Anxiety: A Spiritual Psychology Perspective

Anxiety can affect us physically, emotionally and spiritually. Learn about the causes and treatments for Anxiety from a Spiritual Psychology perspective.

Welcome to our Spiritual Psychology Support Group with Dr. Traci Moreno, Licensed Psychologist and Pasquale Naccarata, Spiritual Coach, Intuitive Guide, Astrologer and Crystal Reiki Master. This Support Group is for anyone on a Journey of Spiritual, Emotional and Physical Healing & Growth. Follow us now to help, support & encourage each other on this amazing yet challenging journey. Dr Traci and Pasquale talk about the parts of this journey that no one wants to talk about- the difficulties & the struggles. Supporting each other through these challenges is essential to our success. Subscribe Now & Help Us Build a Like-Minded Supportive Community

Transcript

Hi everyone,

I'm Dr.

Tracy.

Hey everyone,

This is Pasquale.

Welcome back.

Today we're going to talk about anxiety from a spiritual psychology perspective,

Hence psychologist,

Spiritual coach.

Yes,

And anxiety is like a real thing.

Like I mean I know like,

I didn't mean it like that.

There's like this belief out there that like anxiety is like,

Oh just get it under control.

It's like,

That's not how it works.

You know,

Like it's a real thing.

Well people who haven't,

The hard part of it is that people who have never really experienced it don't understand it and it's similar with depression too.

It's like you just need to push yourself.

You just need to,

You know,

Get up and do these things.

In and of itself,

When it is to the point where you're actually diagnosed with it,

Where it is an actual disorder,

Then that means you're not able to do that.

That's what makes it part of the,

You know,

Of the disorder.

We call it a daily impairment of functioning.

So,

You know,

In and of itself it's very debilitating and if you are able to do that,

It might not be diagnosable and like lower levels of anxiety,

You know,

Not everything is anxiety though.

That's obviously like diagnosable.

So beyond that,

It could be just,

You know,

Key characteristics of it is like excessive worrying,

Restlessness,

Kind of like this nervousness,

Intrusive thoughts,

We call racing thoughts,

Where you just can't,

You know,

Your mind just never stops,

You know.

So just because you have these things,

I want to say,

It doesn't necessarily mean you have like the mental health disorder of like a generalized anxiety disorder.

You could just have,

You know,

Nervousness or excessive worrying,

But not necessarily to that point.

I think a lot of people use the term anxiety.

It's a very general term.

But there's a,

It's a scale.

It's a continuum.

I look at it like as a scale.

There's like,

You can fall somewhere into it.

One of the things I will tell you,

Like from my perspective,

Is when I work with clients,

A lot of times when I look at their astrological chart,

They're starting a session,

We're kind of getting into things.

The biggest thing that I find is,

Is that you can see the anxiety in the chart.

And you can also see the depression,

Or like how anxiety can become depression.

Like I can see it in the chart.

So I typically bring it up and say,

So let's talk about anxiety,

Right?

And I always make it a point to say,

I'm not speaking about clinically,

Because I'm not a doctor,

Right?

So I'm not going to clinically diagnose it.

But let's talk about where it is on the spectrum.

You know,

Because I think that it is a spectrum.

Well,

And the reason,

You know,

We wanted to do this one on anxiety is because there,

There is an emotional,

Mental perspective.

And there's a physical perspective,

Because we hold our symptoms in the body physically.

But then there's also an energetic perspective,

And that's where you come in.

Yes,

Yes.

So how would that,

How does anxiety manifest itself physically?

I mean,

Energetically,

Sorry.

And physically,

We can talk about that.

Well,

That's true.

Um,

But I think they kind of come together,

Right?

What I find is,

Intuitively,

A lot of times,

It's,

It's intuitive people who will sometimes feel that anxiety start to build,

Right?

And like you had said,

What,

One of the big characteristics that I notice is,

Is that you take in this energy from something,

Or someone,

Or a group,

Right?

