What Causes Anxiety And How To Release It

Anxiety isn’t just “in your head.” It often shows up when the mind drifts away from the body, or when old pain and unprocessed emotions start to surface. In this track, we explore why anxiety arises and move through a gentle practice to help you reconnect, slow down, and meet the energy with presence instead of resistance.

Transcript

So what causes anxiety and how do we release it?

First I want to describe some of the causes and then I want to walk you through a simple process of recognizing the feelings of your own anxiety and then releasing them.

So let's jump right in.

I've seen the same patterns around anxiety over and over in the causes.

One of them I've always noticed is that people's minds get ahead of their bodies.

And so what that means is your mind projects into the future or it reflects back into the past.

So it gets ahead of your body or maybe even behind your body.

It's kind of freaky.

Where are you?

Mind.

And the gap between where your body is and where your mind is,

That's where anxiety starts to come out and up.

So if you're way off into the future,

Worried about everything that you need to do,

All the bills you have to pay,

Money you have to make,

Relationship issues,

Career,

Whatever it is,

And you're just constantly out there mentally fixing while you're stuck in the past,

Then you're not here.

And your body goes,

Uh-oh,

Alert,

Red alert,

Red alert,

He left,

She's gone.

And so the gap between your mind and your body,

That's where anxiety really starts to vibrate.

So what do we do?

First and foremost,

We bring our energy and we bring our attention back here into this body.

How do we do that?

The main portals that we can use into the present moment,

Into our bodies,

Are through our sense perceptions.

So right now you can hear me.

You can only hear me in this moment.

You can see me and you can only see me here.

David's right here with you in this moment.

You can feel yourself,

All of your senses,

You can taste,

You can smell,

All in this moment.

You can't use your five senses in the future or in the past.

So anchor yourself to just recognizing this moment and your body being here.

And notice that just pull,

Notice that pull into the future or past or into fantasy.

Even right now as I'm talking,

Notice that pull and just bring yourself back with me for a moment,

Okay?

As we start to get here,

We're going to go a step deeper.

A lot of anxiety is also caused by pain,

Usually unconscious pain.

As some of my Russian relatives would say,

I'm from Russian,

Belarussian immigrants.

What is,

There is no pain?

What are you talking about?

David,

You go to work all day and night,

You come home,

You eat,

You sleep,

No pain.

Pain is normal state of functioning.

So when we have pain,

Trauma,

Stuck emotion,

Something that is not sitting well with us and it's underneath the surface of consciousness,

Often if we don't deal with it,

It begins to radiate.

One of the energies that radiates off of it is anxiety.

So we're not even sure why we're anxious,

Just like a little bit on edge all the time.

You know those people,

A little bit on edge all the time.

They're not so fun to be around.

Usually what that is to me,

When I see it,

Is there's some undealt with pain and it's radiating and it's coming through as anxiety.

I got to get here,

I got to finish that,

I can't trust this person.

I'm making fun of it,

It's serious,

But let's lighten the mood a little bit,

Okay?

So right now with me,

Just let's take a few minutes,

And I want you to just notice your own anxiety,

Eyes open,

Eyes closed,

And see if you can get a sense of the texture of anxiety.

So instead of the story around it,

Instead of trying to figure it out,

Instead of I'm gonna get this anxiety and heal the crap out of it,

What's the texture of it?

Does it have a density,

Like if you reached your hand out to just touch it,

You know?

Like if it was a petting zoo.

Like what is this weird oddly shaped creature?

Does it have a color?

A density?

Is it prickly?

Is it fast and zippy or slow and heavy?

Right now,

Just get a sense of what is my anxiety even like?

Notice it.

And it's like,

Oh,

Maybe it's buzzy,

Moves around.

It's uncomfortable.

Might even have a voice,

It might start complaining.

Your anxiety might sound like Larry David.

Well,

But why would we?

It doesn't make any sense.

Notice it for a moment.

And all feelings,

All energy come from somewhere,

So it has a power source.

What is your anxiety actually coming from?

What's it radiating off of?

Is it really about the thing you got to get done?

Or is there something a bit deeper?

Just take a moment here and notice that with me.

