Anxiety is psychologically described as a state of tension,
Apprehension,
Nervousness and inner turmoil.
Another important characteristic is excessive mental preoccupation with future events.
And exactly this point is already very significant.
Excessive preoccupation with the future.
An excessive what-if thinking,
A mental reinvestigation into future options.
These are then embellished in a very negative way in connection with vivid imagination.
What could happen if this or that is not available to me?
What could happen to me?
What will the others think about me?
What embarrassing things might happen to me?
It is in the nature of things that you can't be in the moment when you have exaggerated anxiety.
It contradicts itself.
A vivid feeling of the present moment ensures that you cannot be mentally in the future.
An anxiety-ridden preoccupation with the future will ensure that you will be not able to fill the present moment vividly.
How do you recognize fear?
Fear often manifests itself somewhat subtly as a chain of thoughts and associations that makes you get more and more involved in something.
You'll find it as a strong preoccupation with what-if or a coloring out of the worst-case scenario.
The flow of life is blocked with it.
You won't even do some things assuming you can fail.
Fear makes you move along well-trotted paths instead of venturing into new,
Uncharted territory.
On a physical level you will find fear as tension,
Tension in the neck and the shoulders,
Sometimes the whole body.
At the same time,
The unconscious muscle tensions of the back and face are sometimes very interesting and revealing.
So what is the meaning of anxiety?
In psychology,
A distinction is made between anxiety and fear.
Fear has an actual reason and object,
For example animals,
Spiders,
A real danger that serves as a trigger.
Sometimes a fear of hate is healthy in this sense,
So it prevents you from further harm.
This mechanism ensured that many thousands of years ago the body was put on alert.
This in turn provided an adequate response to encounters with wild animals or other dangers of the wilderness.
That means this mechanism is to a certain extent even meaningful and was survival-securing.
But today,
In the noise of news,
Political decisions and professional needs a different picture is painted.
Anxiety here becomes a burdensome mental cloud that sucks the joy out of life,
Makes sleep difficult and weighs down everyday life.
What can I do about anxiety?
It may be that anxiety has burned itself deep into your subconscious as a habit through multiple repetition.
Especially if you are completely incapable of action and your everyday life is massively limited by anxiety,
It can be useful to get professional help from the local health department,
The health insurance companies,
The family doctor or a psychologist.
These people will help you to cope better with your anxiety.
But be aware,
These people act according to their world view.
This sometimes may not include full empathy,
But nonetheless you can often get very good and practical tips and procedures on how to deal with your anxiety better.
If you find that anxiety is not dominating your life at the moment but is influencing it,
Or if you have to wait for an appointment at one of the above mentioned places,
You can take the issue into your own hands.
First of all,
I recommend you to remember the feeling of relaxation.
You will surely have experienced it in your life.
A beautiful summer day on the meadow at the bathing lake,
A nice massage or the feeling of falling asleep comfortably warm after a hard day.
In order to regain this feeling,
It can be useful to access it through the relaxation of the body.
There again,
The progressive muscle relaxation by Edmund Jacobson offers help.
This method is well proven and has been used very successfully for over a hundred years.
The advantage is,
You determine the process yourself.
You experience the conscious relaxation of the muscles of your body,
Followed by the conscious relaxation of your mind.
This means unlike in other techniques,
It is not about stimulating the mind with stories or procedures.
The connection between body and mind is established and leads to an overall feeling of relaxation,
Letting go and calmness.
Try it!
I've practiced this method with over 1500 people.
The response is very good.
I also have a course on this topic,
So if you're interested,
You're welcome to join in.
I'm happy to see you there!
So what else can you do?
There are things you can do that will help you deal with anxiety better.
An old cue says the only way to overcome your fear is to go through it.
For example,
You're afraid of asking someone for help?
If you do it anyway,
You will experience it as very liberating.
You can think of it like a cold shower.
At the beginning,
It is an unpleasant and really uncomfortable feeling.
But afterwards,
You think to yourself,
Great,
That I did it!
A liberating,
Redeeming feeling.
This feeling is the orientation,
The reward for courageous action and jumping over your own shadow.
Otherwise,
It is a good idea to spend time in nature.
It is said that nature,
In its originality and essence,
Is close to the original source of being alone.
This connection,
This grounding,
The balance through this experience of nature,
Be it hiking,
Biking,
Swimming,
Canoeing,
Boating,
Fishing or similar,
Is like a shower that ensures that fearful thoughts will not stick to you.
Try it out!
Bonus tip Power pose Have you ever tried embodying the emotion of joy with the corners of your mouth down as well as your shoulders?
Try it!
You won't be able to do it.
The body is connected with the emotions and your attitude and alignment as a whole.
That means realize that you can also use this process in your favor.
American social psychologist Amy Cuddy found that the so-called power pose contributes to the fact that open and spacious postures should lead to an increase in testosterone levels and a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol.
Research in this area is ongoing.
But does that stop you from trying it out?
So why not standing in front of a mirror,
Putting your hands on your hips,
Bringing your shoulders back,
Straightening your head and taking a look at how you feel?
You will notice that the previous feeling of fear may not be as present or as strong as it was before.
You've made a big change with one small movement.
You will feel better.
Just try it out!
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