You take in this energy,

And as you take it in,

An empath personalizes it,

Right?

How is this affecting me?

What is it,

You know,

Why am I in it,

Right?

And it just starts to spin.

And so how I find the energy is,

Is that it energetically just makes you spin.

And you continuously stick on the subject.

Like ruminating.

Ruminating.

And it just keeps spinning,

And spinning,

And spinning,

Until you resolve the spin.

Right.

And you're,

You're talking about,

You're talking about like literal spinning,

Like the energy actually,

Like just spinning in place,

And not go,

And not moving.

It just stays,

It stays.

I want to clarify that,

Because,

You know,

That could sound like,

Oh,

It's just spinning.

Oh,

No,

No,

No.

No,

You're talking about like literal.

We're just talking energy.

I am not the doctor here.

Spinning.

Yes,

Yes.

She's the doctor.

He loves to say that.

I'm not.

But,

I mean,

It's the way that energy spins,

And that's how I typically see it,

Or feel it around people,

Is I can recognize that the energy is moving.

And it's,

It's like stuck.

And from the psychology perspective,

It's metaphorically,

We're spinning.

You know,

So there's,

You know,

It works the same.

So,

I think,

Like,

That's one of the,

For me,

What I always tell people is,

Is that if you start to feel,

Or recognize that you're on a thought,

Or a feeling,

Something that you recognize,

And you start to notice that it's just spinning,

Right,

And continuously staying in your mind,

That's something that needs to be addressed,

Right.

And how I typically diag,

Or recommend people prescribe,

On how to handle it is,

Is the energy's stuck.

We need to move it,

Right.

And so,

There's a few different ways you can move it,

And all depending on you as a person,

Right.

My number one favorite way is automatic writing.

It's that you just sit with a piece of paper,

And you just start writing.

What is on my mind?

What am I feeling?

And just allow yourself to write.

Right,

And then,

I mean,

And that's similar to what I would do as part of the treatment.

It's like the therapy homework is,

You know,

Just journaling,

Which would also be the writing,

Because the only way to get things from,

That are spinning out of our mind,

Is either through verbally or written.

And so,

You have to speak out loud.

So,

A couple different things that I would recommend is the writing,

Or also you can dictate into your phone.

I have clients who also video,

Or audio record themselves,

And then you just delete it,

You know,

You don't have to keep it or anything.

But,

And you don't even have to have it on you,

Just the act of recording will help you speak as if you're actually speaking to somebody.

From an energetic standpoint,

I do recommend all those,

But I always try to get people to really recognize that the writing is the first.

Okay,

So do you think writing is more effective,

Energetically?

Most effective.

And if you think about it,

Think about,

You're using your hands,

Right?

And your hands are connected to what?

Your chakras,

Right?

Your heart chakra.

And your heart chakra is typically the thing that's going to start to spin once everything starts to move through the body,

Right?

Writing actually will move that energy from you out,

Right?

And how,

The example I always tell people is,

What do people do with their hands when it's warm?

Right?

Well,

That's what it's called.

She's lived in Arizona too long to recognize that this is cold.

But yes,

It still makes people,

They go like this,

Right?

It's so hot,

Right?

I'm from the South,

We have fans.

Or the Real Housewives always fan their eyes because they're crying,

Right?

But if you feel it,

There's actually an energetic movement.

I know,

I know.

We love it though.

Could you imagine me on like,

You know that game where you say a word and then you have to say the first thing that comes to mind?

I would be so bad.

I would be saying like the most.

.

.

Hot!

Hot!

Yes,

Totally.

That's so me.

Ay yi yi,

Okay.

But like,

It moves energy.

She's the doctor.

Just remember that.

But like,

It does.

It moves energy.

It really moves energy.

And so like,

Writing,

Actual form of writing,

Will actually move it out.

And the thing that you have to remember is when you write,

Rip the page out,

Throw it away.

Do not keep it.

It is not journal worthy.

You don't want to look back on it and take the energy back in.