Is there something a bit deeper actually causing the anxiety versus maybe what you thought it was?

And it's permeating this thing that you're experiencing as heaviness,

Buzzy,

Dense,

Light,

Cloudy.

Maybe it's a purple blob,

Whatever it is.

You might be unsure,

So you just go,

Wow,

It's full of uncertainty and doubt,

Confusion.

Okay,

Maybe that's what's powering it.

So just notice that with me right now.

And as you do that,

See if you can slow down.

Breathe a bit slower with me.

When we start to hit energy like this,

We tend to either want to speed up and go over it,

Around it,

Push through it,

Or we freeze.

Maybe we retract.

I'm going to turn this off.

I'm out.

I don't want to feel.

So maybe you withdraw,

Or you distract and override.

Notice if there's a reaction.

David,

I don't like you anymore.

Meditating is for other people.

And just downshift,

Like you're just downshifting the car.

You just slow your whole system down.

You don't have to figure anything out.

You're just slowing down and noticing this vibration of anxiety and what's underneath it.

And anxiety almost always vibrates faster than our natural energy.

You never see someone in anxiety moving like a turtle,

Right?

I'm anxious.

There could be an anxious turtle out there,

So who knows?

Drop your shoulders a little bit.

The perpetuation of anxiety is often the resistance to it.

I don't want to feel it.

I don't want to look at it.

I can't handle it.

But if you want to really work through this energy,

You have to face it.

We all have to sit with it and experience it.

And then you might even notice,

Okay,

I can handle this.

This might not be the worst thing ever.

It's just a sensation,

A number of sensations vibrating,

Moving.

I might be noticing the cause underneath.

That might be heavier.

And still I can be with it.

Just be with it for a moment.

And as you sit with this energy,

It might actually start to relax with you.

See if you can let the anxiety relax with you.

Notice the earth underneath you.

Notice your breath,

Finding a balance,

Finding a rhythm.

Get a sense of your innate energy.

Your natural energy is not anxiety.

You have a natural energy.

Just get in touch with it again if you can.

Start to just appreciate this moment.

As I say that,

The church bells behind me are ringing in Spain.

How nice.

Yes,

Appreciate this moment.

Your energy might already be shifting.

Take a big,

Deep breath with me.

Sigh it out.

You don't always have to figure it out or manage it.

Sometimes you just bring yourself into presence,

Feel and face an energy,

And it may start to shift.

And every time anxiety tries to pull you away,

Allow yourself to come back and to feel and to see and sense the energy.

I hope that was a good start for you.

Thank you for sitting with me as always.

We'll do more on this topic.

I'll see you soon.

Reviews

This was helpful and the laughs added to my calmness. Thank you.

Thank you David! I’ve been going through some difficult times after Xmas and New Year, feeling very stressed and anxious, and sometimes sad….with very weird body sensations and you have just helped me release those feelings!! I have to Remember the basics, being grateful and being in the present moment….and learning to discover the reason….even if it hurts!

Great one! Was trying to heal the crap out of my anxiety 😂, thank you so much for lighting up such dark feelings. I was helpfull to connect with my anxiety and laugh out loud as well 🙏🏻💛

The old resistance is sitting there " I can't and I don't want to..."which was not expressed in the actual situation. Thank you, David! ❤️🙏

Very good 👍 👏. It feels like a sharp knife. Great insights, thank you!

I love how you chuckle about your own jokes during your meditations hahah, it makes them sooo goood and truly easies the anxiety combined with the observing. I finally came back after resisting the whole morning. Thanks david!

Full of wisdom and laughter our David. I very much enjoyed this talk.

🙏💗

Really great to get a bit in touch with feelings being separate from my core energy & being, as a way to manage anxious feelings, thanks!

Just wonderful. So many supportive touch points. Thank you David! 🙏🏼💖

Love the humor 🙂

Thank you 🙏🏻

Good one; part talk; part guided

Spot on description of anxiety sprinkled with humor; very grounding. Thanks David 🙏🏻

Thank you so much as always. I really appreciate your gentle humour and down to earthness. Super soothing, helpful and uplifting.