Beat Anxiety in 3 Simple Steps

Beat anxiety in three simple steps. Take back the control from your brain, which has been operating off of an anxious program. You can do this by dealing with your thoughts, your feelings and physical responses with consistency. You can reprogram your brain. You can write a new story. Here are three steps to get you started. Number one Physical responses Anxiety lives in a brainstem that has gotten stuck in a repetitive groove of fight, flight, flight or freeze. We have to interrupt this groove and put in a new narrative. The brainstem does not respond to logic or emotional reasoning, so that's why I developed the 4S model for being in the body. I talk about the 4S model in quite a bit of detail in my act method for anxiety, but I want to share some with you today. Scene Wherever you are, change up the scene. This may mean going for a walk outside or even changing the wall art or using a diffuser. Whatever it is that you're exposed to in the scene, the environment, you want to change it up. Scent Scents can bring back memories in a flash. It can distract the brain from a repetitive group of thoughts and in some in and of themselves, they can be therapeutically beneficial. Like lavender sip the brainstem loves tastes and textures. Chew on ice even though it's not the best for your teeth, but maybe gum or lick a lollipop. Stimuli stimulate your body in a way that is louder than the anxiety itself is. This may involve something as basic as noticing the feet in your shoes or something more extreme like sticking your face in a bowl of ice water. Step two Are your thoughts. You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are normal and when we are anxious we tend to have a lot more thoughts that seem chaotic, out of control, repetitive, focused on the worst case scenario. When these thoughts come up, simply notice them as material from an over anxious brain and then check value check and provide counter suggestion. I can teach you so much more about this, but a simple way to get started is to write down all your anxious thoughts on the left hand side of a piece of paper and then draw a vertical line down the middle and on the other side write down alternative possibilities or counter suggestions. A different way of looking at each thing. If you're struggling with the right hand column, solicit help from a trusted friend or helper. Step three Are feelings Just like you are not your thoughts, you are not your feelings. Your feelings are an attempt to provide you data to protect you, but they get stuck in anxious cycles of feelings and they can feel like tidal waves. One of the key points of emotional regulation is to notice that no feeling is permanent, even though sometimes panic and anxiety can feel permanent. The best thing that we can do when emotions become extreme is to just notice the waves. Notice the waves of emotion where they start in your body, the thought that comes with the wave as it begins, and then notice how it peaks. Notice how it flows out of you. The more you try to control the feelings, the stickier the feelings are going to get. So learning to give up on your control of your feelings and find a way to let the feelings come and pass through you, the less anxiety you're actually going to have. So let's reiterate Step one When your anxiety starts to get the best of you, get into your body with the 4S model. Step 2 Remember, you are not your thoughts. Your thoughts are simply data from an overactive brain that has been wired for anxiety. Working with the thoughts and retraining them will help you rewire your brain and write the story that you have been longing for. Step 3 Do not resist your emotions. In fact, holding space for them not only reduces the stickiness and power, but also provides your nervous system with an outlet for releasing instead of suppressing. I have so much more to share with you and if this has been at all helpful for you, you may be interested in checking out my free Anxiety Anxiety Freedom One Week Challenge let's test drive what life feels like without anxiety behind the wheel. You can get access to that one week challenge and get the journaling workbook that goes with it by clicking in the link in the description of this video.