When I say this is really gross,

But like,

It's like you're,

Think of it as like you're,

You know,

Regurgitating all of the negativity and nastiness,

You know,

The depths of your soul inside of you.

And so you wouldn't like,

You know,

Re-consume what you just threw up.

No,

You don't want to.

Ew.

The reason I go with such a gross analogy is because you'll remember it.

Trust me,

You will remember that forever.

It's true.

I mean,

I've had people who like have done the automatic writing and then they keep it.

Yeah.

And they have it like in a binder.

People think that you're journaling,

You're just supposed to keep.

And really,

Sorry,

I don't know,

Did you?

No,

No,

I didn't.

But like,

That's the truth.

And they're like,

I just,

Every time I read it,

I get back to the same space.

And I'm like,

Because you're just putting it right back in.

Right.

You need to move it out,

Move it out,

Move it out.

So that's number one for me.

Number two.

And you don't want anybody to find,

You know,

Like the depths of your,

You know,

What you're thinking.

That's just not,

That's just not good for anybody.

So we always want to try to get rid of that stuff.

Ripping,

You know,

Ripping it up or,

You know,

Burning ceremonies,

Be safe about it,

You know.

But yeah,

Just shredding it,

Just getting rid of it,

Deleting it,

If it is in your phone,

You can do it that way too.

And I do,

I have some people who just recite it into their phone if they're really having a difficult time.

Yeah,

If you can't,

I mean,

Because sometimes I've been at the point where like,

I just don't,

I just don't want to write.

Or the thoughts are coming too quickly that I can't do it or,

You know,

For whatever reason.

And again,

You don't want to say,

Oh,

I don't feel like writing,

So I'm not going to do it at all.

So the next best step would be to then just,

You know,

Audio record,

Video record,

Or the dictation.

Because that's better than nothing.

And don't listen to it.

So once deleted,

Get rid of it.

Do not listen to it.

Don't re-eat or throw up.

That should be the title of this episode.

No.

I can't do that one.

But that's too much for me.

Oh my god.

Hey,

You know,

But again,

You'll remember.

You'll remember this forever.

I agree.

You'll never re-read or listen to anything.

Just don't want to remember that.

Okay.

So,

Other things that we can do.

You know,

Again,

I think it's energetic,

Right?

So if you have energy in you,

Depending on who you are and kind of where your energy is,

Right,

The next other thing that I recommend is going for a run or doing something physical where your heart starts to speed up.

Because you're moving that energy.

Because you're moving it.

I always recommend,

Too,

And a lot of what we recommend is very similar.

It's just the intention behind it is that's the only difference.

Because it's really important that the coping skills that you use need to match the level of emotional intensity that you're in.

So,

Like,

We would recommend for something like anxiety,

Because that's such a powerful,

Active emotion,

Like you actually feel that excessive energy that needs to be released.

So you don't want to do things in the moment of,

Like,

Meditating or deep breathing or,

You know,

Stuff like that.

It needs to be something that has a higher level of intensity.

And that's where I think people can get trapped.

Because they'll try the lower energetic coping skills,

And then you just get even more frustrated.

Because your body needs that movement.

So,

Like,

I would even tell people,

Like,

Hold a plank,

You know,

Until you just can't hold it anymore.

Or,

Like,

Jumping jacks or pacing or going for a walk or running.

Or,

You know,

Something that has more active.

What I always recommend to people is when you're looking for that release or what to do for that release,

Oftentimes it's the thing that you do where you recognize you're not thinking.

Right?

So,

Like,

If you're someone that goes on a run,

But when you run,

Your mind is always wandering and you're thinking about everything,

It's probably not the right one for anxiety.

Because your mind will start to activate,

Right,

By running.

So you don't want to do that.

You want to find the thing that your mind kind of turns off.

Right.

Because that's what will get it to go.

Well,

Usually that's the beauty about something really more strenuous and active is you can only have those ruminating thoughts,

Usually,

Generally speaking,

Of course,

For,

Like,

Maybe 10 minutes at the most.

