Anxiety
Anxiety is a strong feeling of discomfort or worry in the body. Basically, anxiety is a survival response. It is a signal that something is not right and that you should seek protection. Long ago when we lived as hunters, anxiety served an important function - it alerted you to potential threats in your surroundings. In today's safer society, the function is still there and it is sometimes triggered in situations that are not dangerous. The reaction can also be disproportionately strong.
There are different theories about why anxiety occurs, one does not necessarily exclude the other. Regardless of the cause and mechanism, we probably all agree that anxiety is an incredibly unpleasant experience. You don't have to live a life of crippling anxiety, there are ways to be free.
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What happens in the body?
Anxiety activates the sympathetic part of your nervous system which prepares you to fight or flee.
The body then secretes a series of stress hormones that have the task of activating various reactions in your body. Your pupils dilate so you can pay extra attention to details. Your heart rate goes up for your body to pump more blood and oxygen to your muscles. This so you can fight or run.
Your blood vessels dilate to increase blood flow to your most important organs. It may make you feel faint. Your blood flow is diverted to your major vital organs and therefore your hands and feet are not prioritized, they become cold. You become short of breath and breathe faster to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood to your muscles, this can make you dizzy. In addition, it causes your hands, feet and mouth to go numb or tingle/tingle. The body sweats to regulate temperature and make you slippery. A slippery person has an easier time slipping out of someone's grasp.
You get sick to your stomach and feel sick because your body now prioritizes more important functions than your digestion. Similarly, you need to urinate often because your body does not prioritize keeping urine in your bladder. You become restless because your body is primed to run and fight, not sit down and chill. You cannot concentrate and think logically because the part of the brain responsible for logical thinking has temporarily shut down. This is because you don't have time to think logically in a threatening situation. Instead, the blood is concentrated in the Amygdala, the part of the brain that contains the emotional center and that makes you react.
All symptoms are harmless and are due to your body temporarily prioritizing your most important organs for survival. The symptoms are extremely unpleasant and can in turn reinforce your fear and fuel your anxiety. It becomes a vicious spiral. When you know that your symptoms are harmless and understand their function, it becomes easier to stay calm and not let the sensations add to your fear. It's really amazing that the body can mobilize so quickly and so powerfully. This means that when you are truly in danger, you can trust that your system will optimize your chances of survival.
Unexpressed feelings
Anxiety can be a result of not expressing your feelings. When you hold in what you're feeling whether it's worry, fear, anger, stress, love or any other emotion, anxiety can arise as a result of not being true to yourself. Many people learn at an early age to swallow certain emotions and put the lid on them. If you are one of them, you may not even know what you feel. Unexpressed emotions manifest in different ways. Maybe you walk around with a discomfort that you can't put your finger on? Or a feeling of anger or disappointment for which you cannot find a reason? It can be a grinding anxiety that you can't track or anxiety that occurs in specific situations.
Increased vulnerability to anxiety
There is research that shows that anxiety is to some extent hereditary. One can speculate whether it is because you are influenced by your parents as a child and thus take over your mother's or father's anxiety. It can also be about the fact that humans are herd animals and that a herd wins by being heterogeneous. Each individual in the group has different functions and talents to complement each other. One or a couple of people need to be extra sensitive to signals of threats so that they can be on their guard and protect the group from danger. The genetic lot fell on you and your increased tendency towards anxiety helped keep the herd safe.
It has also been seen that people with childhood trauma and people who live in social vulnerability are at greater risk of developing anxiety. Trauma and vulnerability can both be placed in the category of insecurity. If you have inner security, it is easier to explore the world and life. You can compare it to holding someone's hand while going on an adventure. Without inner security, you become more sensitive to danger and react with it fear and anxiety about things that are outside your comfort zone. This basic security is usually built up in childhood. If the conditions were not there for you to build it up during your upbringing, it can be strengthened later in life. This also applies to you who, for one reason or another, have become insecure in adulthood.
Embrace all parts of yourself
There are both short-term ways to deal with anxiety as well as methods and tools to actually reduce or completely get rid of it in the long term. If you are a person who has struggled with anxiety a lot, you probably have a sensitivity that makes you more prone to anxiety attacks than others. You always have that sensitivity with you.
In situations where you are under pressure, you have an increased risk of anxiety attacks. You might think it's a lottery ticket? What you think right now is a setback and an obstacle, you will later realize actually gave you an incredible amount that other people miss out on. Anxiety forces you to get to know yourself. It has made you search for ways to feel better and led you down a path of self-exploration. A self-exploration that, in addition to reducing your anxiety, will make you a more aware person. With increased self-awareness and awareness you become a better leader, you can deepen your relationships, appreciate life and make choices that align with your inner values. A person who does not make the inner journey risks stopping much later in life and realizing that the path he has followed has been led by others and without thought. Maybe with a feeling of having wasted his life on things that didn't matter because he hadn't figured out what really made sense.
A little comfort, perhaps, when it feels like the anxiety is raging like a wild animal and tearing you apart from the inside out. Trust that you will be fine and everything will be fine
Get rid of your anxiety
Anxiety is a feeling, a signal that something is not as it should be. A signal to flee. When you choose to escape, your anxiety disappears because you responded to the signal. In the long run, however, it will be reinforced because you confirm it. The more you isolate yourself from what makes you anxious, the more sensitive you become to that type of trigger and the anxiety knocks a little earlier the next time.
If you lack an inner security, it means that you have work ahead of you which involves slowly but surely building a stable foundation and self-confidence. To start trusting that life will carry you and that you will be fine. It is about acquiring both experience and tools. To start valuing and loving yourself and taking anxiety in hand when it comes to visit.
Think about what the anxiety stands for. Is it a signal that you are not living according to your values? A signal that you don't feel safe in a given situation? A signal that you don't stand up for yourself? That you are afraid of failing or embarrassing yourself? Maybe you don't express your feelings?
On Vitaliseras courses in self-awareness give you the opportunity to explore all parts of yourself under exceptionally safe conditions. We explore feelings and needs, what has affected you in life and examine what you need to feel more freedom and start living life to the fullest.
