You might have heard the best thing you can do when you’re anxious is ignore it and it will go away.
There’s a lot of truth to that, but it’s easier said than done.
(Or it was for me anyway.)
Ignoring anxiety teaches your brain to stop overreacting every time you feel anxious, so why is this email about listening to what anxiety is saying?
Isn’t that contradictory?
Nope!
Anxiety makes you think a lot of things that aren’t true.
Your brain creates stories about why you feel anxious to keep you from doing something that might hurt or embarrass you.
Those stories are loud and they feel real.
The thoughts are what you want to ignore because the thoughts aren’t actually anxiety and they aren’t necessarily true.
Anxiety is a feeling in your body.
When you listen to anxiety you ignore the thoughts and feel your way to the truth by focusing the sensations and locations of anxiety in your body.
Those feelings come from old and new experiences.
They come and go to give you a heads up that something needs your attention.
Your brain thinks something is dangerous so it quickly does its thing.
It fills you with all the adrenaline you need to stay safe and tries to find the danger by thinking.
This is when you focus on the feeling of anxiety and everything changes!
The truth thoughts hide inside the feelings.
When you stop listening to thoughts, and start listening to the feelings, anxiety loses its power.
They’re in there, telling the truth about what you need and really fear.
My job is to help you uncover what’s really making you anxious by asking questions.
Once you know what you’re truly thinking and afraid of, your brain stops trying to figure it out.
And when you’re not overwhelmed by anxiety, you can do all the fun things you’ve been avoiding?
What will you do with all the extra time you’ve got on your hands when you’re not freaking out?
The doors are wide open.
When you’re ready, talk to me about what you'll do when anxiety isn’t a problem.
Be sure to check out Episode 30 of the More than Anxiety Podcast to hear more about How To Listen To Your Anxiety. While you’re there, take a quick minute to leave a review and follow so you don’t miss a beat and help others find the podcast as well.
