Anxiety Tools To Get You Through

With the current circumstances of a pandemic happening and a polarized election around the corner, there is a collective amount of anxiety and overwhelm happening with individuals and families. I’ve been busier than ever lately with coaching.

I want to help you if you are having a difficult time navigating the restlessness going on in our country and within your own head and heart space.

When anxiety comes on, we have choices, but often times we don't think we do. We don’t have to be consumed in the overwhelm and shut down, or rely on ‘hope’ that things get better.

Instead, we can utilize some powerful anxiety coping tools and call upon our ability to be present, practice mindfulness, and cultivate some inner resilience.

Here’s what I’ve noticed as a student of psychology, a yoga instructor for over twenty years, and in my coaching practice. There are three different ways anxiety comes up for most of us, but for now I’m going to focus on the number one cause, our Thoughts:

Thoughts Create Feelings: We think anxious thoughts based on perceived threats, whether real or imagined, and then we feel anxious. The brain doesn’t differentiate between reality and imagination when coupled with the anxiety response triggered in the amygdala (the region activated in preparation for flight or flight responses.)

The anxiety loop of anxious thoughts creating anxious feelings feeds upon itself, like a snake eating its own tail, in that it doesn’t know any better and therefor can be tricky to untangle.

What to do: Mindfulness approaches, such as doing Thought Downloads, (stream of conscious writing that gets all the spinning thoughts out of your head and onto paper.) Thought Downloads are in their most basic form, brain dumps on paper. Once you write, and I recommend doing so for a good three to five minutes, then sit back and read the story you’ve written. Notice if there is any hyperbole (exaggeration) or drama (catastrophizing) in the Thought Download, and if so – question if it is true NOW?

You will most likely notice that your present moment is okay for the here and now. The brain will want to spin into “yeah, but what if . . .”  and here’s where it is super helpful to answer your brain in a soothing tone, and keep it focused on the here and now with a breathing strategy I personally love, called Box Breathing:

• Breath in for 3 counts.
• Hold the top of the inhale for 3 counts.
• Breath out for 3 counts.
• Hold the bottom of the exhale for 3 counts.

Continue breathing in this pattern, but increase the number by 4’s, 5’s, and possibly up to 8’s.

It is reported that Navy Seals use this method of breathing when in stressful situations.

Once you’ve completed the Thought Download and the Box Breathing, you will be able to access your pre-frontal cortex portion of the brain, (executive functioning and planning center) and you’ll be able to plan more purposefully how you want to Think about your present moment and what could happen in the future. Try not to let the brain spin out into catastrophizing. Think of possible best-case scenarios and picture in your mind’s eye what that could look like.

When our Thoughts run away from us and are future focused on what could go wrong, we tend to picture ourselves handling things at our worst. It makes sense why this happens. We worry and project the worst in an effort to protect and control the worst from happening.

But this doesn’t work.

Because what we’re doing is feeling terrible ahead of time in order not to feel terrible sometime down the road.

Logically, anxiety doesn’t make any sense.

But biologically, it makes perfect sense.

Anxiety in the body is the body’s way of trying to protect you and keep you alive.

So don’t layer guilt or anger on top of feeling anxious. Greet the anxiety with some radical acceptance and think of it as a perfectly normal human response that is there for your good.

I’ve noticed there is a lot of stigma around anxiety. Perhaps this is what can make people less likely to seek out help. A substantial amount of people think that if they have anxiety, they are deficient. They don’t categorize it as an emotion that's valid. Instead, they make anxiety mean that it is a sign of personal weakness. None of that is true at all.

The stigma is reflective upon the ignorance of people in our society, and is not reflective of truth. Anxiety is normal. And it serves a beneficial purpose.

I encourage you to challenge the stigma. If you have an anxiety disorder it doesn’t mean there’s something terribly wrong with you.

You’re not alone and nothing’s wrong with you.

I am really good at dealing with anxiety, both as a professional and on a personal level. And I can help you with yours. You don’t have to suffer and try to navigate it alone. Reach out and let’s get you some support. My prices are reasonable on purpose, to help make modern mental health accessible and easy.

Another tool I love that you can use right away is to listen to some great podcasts:

Here are a few good ones that are specific to the topic of anxiety:

• Ten Percent Happier…Host Dan Harris, an ABC newscaster, had a panic attack live on GMA. Now his podcast and bestselling book by the same title explore Panic Disorder and anxiety, and all the changes he’s made to take control of them in his own life. 
• The Calmer You…Anxiety expert and hypnotherapist Chloe Brotheridge (and her soothing voice) dishes out solutions for achieving a more confident and calmer self. 
• Anxiety Slayer...Provides interviews with mental health professionals and actionable tips for managing anxiety.

Anxiety is no joke. Mental health stigmas are real, but so are your options. There is hope in finding treatments that resonate with you. Anxiety does not mean weakness; it means you’re human—and learning to manage the condition and live your life. 

Love you my Friends,

Danielle