing if your system is trained for threat detection, because of past trauma (whether it is personal or collective) and/or difficult circumstances. Fortunately, even a little bit of relaxation brings relief.

Especially for folks with a very dysregulated nervous system (due to trauma, PTSD, or stressful circumstances in the present) doing something relaxing may not be enough to help a stressed nervous system discharge and relax. Somatic Therapy for anxiety works a bit like having a personal trainer for your nervous system. Together we find out what your system needs to feel safe. Then we can look at the things that stress you out and release some of that activation in session so that your nervous system carries less charge around in daily life and concerning the things that now stress you out. Contact me to learn more!