So many of my clients come to me complaining of anxiety. They say they can’t stop worrying, or thinking about the past or the future. They say “I don’t know why I feel anxious sometimes, it just comes out of nowhere.” Some people have more awareness of why they are feeling anxious but don’t know how to change the way they feel.
I love working with people that feel anxiety. Not that I ever wish for anyone to suffer, but generally by the time people arrive in my office they have tried other ways to change how they feel but it hasn’t worked. They have talked to their friends, worked out, or maybe even started medication for their anxiety. Sometimes they have even been told by other professionals that this is just how they are, they will have to live with this forever.
When they come into my office, they are fed up with feeling the way they do. They are really ready to do the work to make a permanent shift in their lives and how they relate to their anxiety. This is the fun and exciting part for me. I know that they can change how they feel, because I have seen it over and over again with clients.
There are lots of reasons that people get to the place of feeling as anxious as they do. We work on an individualized plan to help them understand the reasons and underlying causes for their anxiety. There are a few things that I usually recommend for anyone struggling with anxiety, no matter why they feel the way they do.
These things are pretty easy, and in my experience working with many people with anxiety, are very effective in quickly shifting the way they feel:
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Connecting to your body:
Your body is super aware and super smart! It can pick up on the beginning of an anxious feeling much more quickly and effectively than your brain can. Usually anxiety begins with an unconscious thought that triggers the fight or flight response in the body.
Practicing mindful loving awareness of your body multiple times a day will allow you to recognize more quickly when it starts feeling a little bit anxious. Setting a timer in the beginning of your practice will help. Every hour, put a reminder on your phone, and take just 30 seconds to a minute to be still and ask your body how it’s feeling.
This practice will help you to be more aware of the beginning signs of anxiety in your body, which are unique for every person. This body awareness will allow you to recognize and intervene as soon as you feel anxiety starting in your body, which will help with the next steps.
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Name it to tame it:
You are not your anxiety! This is the quickest and coolest way to start transforming your anxiety. As you are practicing tuning into your body more and more you will the messages it sends to you about your anxiety will become very clear.
Simply noticing to yourself “I’m feeling anxious right now” allows your brain to understand that you are “feeling” anxiety, you are not the anxiety. It is not you, it’s just a temporary feeling you are having.
Understanding that you are not your feelings is powerful. You are the observer of the feelings, you don’t have to identify with them and lose yourself. You are powerful beyond measure. Your anxiety is just an old habit you’ve gotten in over the years.
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Shifting perception:
Anxiety can be very similar to excitement, or motivation, or many other feelings, it just depends on your perception.
Perception is everything. If you perceive a situation as scary or negative, the fight or flight reaction is triggered in your body, resulting in anxiety.
If you are able to slow down, practice body awareness, label the feeling of anxiety, and shift your perception to something different, this can result in a very different set of impulses in your body becoming activated, resulting in a very different way of feeling for you.
For example: you could either freak out and feel anxious and worried about your upcoming trip, or by focusing on what you are looking forward to instead, you can shift that energy to excitement instead of fear.
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How do you want to transform the energy?:
Anxiety is energy. Energy is powerful. How do you want to transform this powerful energy in your life?
If you can imagine your beautiful anxiety as a ball of energy, and you are in charge of it, what would you do with it?
Remember, you are in charge of yourself, your perception of anxiety, and your own energy! You are a powerful being, born to create your own reality, not to live in fear of something imaginary and really bad happening.
When you become aware of the feeling of anxiety in your body and shift your perception about it, you get to choose what you want to do with that energy. Again, imagine it as a beautiful ball of energy surrounding you, how exciting! Who couldn’t use some extra energy to get things done, or just to feel energized and elevate your vibration!
Do you want to go for a run, to use the energy to move your body and feel good? Or perhaps create some art? You could use the energy to connect deeply with someone in your life, or connect with yourself through journaling or automatic writing.
There are so many powerful positive ways to use the energy of anxiety, when you are able to see that it is not who you are!
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Meditation:
This just makes all of the other steps easier. When you practice meditation it puts your brain into a state which helps it become more aware, in a nonjudgmental way, of your thoughts and feelings. It also helps slow down your thoughts, and creates a state of relaxation which transforms anxiety.
Research proves that meditation is one of the most effective ways to manage anxiety. My own personal research with myself and my clients also proves this. When clients with anxiety bring meditation into their life along with the other practices, magic happens.
The anxiety that they thought was permanently who they are, begins to transform.
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Gratitude:
The part of our brain that gets triggered when we feel anxious is disabled when we are in a state of gratitude.
Fear and appreciation cannot co-exist. As Einstein said: “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” This basic underlying concept makes all the difference in how we experience the world. If we are grateful for everything, there is nothing to fear.
If we practice a grateful, loving perception of the universe and remember that others have our best interests in mind and the universe has our back it will create such a beautiful high vibration in our body that there is no room for anxiety or fear.
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You are a spiritual being:
Having a human experience. You don’t need to take all of this so seriously. What helps you remember this?
You came here to learn and grow and evolve. You came here to learn how to “manage your anxiety” meaning to remember that it’s not real. It’s really just your cute little fear based ego trying to scare you.
You are an amazing being of light and love, so powerful that you can create whatever you want.
Having some consistent spiritual practices to help you remember this is a super important part of transforming anxiety into something way cooler. Like love, like joy, like peace.
As you consistently practice bringing in positive, loving, peaceful energy into your body and life, the old anxious feelings will be forced to exit.
Fear exists in a vacuum, if there is no space for it, it will eventually get the message and leave you alone. It’s up to you to have fun bringing in all of the positive thoughts and feelings and allowing the fear to drift away.
Anxiety is not who you are, you are only peace love and light. The practices here are just designed to help you remember this for yourself. Be well and have fun practicing!
Read more about Anxiety Treatment with Shana Olmstead.
Shana Olmstead, Intuitive Consultant
I see my life purpose as helping people to awaken to the truth of their divine nature, the powerful spiritual beings that they are. I have assisted hundreds of clients in my therapy practice to wake up to the understanding that we are all made of source energy, and are here to increase our consciousness and joy to help the evolution everyone on the planet. I am so excited and inspired to continue helping people through their own awakening! Contact me to schedule an appointment in person in Kirkland, Washington or for a phone or video consultation wherever you are located.
