Hello there,
This is Maria Hancock.
Welcome to this somatic tracking or ABCs practice for dealing with anxiety.
This practice has been developed from my experience of helping people with anxiety,
Together with the work of Russell Kennedy.
In his book,
The Anxiety Prescription,
He describes the ABCs for being with anxiety.
I found this approach really beneficial in my own practice and in helping people develop a better relationship with anxiety.
So every emotion is important feedback.
Emotions are experienced through sensations in the body.
Although these sensations can feel unpleasant or frightening,
The sensations themselves are not necessarily a sign that something is wrong or dangerous.
If we push an experience away,
Our nervous system can interpret this as a sign that it's dangerous.
And this can activate the fight or flight response and increase anxiety.
What we resist persists.
When we allow anxiety rather than fighting against it.
We give it the opportunity to move through us rather than continually fueling the alarm.
So the purpose of this practice is not to make anxiety go away,
But to help you to be with it.
Anxiety is experienced through both fearful thoughts and sensations in the body.
Our thoughts and bodily sensations influence one another.
When we are anxious,
Our thinking can become quickly filled with what-ifs,
Predictions and worst-case scenarios.
Although these thoughts can feel very convincing.
Engaging with them can drive the anxiety higher.
Therefore,
Rather than trying to work out or solve the anxiety through your thoughts,
We shift our attention towards what is happening in the body.
When we respond to these sensations with curiosity and compassion.
While continuing to engage with life.
We gradually teach our nervous system that anxiety sensations are not signs of immediate danger.
Over time,
As we become less fearful of the anxiety,
It will loosen its grip on us.
So let's get started.
The first step is the A of the ABCs.
Awareness.
This is where we notice where the alarm is in our body.
Notice where you feel the anxiety or alarm sensations.
When you locate exactly where it is.
Can you notice the edges of it?
Can you be curious and notice the qualities of the sensations?
What do they feel like?
Do they feel constricted?
Tight or heavy.
Are they moving?
Do they feel like they're pulsing,
Hot or cold?
Do the sensations have a colour or a texture?
Just notice how you are experiencing these sensations.
Can you stay curious about them rather than trying to get rid of them?
Are they changing?
Moving.
Or staying the same.
Remember it's our job to stay present to the sensations,
Not change them or make them go away.
Next,
We turn towards the B of the ABCs,
Body and breath.
Can you bring your attention to the breath while staying connected to the sensations in the body?
I invite you to place your hand where you feel the alarm most strongly.
Notice the movement of your breath beneath your hand and allow your attention to rest there.
You don't need to change your breathing or force yourself to take deep breaths.
The breath is simply helping you stay connected to your body and out of your head.
Can you breathe gently while staying curious about the sensations?
Notice whether the sensations change as you breathe.
Perhaps they become softer.
Move,
Expand or contract.
Or perhaps they stay the same.
There is nothing you need to make happen.
Can you give these sensations a little more space within the body?
If it feels helpful,
You can allow your exhale to become a little longer and softer without forcing it.
The intention isn't to make the anxiety disappear,
To bring a calm,
Safe attention to the alarm in your body.
If the sensations feel particularly challenging,
You may wish to bring your awareness from time to time to another part of the body that feels activated.
Perhaps somewhere neutral.
Or grounded.
Or even pleasant.
You might bring your attention to your hand.
Or you may focus on the sensations of the breath.
Stay there for a moment before gently bringing your attention back to where you notice the anxiety or alarm sensations.
This isn't avoiding the anxiety,
It's helping your nervous system find enough safety to stay present with it.
As you stay connected to your body,
Notice if you feel compelled to follow fearful thoughts.
The thoughts can feel very convincing,
But they are being generated by a nervous system that is in a state of alarm.
Think of the surface of a lake in the midst of a storm.
Cannot give you a clear reflection of what lies beneath.
In the same way when your body is highly activated.
Your thinking may not give you an accurate reflection of what is actually happening.
Rather than trying to think your way out of anxiety.
You can return to the body,
Allowing the nervous system to settle and your thinking to become clearer in its own time.
As you stay connected to the sensations in your body.
You may begin to notice that the alarm feels familiar.
As though it may be connected to a younger part of yourself.
Sometimes what we experience as anxiety in the present can be connected to an earlier experience of feeling unsafe,
Overwhelmed,
Rejected,
Abandoned or not good enough.
The body can respond to a situation in the present.
As though an old alarm is being activated again.
You don't need to work out where the feeling comes from or find a particular memory.
Simply notice whether there's a sense of a younger part of you that feels frightened,
Overwhelmed or in need of reassurance.
And this brings us to the C of the ABCs,
Compassionate Connection.
Can you connect compassionately with the part of you that's feeling alarmed?
You might find it helpful to visualise being with a younger version of yourself and reassuring them.
You don't have to visualize a younger version of yourself if that doesn't feel natural.
You can simply bring a sense of compassion and reassurance to the part of you that is feeling alarmed.
Perhaps you could say.
Something in me is scared.
I can be here with it.
I'm not going to abandon myself.
If you feel a connection to a younger part of yourself then perhaps allow yourself to be alongside this younger you with warmth and compassion.
You're not trying to convince yourself that there's nothing to feel.
You're letting this part of you know that it doesn't have to face the alarm alone anymore.
These steps can be repeated as much as required while you continue on with your day.
It might mean that you have to repeat the ABCs a number of times.
And this is fine.
So let's summarize the ABCs.
A is awareness.
Notice the alarm.
Where is it in your body?
What does it feel like?
B is body and breath.
Stay connected to the sensations rather than getting pulled into fearful thinking.
And C,
Compassionate connection.
Meet the alarm with warmth,
Reassurance and compassion rather than fear.
Remember.
This takes time and practice.
It isn't about getting rid of anxiety overnight.
It isn't about perfection.
Each time you practice responding with awareness,
Curiosity and compassion rather than fear.
You are building a different relationship with anxiety.
With practice,
The sensations will become less frightening.
The alarm system becomes less reactive and anxiety can begin to loosen its grip.
You can overcome your struggle with anxiety.
I believe in you.
Take care and goodbye from Maria Hancock.
