Anxiety: What’s it all About?
By: Dr. Denise Renye
Human beings experience a broad range of emotions in response to what’s happening (or not happening) in their lives. That means from time to time anxiety will crop up, whether that’s due to a job interview, a first date, a social situation, or traveling to a foreign country. Anxiety can be a racing mind that’s unable to settle on one thought. It can also be the opposite, fixating on a theoretical terrible outcome such as, “My boss is going to fire me!” or, “The plane is going to crash!” Oftentimes with anxiety, rationalizing it away doesn’t help that much because anxiety is also a somatic experience, it’s not only in the mind. What we experience in the mind, is experienced and expressed through the body.
Bodily sensations of anxiety can include sweaty palms, a fast heartbeat, a tight chest, and shallow breathing to name a few. Feeling anxious essentially means the body and mind are unable to relax, to feel calm and peaceful. Sometimes anxiety is warranted, and the body-mind is being smart. You should be wary of a rattlesnake that’s coiled in front of you with its tail raised while walking on a hiking path.
But sometimes anxiety is like an alarm bell that hasn’t turned off, long after the threat is past. For instance, if your boss has shown repeatedly that they value your work and you’re still constantly worried about being fired, it could be something deeper is going on. That’s when you know you’d benefit from working with an anxiety therapist in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Some people may ask, “Why should I work with an anxiety therapist? Can’t I just talk to my friends?” You can, sure, and it’s certainly important to share intimately with the people we care about and trust, but most friends don’t know how to approach anxiety. And most friends don’t have the skills and capacity to help you in holding anxiety.
The common response to, “I’m so nervous about this date/job interview/meeting,” is, “Don’t be nervous. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Does hearing that actually work? Does someone saying, “Don’t be nervous,” stop you from feeling nervous? Probably not. In fact, sometimes it exacerbates it. Sharing our fears with friends often doesn’t result in the anxiety dissipating. It’s through no fault of their own, rather they aren’t trained to handle anxiety. But there’s good news…therapists are!
A highly trained professional won’t tell you, “Don’t be anxious.” We can’t speak for everyone’s approach, but at Whole Person Integration, we’ll explore the anxiety further. We want to know why are you anxious, not only the top layer such as, “I’m worried I’ll be laid off,” but what’s underneath? How does the anxiety show up in your body? How far back do you remember this somatic expression of anxiety? Did you experience financial insecurity as a child? Is there a part of you that’s wounded and needs healing and reassurance? A San Francisco Bay Area anxiety therapist such as Whole Person Integration will know when and how to ask those questions to get to the root of anxiety. And getting to the root helps with a more sustained possibility of living a life that you desire.
Again, anxiety is also a somatic experience. Not only do we ask open-ended questions when treating anxiety, but we also work with the body. Options that pair well with anxiety treatment therapy are bodywork, art, spending time in nature, yoga therapy, and yoga nidra, to name a few.
When the body and mind are anxious in a way that’s interfering with your life, the question becomes, how can you bring in more peace? What do the body and mind need to relax? The answer isn’t always easy to determine and that’s why working with a trained professional is sometimes necessary.
Journal Prompts
· How have I noticed anxiety showing up in my lived experience?
· What is in the way between as I am now and living with more ease in my body?
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