We’re talking about anxiety. What is anxiety, and what are the symptoms of anxiety asking of us?
To understand anxiety, we first have to understand what the opposite feels like.
To me, the opposite of anxiety is being relaxed in the body. Soft belly. The breath moving freely. Able to stay present with the current load in life without needing to distract ourselves or escape ourselves.
So what happens when the load becomes too much?
The body has an incredibly intelligent response. If I’m no longer able to stay comfortably in myself, my energy begins to rise out of the body. My breath becomes shallow. My belly contracts. My thoughts speed up. Sleep gets disrupted. Worry increases. This is the cycle of anxiety.
Most people react to these symptoms as though the anxiety itself is the problem. But from my perspective, anxiety is often the messenger.
The symptoms are telling us that the load we’re carrying has exceeded our current capacity to hold it.
Part of anxiety is actually an attempt to get out of ourselves because we cannot comfortably stay with what we’re carrying.
So the question becomes: how do we increase support? How do we create regulation when we’re overloaded?
Instead of:
“How do I get rid of this?”
The inquiry becomes:
“What do I need in order to stay with myself right now?”
I still find myself coming back to that question in real time.
With care,
Alyssa
