I am no stranger to anxiety. I have felt "anxious" since before I even knew there was a word for having constant racing thoughts, nervous feelings of worry and stress over every day activities, paranoia, and trepidation over having to interact socially. These are not the only ways anxiety can manifest in an individual, and as someone who would most likely be described as having "generalized anxiety" by a professional, I've seen it show up in other ways as well. But, at this point in my life I've reached a conclusion that anxiety is not going anywhere. And since it's not going to just disappear, I may as well learn to manage it. I've found a few ways to deal with anxiety that help me regain control of how I experience life. Something I've been keeping in mind that helps me keep anxiety in check is, Everything is energy. Those three words are so simple yet so true and apply to literally EVERYTHING, including this anxiety I feel. In physics, the law of conservation of energy states "that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed from one form to another." So, that means this energy that is present in my mind and my body, this feeling of stress, worry, and fear that we call anxiety, this energy cannot be destroyed, but it can absolutely be transformed. It can be used for a purpose that helps me rather than harms me. And I have the power to use this energy to my benefit. I am now choosing to transform this feeling of anxiety into something useful; something freeing. Rather than let my mind be consumed with chatter and worry, I pause and ask myself an important question. "Is this thought rational?" When dealing with anxiety, this is an important question to reflect on. Oftentimes, the things we are worrying about are projections of what we think might happen. "What if this other thing also happens... and if this person is thinking this... and what if they say that"....and so on. Once I isolate the thought the anxiety is stemming from, I then perform an autopsy on it. That's right, I take it apart and examine it from the inside out. I look at the thought from all angles. Usually, by taking this second to examine my thought process I can very quickly realize where my thinking drifted from reality and where I started to create a story in my head of possibilities. In addition to identifying irrational thoughts, I do what I call "changing the title" of what I am feeling. Often, what we tell ourselves about what we are experiencing physiologically (for instance, having sweaty palms and an accelerated heart rate) is what makes the experience a pleasant or unpleasant one. If my palms are sweaty and my heart is racing because I'm about to go onstage and sing, I can interpret that as fear, or I can take that same energy I am feeling, simply change the title, and call it excitement. I can rename this energy I feel coursing through my body and re-purpose it, changing the experience from a stressful one to an exhilarating and enjoyable one. Another way to transform the feeling of anxiety, into something more useful is to follow Eminem's lead and just lose yourself. In that classic scene in "8 Mile" when his "palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy..." (I'm sure you know the rest) he has to get out of his head and into the physical space he is in. He has to be fully present in the moment. In order to snap myself out of a state of anxiety, I like to get completely out of my head and into my body. To achieve this, I'll do some sort of physical activity that requires me to focus on what I'm doing, and to focus on my breathing, rather than my thoughts. My favorite activities that force me to focus on my breath are yoga and singing. I had a choir teacher who once told us that if you're feeling down, if you're feeling sick, or even if you have a headache, to sing and it will help you feel better. He was right; it really does help for several reasons, but one reason singing helps in these instances is the breath work it requires. When you sing, you have to control your breathing and use it strategically to hit each note and hold each phrase. Controlling your breath regulates your heart rate and calms your body. Another way to control your breath, and in turn calm your body is to do simple breathing exercises. As soon as I feel myself starting to get worked up, I use this breathing exercise,
When you are controlling your breathing, you are training your body on how to react to certain feelings, you are regulating your heart beat, and calming your mind in the process. So basically, if you're feeling anxious keep in mind that energy can be transformed. You can decide how to interpret what you're feeling and use it for your well-being. Investigate whether you're even thinking rationally or not. Take what you are feeling and re-frame it in your mind so that it serves you for your greatest good. Change the title of the experience, turning fear of the unknown into excitement for new possibilities. Do something useful, productive, or creative with that feeling. Get out of your head and into your body, channeling that energy into something invigorating rather than debilitating. xo Bree Cherie
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For a while, it was hard for me to imagine myself doing anything worthwhile because I just couldn't see how someone "like me" could accomplish those things. But now I'm literally learning how to dream again. It's actually very hard to expand your mind once again after you've shut yourself off. But I'm trying my best to allow myself to dream BIG. I don't have to limit myself to my mistakes from the past. I have to learn from my mistakes, and use those lessons to propel myself forward, further than I've ever been. In my previous blog post, I shared about a time in my life where I felt lost and broken. I've been putting myself back together and practicing having a positive mindset, rather than leading with fear. I want to give some practical tips on exactly how I've been "learning to dream." daydream practice...
It's important to be able to see yourself doing the things you want so that you actually feel they are possible. If you don't think something is a possibility for you, you won't even try. Also, when the time comes to act on your dreams you won't be as nervous to get out there and do it. If you've rehearsed it in your head plenty of times, it almost feels like you've already done it. Just like an athlete or a stage performer, visualizing your plan of action helps you know exactly what moves you want to make. You will feel more confident and prepared when the pressure is on. For me, this daydreaming practice is allowing me to re-train my mind to see myself as someone who can do things. I can absolutely make my dreams come true. And once I believe that, it becomes so much easier to actually take the steps toward reaching them. xo Bree Cherie
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