The Experience of Anxiety
Anxiety - A scary word that most of us are familiar with but often avoid for fear of speaking it into existence. Anxiety can feel VERY big and VERY uncontrollable until we begin to gain the tools to deal with and manage it. The goal of this post is to give you an initial tool for changing the way you experience and interact with your anxiety and your body. The key to this exercise is to practice when anxiety is low (at a level 1 or 2 out of 10) in addition to the times when the anxiety is higher. Steps are as follows:
Begin breathing (and continue throughout the exercise) - A deep, comfortable, and slow inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth slowly and regulated, your mouth shaped as if you were blowing up a balloon.
Scan your body - Close your eyes and start at your toes, slowly turning your attention to each part of your body, (ex: your toes, soles and balls of your feet, your ankles, your calves…your neck, your scalp, your face) trying to notice how that specific body part is feeling currently. Take note of any body parts or areas of your body that seem to be impacted by the experience of anxiety.
Turn your attention - to those body parts or areas that are impacted by the anxiety, one at a time. For example, turn your attention to your stomach if you’re feeling a level of nausea as a result of anxiety.
Breathe into it - Breathe into the area or body part currently experiencing anxiety or tension. Try to visualize your breath going through your mouth, into your lungs, and moving out into the body part you are focused on. Notice if this does anything for the anxiety. Likely, the anxiety and tension will slowly begin to dissipate.
Don’t be afraid to repeat - you may need to start over with a new body part or start the entire process over to relocate anxiety, and that's okay! This tool is about becoming more in tune with your body and the bodily experience of anxiety.
This tool of anxiety management is a skill! As with most skills in life, it is something that you can only get better at if you practice and put in the work. Sometimes it will work, sometimes you may forget about using it, sometimes it might not be quite as helpful as you’d hoped in that moment, but with time and practice you will improve your ability to manage the anxiety and it’s impacts on your body.
- Caleb Simon, LCMFT