And then you have to then refocus your attention on your breathing and the body to keep doing it.

And so it automatically gets you off that rumination.

Yes.

You know,

And,

Like,

Same thing with yoga.

You cannot hold poses because you need that concentration and the alignment of your mind and body to be able to hold it or you're just going to keep fumbling and falling over and stuff like that.

True.

True,

True.

I get what you're saying.

Like I said,

For me,

It's,

Like,

I know that if I'm having an anxiety moment or anxious moment and I were to go do yoga,

It won't work for me.

Correct.

Yoga,

For me,

Doesn't slow my mind down.

It actually speeds me up.

Yeah.

Whereas I know that if I'm outside walking,

Biking,

Hiking,

My anxiety will instantly go because I have no thoughts.

Well,

Also,

We have all the extra stimuli that takes,

You know,

That distracts us from that thought.

Especially with any type of intrusive thoughts,

That ruminating,

Racing thoughts,

Is we actually cannot keep,

You know,

Be thinking of two thoughts at one time.

And,

You know,

We use the term multitasking a lot and people misinterpret it.

What we're actually doing,

And this has been scientifically shown,

Is that we're not thinking of multiple things at the exact same time.

What we're actually doing is we're quickly shifting back and forth.

So when your mind is on something else,

This is why affirmations and things like that work,

Because it's actually shifting your focus off that rumination.

That makes sense.

And then being outside,

Any other extra,

You know,

Extra stimuli,

Even music,

Podcasts,

TV,

Well,

TV and movies not so much because we can wander and be able to have that in the background and also ruminate on our thoughts.

So that's not a good one.

Dancing.

Yeah.

Especially something that you can sing to,

Because now you're focused on the song and it's not,

We don't want something just playing in the background,

Adding to the chaos in here.

Agreed.

I think singing is another one that I would recommend because it's,

But singing very specific,

Right?

Like it has to be happy,

It has to be high energy,

It has to be something that isn't like thought provoking.

That always works for me.

Yeah.

That always works.

Yeah.

Well,

And that's,

You've said that that's something that helps raise our vibrations,

Which can help release that anxiety as well.

It evaporates the anxiety.

What are some other ways to raise our vibrations to release emotional intensity?

So I always,

It really is individual based.

And so it's a hard one to just answer like as a blanket statement because a lot of people,

It's very different for everyone,

Right?

You have to find that thing that makes you,

Again,

It brings you up,

But again,

You're not thinking.

Okay.

Right?

And so that's kind of how you can raise your vibes the easiest way.

But everyone's a little different,

Right?

Yeah.

So for me,

If you have me sing and dance,

It will absolutely raise my vibes,

Right?

If I'm out on a trail,

Hiking or biking,

It will 100% raise my vibes,

Right?

But I have some people that yoga raises their vibes.

Right.

Yoga,

Just the simple flow,

They let go,

They're not there.

Right.

And in that moment,

It's allowing them to raise their vibration.

So it's about working with and listening to your body about what it feels like for you.

So obviously,

If it's something that just works you up,

Stop it.

Don't do it.

Find something else.

Yes.

But obviously,

When you feel that relief,

You know that's one of the things to do with that higher level emotional intensity.

Yes.

Agreed.

Okay.

I think for me,

What I always tell people is when you start to find that you're ruminating at the start,

When that spin starts to happen,

That's when you need to start addressing it.

Right.

Don't let it build because the more that you allow it to build,

It just starts to branch off into other thoughts and other ideas.

Right.

And then five thoughts equal 20 thoughts.

And then it just becomes overwhelming.

That's when it's a little bit harder because when it's overwhelming,

It's going to take a little bit longer.

Right.

Whereas if you can start to do it right away,

You start to recognize and kind of address it as it's happening.

I'm glad you said that because a lot of the work we do in therapy,

Too,

Is assessing where we are on the level of intensity.

So let's say we put our emotional anxiety on a scale of 0 to 10,

10 being the worst,

0 being none.

