Anxiety SOS

Many of us have found ourselves in the grip of anxiety at one time or another. This short talk offers quick anxiety-relieving tactics that can be used in everyday life, along with some brief education about how and why each strategy works.

If your anxiety is frequent, of high intensity, or interfering with your daily life, please consult a doctor or mental health professional.

Transcript

Anxiety is probably one of the most common reasons why people ask about mindfulness,

And so I'd like to offer a short talk with some explanation and perspective,

Along with some tactics that you can easily use in everyday life.

Let's start with some super watered-down evolution and biology.

The fear response is vital to our survival.

It has been hardwired into our brains since the dawn of humankind.

From an evolutionary standpoint,

This makes a lot of sense.

We needed to be alert to the dangers lurking in the brush.

If a tiger lunged for us,

We had to be prepared to run,

And in our hunting and gathering days,

That's what we did.

If a threat arose and our fight-or-flight response kicked in,

We ran to save our lives,

And when we were a safe distance away and the threat was gone,

The body would settle and the mind would relax.

Although being chased by a tiger isn't a likely scenario for most of us these days,

Our brains don't really know that.

The brain doesn't differentiate between the severity of a pressing deadline and a tiger,

And unlike being chased by a tiger back in the day,

Pressing deadlines and overwhelming life demands aren't isolated passing occurrences.

They're a consistent part of our routine lives,

And this means that our modern-day brains,

And therefore also our bodies,

Are perpetually activated.

This leaves many of us bathed in the hormones and neurotransmitters that either begin a stress response or result from it.

If you're struggling with anxiety,

You're not alone.

The good news is that we can use simple grounding exercises to de-escalate that loop of activation and ease the feelings of overwhelm.

Keep in mind that these exercises are quick fixes.

They're tools to use in times of crisis.

They treat the symptom,

Not the root cause.

You may have heard the analogy of pulling weeds.

When we only pull the part of the weed that is above the ground,

The weed will continue to grow back until we dig deep and get to the root.

Anxiety is the same.

These tactics will work in the moment and will afford you the breathing room you need to start the deeper work.

Anxiety is a messenger.

It's a calling from your body saying something needs attention,

And it will continue to dial your number until you answer the call.

If you're experiencing anxiety or panic on a regular basis,

The assistance of a doctor or a licensed mental health professional may be beneficial.

You may find that a specific approach works beautifully for you one day and not so well the next,

And that's perfectly normal and perfectly okay.

Go easy on yourself and give yourself grace as you add skills to your emotional toolbox.

I also invite you to practice these techniques when your anxiety is low.

Regular practice will help to solidify your skills and to make it more likely for you to use them when you do feel overwhelmed.

It doesn't have to be a huge undertaking.

Even one 30-second check-in each day will make a tremendous impact on establishing a habit.

Let's begin with my personal favorite and go-to anxiety tactics,

Which involve anchoring into the body.

Let me tell you first why body work is my favorite.

Our brains are made to think.

The heart beats,

The lungs breathe,

And the brain thinks.

Thinking is incredibly important.

It keeps us safe and it makes so many things possible.

It can also lead us into a world of anxiety.

Our thinking brains spend an incredible amount of time rehashing the past or worrying about the future,

Which can send our bodies into all kinds of anxiety responses.

Exercises that interrupt the thinking brain and bring our attention into the body can de-escalate the rumination activation cycle.

In addition,

We as a society are increasingly more distracted and disconnected from our bodies,

And our bodies are our number one messenger.

We get signals all the time that something isn't right or something needs to be changed or needs attention in some way,

And we often ignore those signals because we are just completely unaware of them.

So anything that we can do that helps us to reconnect with our bodies,

In my opinion,

Is invaluable.

Let's start with a super quick and easy one.

Close your eyes or soften your gaze and bring your attention to the base of your skull for a few moments.

Just resting your attention there.

Maybe take a few breaths in and out,

And then shifting your focus to the tip of your right ear.

Just feeling that top part of your ear for one or two breath cycles,

And then place your attention on the wall that is closest to you.

I'm not doing anything with this information,

Just noticing it.

And now expanding your awareness to encompass all three points.

The base of your skull,

The tip of your ear,

And the wall closest to you.

And noticing the space that each of these points takes up,

And the space between each of them.

And just sitting in awareness of this space for one or two more breaths,

And then blinking open your eyes.

Another way to anchor into the body,

Which can be done anywhere and anytime,

Is body scanning.

Body scanning is the systematic practice of bringing attention to each part of your body.

I like to scan my body from toe to crown,

Inviting relaxation where I can.

