How to quite the beast of Anxiety

We all have encountered the beast of anxiety at some point in our lives, some people fight it daily. I describe the beast as something that lays quietly waiting in our mind waiting for one faulty thought and the minute that happens, boom the beast comes alive. In the blink of a second the beast creates overthinking, racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, poor judgement, and fear only to leave us overwhelmed questioning our reality.  A few great coping skills you can use to help minimize anxiety are:

 Grounding: One way of grounding is to sit down, take a deep breath and start orientating yourself around the room. For example: name every object in the room, for example that is a door, window, curtains, bookshelf, etc. This can be done anywhere. Grounding works because it helps refocus and center the mind bringing yourself back to the present state.

 Deep Breathing:  Take 10 deep breaths. Breath in for 5 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, and release for 5 seconds, and repeat 10 times.

 Journaling: Journaling is great for quieting the racing thoughts and over thinking. There is power in thought to hand and hand to paper. This allows you a way to express your thoughts, letting them go in away, instead of ruminating on them feeding the anxiety.

 Keep in mind anxiety can happen at anytime and to anyone. Seeing a therapist and working through anxiety will give you the insight, awareness, and tools that can be used to cope with anxiety..

Suppressed Emotions

What are suppressed emotions and how can we notice when we have them.

I love to use this analogy, so here we go!

Have you ever went and got your car cleaned. Afterwards you feel accomplished for completing a chore, your car smells fresh, and you ready to take on the day. You stop for a soft drink at a gas station. You get your favorite kind, get back in your car, and all sudden you spill your drink. Your initial reaction might be to start cursing, yelling, feeling irritated, or becoming frustrated. All the sudden you went from feeling accomplished to feeling like your day has went from great to awful in seconds. However an hour to two hours later you are not still irritated about that spilt drink. You have moved on with your day. Well this is an example of how emotions should flow. Emotions are meant to move like waves when processed in a healthy ways. They come and go often lasting for a brief period of time.

 Now keep that analogy in mind. Can you recall thinking of a memory in life when you were hurt and it brings you unrest, irritability, anger, shame, blame. You might find yourself thinking of the memory and start ruminating, creating a cinema movie that could win an Oscar . If you can relate to this then there are unresolved emotions, emotions that are stuck. When emotions become stuck it stunts emotional maturity, skews our perception of ourselves, others, and the way we view the world.

 A great way to explore feelings is finding a safe space to process your thoughts and feelings. Allowing yourself the ability to grieve and heal. Letting go of the false beliefs and embracing your TRUTH!