We'll go through and go,

Okay,

So we can recognize those early warning signs because what's hard for people is you say,

As soon as you recognize it,

That's when you want to start incorporating coping skills to bring that level back down.

The problem is people don't realize it until our body is already overwhelmed because we're so used to repressing,

Denying,

Shoving it down,

And ignoring what our body is telling us.

Yes.

And so we'll go through the work.

So it's a good idea to go through that work and really maintain that awareness of what your lower level symptoms are.

And those could be like maybe just kind of maybe you can start fidgeting or like I'll start picking up cuticles or something like that,

Or you just start getting like maybe body temperature may start heating up.

Your palms might start sweating.

You might start getting like a little,

You know,

Just like maybe kind of annoyed or irritable type thoughts or like,

Or worrying,

You know,

Kind of like those,

The what ifs or,

You know,

Before it's like really intrusive,

You know,

Things like that.

You might,

Your mind might start wandering.

You might feel like a little sickness in your tummy.

Like everybody's different.

For me,

Like I always say,

Like,

Just recognize your emotion.

Because if you're at one level,

I'm happy,

And then all of a sudden I become unhappy,

There's a good chance that you're having an anxious moment,

Right?

If you're chill and all of a sudden you're feeling irritable,

You're having like an anxious moment.

Yeah,

Something shifted.

When you can start to recognize it in emotion,

Feelings is typically for me the way that I've always recognized it is,

Is I can be like,

I'm chill.

And then all of a sudden I'm like,

And I'm like,

Oh,

Something just really got my anxiety.

And,

And,

And that's going to be the first time.

But like,

Like,

To me,

That's like,

That's like the,

My,

Like,

I basically recognize it.

And when I start to teach my clients,

It's the same thing.

Like,

Just start to track your feelings,

Right?

If you're feeling shift,

You know,

Something is making,

Is something is happening,

Right?

There's an energetic response to it.

And it's typically going to bring you somewhere that isn't where you were.

So,

And that,

That's a difference that we're coming from too.

And it's you,

You guys have to just figure out what works for you.

Is it easier for you to,

Or quicker for you to recognize the emotional shift or like a physiological shift within the body?

You know,

Something like that.

Like I'll start cracking my knuckles,

Like something like that.

And so that's like a,

Those,

Those things,

Characteristics are just like a early warning sign.

And if you think about it,

If you going back to that scale of zero to 10,

It's going to be a lot easier to bring yourself down to a one or a zero.

If you're at like five,

As opposed to like an eight,

You know,

And really,

I,

I,

I always say like,

Once you're at a seven,

There's no coping skill that's going to help you.

The only thing that's going to,

You know,

Help at that point is just keeping yourself safe and just time.

And that's where you kind of start going,

You know what?

No emotion lasts forever.

No emotion lasts forever.

I use that mantra,

You know,

Because when we're in it,

We feel like it will.

And so that always is something that helps me and don't do anything.

Don't react.

Right.

Because in general,

We want to respond,

Not react.

So if you are at a higher level,

Don't react to it at all,

Because we all have been there.

And if we look back at our past,

We know that every time we have reacted in a high intensity moment,

Even happiness.

Hey,

Let's plan a party.

Hey,

Let's go to Spain.

And then we're like,

Every time.

So,

You know,

Don't,

Don't react and just don't do anything.

And another mantra that helps me get through that too,

Is I would say,

If it's a good idea now,

It's going to be,

It's still going to be a good idea when I calm down.

If it's a good idea now,

It's going to be a good idea when I calm down.

I like that.

Yeah.

Because it's just those reminders.

And again,

Those mantras or affirmations,

As we're saying that and repeating it nonstop,

We're now not thinking of those intrusive thoughts we were having either.

They could be in the background,

But they're not present.

They're not at the forefront.

Yes.

I agree.

Anytime.

I totally agree with this.

I'm so happy about that.

Because there are many times where I was like,

I knew I was in an anxious moment and I responded.

And I was like,

Why?

No,

You reacted.