I always start with the feet because for me the feet are the closest to the ground and the farthest away from my thinking head.

But there's no right or wrong way to do this.

You can start and end however it feels right to you.

Simple attention to hand placement is also helpful.

If you're in a meeting or waiting in the lobby of a doctor's office,

Placing your hands palm down on your thighs or on the arms of the chair will send a signal of safety to your brain.

And placing your hands over your heart or on your belly can also be quite comforting,

Although probably more of an at-home practice than in public.

Let's do a quick body scan together.

Finding a position that is comfortable for you and closing your eyes or softening your gaze,

Noticing the placement of your hands on or beside your body,

Bringing your attention to the feel of your feet on the ground,

The backs of your legs against your seat,

The weight of your body being held by the chair or the ground,

The strength of your spine from the tailbone to the base of the skull,

And scanning the arms,

Shoulders to hands,

Paying special attention to the palms of the hands and the fingertips,

Inviting relaxation if possible but not forcing anything,

And then bringing attention to the head and face,

Focusing on the point between the eyebrows and seeing if you can relax the brow and the forehead and temples,

And checking in with the jaw,

Unclenching,

Relaxing,

And when you're ready,

Gently roll your neck and wiggle the fingers and toes and gently blink open the eyes.

This was a quicker body scan than I would normally do,

Just to give anyone who isn't familiar with the practice an idea of how to do it.

Body scanning is also very helpful for times when you are struggling to get to sleep.

The second tactic I want to share is called crossing the midline.

The midline is the imaginary line down the center of your body.

To cross the midline means to reach across the body with the arms or legs or both,

And this helps to evenly distribute the energy between both hemispheres of the brain,

Which helps the brain to balance and organize itself.

Some easy ways to do this are give yourself a hug.

Hugging,

Even if it's from yourself,

Sends the message to the brain that you are safe and loved.

It also helps to reduce the amount of cortisol in the bloodstream.

Hold the hug for as long as you need and repeat as needed.

Thigh taps are another great way to cross the midline.

Sit comfortably with your feet flat on the ground and place your left hand on your right thigh and your right hand on your left thigh.

Then alternate gently tapping with each hand.

You could close your eyes and feel into the sensations of the tapping as well.

And there are many other crossing the midline techniques,

But the last one that I'm going to give to you is called the butterfly technique.

If you hold your hands up in front of you,

Palms facing in,

Cross your wrists and link your thumbs,

As if you're going to make a butterfly shadow on the wall.

And then gently lay your hands in this position on your upper chest.

With the fingertips at the collarbone,

Softly tap your fingers.

Now take a moment here to also notice how it feels to have the weight of your hands against your chest.

For many of us,

This is a very self-soothing touch.

And the last technique for today's talk is about elongating the out-breath.

When we inhale,

The heart rate naturally increases.

And when we exhale,

The heart rate naturally decreases.

When we intentionally lengthen the exhale over the course of just a few breath cycles,

Our racing hearts will begin to slow.

This in turn sends a signal to the brain that it's okay to relax.

The easiest way to do this is by simply counting the in-breath and the out-breath.

The numbers for the inhale and the exhale aren't really important as long as the exhale is longer.

So you may inhale for the count of four and exhale for the count of eight.

Or inhale to the count of three and exhale to the count of five.

Whatever works for you.

There are also several breathing techniques that you can use to lengthen the time between the in-breath and the out-breath.

One is called square or box breathing.

In this technique,

You breathe in for the count of four,

Hold for four,

Breathe out for the count of four,

And then hold for another four.

Sometimes this is also done while drawing an imaginary square to each count.

I'll count you through a few practice rounds.

In two three four,

Hold two three four.

Out two three four,

Hold two three four.

In two three four,

Hold two three four.

Out two three four,

Hold two three four.

In two three four,

Hold two three four.

Out two three four,

Hold two three four.

Another breathing practice is called four seven eight breathing.

This has a similar feel to the box breathing.

I'm going to breathe in for the count of four,

Hold for seven,

And breathe out for eight.

I'll count you through a few of these as well.

In two three four,

Hold two three four,

Five six seven.

Out two three four,

Five six seven eight.

In two three four,

Hold two three four,

Five six seven.

Out two three four,

Five six seven eight.

In two three four,

Hold two three four,

Five six seven.

Out two three four,

Five six seven eight.

There are many more tips and tools to be shared,

But this is a decent starting point for anyone new to the practices.

I hope you find this talk informative and the exercises helpful,

And I would love to hear your feedback in the reviews or in the comments.

Thank you so much for listening.

Many blessings to you on this day and always.

Namaste.