3 Tools That Can Help heal your anxiety

Anxiety happens in the presence of danger you can’t do anything about. Fear is a healthy and helpful response when you’re in an immediate danger. It alerts us and mobilizes us into action. Anxiety can show up in many ways and on many levels: physically, emotionally, and mentally.  Anxiety is often embedded deep into the subconscious, especially if there is a history of childhood trauma or neglect. Past events and experiences are stored in the body. Thinking patterns and defense mechanisms become habitual, and we carry them throughout our adult life, unaware of their negative consequences. These are all hard things to deal with.

We can overcome all these by employing these tools below;

Mindfulness

The first step in calming anxiety is mindfulness that is becoming aware of the here and now, without judgment or trying to change our experience. The good news is that our physical body is a perfect vehicle for bringing ourselves into present awareness. Mindfulness is the tool that can shed the light on our habitual thinking, feeling, behaving, and holding patterns.

When you are triggered, start by anchoring yourself in your breath. Take a deep breath in, then slowly and fully exhale. Keep breathing deeply and slowly while allowing your experience to be as is, without judgment.

Slowly move your attention to your entire body and start tracking your sensations. This allows us to get out of our head and embody our current experience. If we are able to stay present and open with breath as our anchor, we will slowly calm the physical part of anxiety. This in turn, slows us down mentally, allowing us to calm down the racing thoughts and emotional reactions.

Self-compassion

No positive change can happen in the atmosphere of criticism and self-abuse. We can’t force ourselves to do better. We have to offer ourselves support and encouragement in order to heal and grow. Negative self-talk is the hallmark of anxiety.

Tapping into self-compassion can help us break our entrenched patterns of self-criticism, while still allowing us to be honest about our fears. We can remember that no one is perfect, and everyone struggles in one way or another. We are human, and all humans go through moments of struggle, and we can offer ourselves kindness and understanding. Think of your self-compassionate voice as a supportive and kind friend who’s encouraging you to see things in a clearer, more balanced way. Offer yourself understanding, love, and care.

Self-expression

The hardest part of anxiety is learning to let go. Letting go is difficult, even if consciously we understand that our hurt and fears are a heavy burden to carry. This is the stuff that weighs us down, physically and emotionally diminishing our life force. The enormous energy needed to protect ourselves from pain and anxiety is depleting, and so we must learn to release the fears and unburden our soul. One good way is by writing. When we write we give our internal world a voice. We slow down and clear our head, and gradually deepen our understanding of ourselves. We are then able to process and makes sense of what’s happening with us and around us. Writing is an act of courage. You show up for yourself, expose your vulnerabilities bringing the ugly parts into the light to look at it up close.