Reacted.

You reacted.

Yeah.

Big difference.

I reacted.

Yeah.

I reacted.

And I was like.

And then I'm just like.

This happens every time.

Because it's like,

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

And our brain tricks us,

Right?

Our brain can convince us of absolutely anything.

And we believe with 100% certainty that that is exactly the best way to deal with the problem.

Yeah.

And every single time,

It's not.

So,

You've got to.

We also have to have that awareness and know that our brain is tricking us right now.

And that we really can't trust our thoughts or what we believe to be true in the moment.

You know,

And usually.

I would say at least 50%,

If not more,

Probably most likely I would say 70%.

But let's give it a 50%.

Once we calm down,

We're like,

I probably overreacted.

Yeah.

But then you should own it.

Well,

But if you don't react,

You have nothing to necessarily own.

Because we don't have to apologize for our feelings.

Correct.

And we didn't bring it to anybody.

I meant if you reacted.

Oh,

Right.

Right.

If you reacted,

You should own it.

Exactly.

And apologize or whatever.

And state the truth.

I had a moment.

Yeah.

Exactly.

We're all human and that's okay.

You know?

Yeah.

We all make mistakes.

I make a lot of mistakes.

I know.

Yeah.

But for me,

That's another thing,

Too,

Is if we don't react in the moment and we just process through our feelings,

We're not bringing it to anybody,

Then we don't have anything to apologize to.

We don't have anything to apologize for.

Yes.

And so,

You know,

Which is pretty awesome and pretty empowering.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know?

I 100% agree with that.

Like I said,

I think that's amazing because that's a thought that you sometimes forget is that in that moment,

You always want to respond and you shouldn't.

Also,

I just thought the big thing with.

.

.

Oh,

Jeez.

Be careful.

You know,

Is.

.

.

See,

Now a guy wants me to train him.

You're welcome.

Dang it.

Okay.

So,

No,

But be compassionate and patient with yourself and allow yourself to have the emotion.

Yes.

Right?

Because in the beginning,

We will get mad at ourselves.

We're frustrated that we're even on this loop.

And then what that turns into is anxiety over our anxiety,

Which you don't want to compound the problem.

The problem that whatever we're anxious about is bad enough.

We don't have to then pad onto it and make it,

You know,

Put it from a three to a six on the intensity level scale just by being now upset with ourselves about being upset.

So,

Just allow yourself to be upset,

Have your emotion,

Process through it and don't get.

.

.

Try not to like turn on your body or get mad at your body.

Our body is.

.

.

You know,

I always say like anxiety is not our enemy,

You know,

Because it feels like our body is failing us.

But no,

Our body is,

You know,

There's a whole,

You know,

Process going on and it's trying to actually protect us.

Does it get a little overzealous at times?

Of course.

But that can also be trained.

Yes.

You know,

And,

You know,

And recalibrated in a sense.

And so we just have to be able to do that work.

But if we turn on our body,

We're turning on ourselves.

So,

What sense does that make?

You know,

So it can feel like our body is failing us,

But it's not.

Our body is trying to warn us.

It's like,

Hey,

We need to stop.

We need a timeout.

We need to take a break.

We need to calm down.

We need to have compassion.

We need to.

.

.

Whatever it is.

Yeah.

Take a break and self-care.

You need to take care of us.

That's the key right there.

Is that all of this comes down to self-care.

Exactly.

And I think the realities of life is that we haven't been taught self-care.

That's true.

We weren't raised with self-care.

But we were taught that with self-care.

Yes.

And inappropriate.

Right.

And so,

That's the biggest thing to recognize is that that anxiety is a response to you needing self-care.

Yeah.

Perfectly said.

You heard it.

You heard it first.

All right,

Everybody.

Take care.

Thank you.

See you next time.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Reviews

Y’all are always so fun to listen to! I really appreciate the advice given in this talk. One in particular, recording thoughts in lieu of writing them down. Don’t know why I never thought of that. Thank you! 🙏🏻