Back in the primitive age to stay alive we had to use the fight of flight mentality. If you didn't you would die. Literally. You could get killed by a Sabre Tooth Tiger. In this modern day we don't have that kind of threat. No big tiger is going to kill us. Yet we still have that fight or flight mentality when we get worried or anxious about something. Our primitive brain wants to take control and convince us those are the only options. We can fight against those feelings or we can run away from them and try to ignore them. What if we can just accept them? What if we can be fine sitting in our anxiety and just letting it be a part of us? When you feel anxiety start to come up on you, try these steps.
1. Say to yourself, "This is just anxiety" Sit there thinking that for a minute. It's OK you a can sit there and feel it for a minute.
2. Close your eyes and try and be aware of where you feel anxiety. Where in your body do you feel it. A lot of people feel it in their stomach. Where do you feel it? In what part of your body?
3. Put a color to your anxiety. What color is it? Is it blue? Is it black? Is it Red? When you think about feeling your anxiety what color would you think of?
4. Now describe the shape and feel of it. I know this sounds a little weird but if you can get a visual of what it looks like inside your body you really start to make it seem not so big and over whelming. What kind of shape does it take? Is it hard or soft? Spiky or rounded?
Once we see that we can describe our anxiety in detail, then we can see that it is not so scary and not so overwhelming. There is nothing to be afraid of. We can be anxious and not feel like we have to fight or run away from it. We can just be OK with it. I love this concept so much and it is one of the first things I teach in my program for teenagers and young adults who feel anxiety in their every day lives. Click the link below if you would like to learn more to book a free mini session.
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