guardianactual
MuscleChemistry Registered Member
Your Skin is Crawling
Anxiety. Anxiety is the second demon we must cast out into the desert to die a certain death. Anxiety stems from a nervous system rattled with a never-ending stream of subconscious fear. This fear is different than the fear that sparks anger. Anxiety can be even more insidious than anger. Whereas anger is typically focused on an easily identified target, anxiety acts covertly, like poison, just below the radar, often without a target to lock onto. It slowly and surely erodes confidence, energy and performance. Anxiety can linger for a long time, since the underlying causes are hard to pin down, and denial often blocks access.
What does anxiety feel like? We experience it as a tension in our stomach, a constriction in our heart and the feeling that we are crawling out of our skin. We are overwrought with dread and nervousness, often accompanied by sweaty palms, elevated heart rate, hyperventilation, and problems with digestion and sleep. The behavioral responses to anxiety are procrastination, impatience, erratic behavior, easily triggered frustration, quitting on projects and people, a lack of intimacy and a defeatist, pessimistic attitude. Every one of these is an ingredient of unhappiness, but combined they are a recipe for catastrophic failure.
So how do we deal with anxiety? The answer is to train and work it out of you through a variety of proven techniques. The process is likely to be slower and subtler than dealing with anger, and is best supported by a trained professional. Here are some guidance and training tips:
Take control of your breathing: Learn the subtle art of breath control to re-wire your nervous system. Our Unbeatable Mind online academy includes breath control training and has helped many overcome anxiety. Try starting with the simple 1-2 breath. Inhale through your nose using a 4 or 5 count, then with a pronounced relaxation of your face, shoulders and body, exhale through your mouth to a 8 or 10 count. Do this for five minutes a day, consistently for 90 days, and you will likely heal your anxiety. Keeping your eyes closed and meditating on the source of the anxiety while you practice will also lead to insights as to the source of the trouble.
Feed the courage wolf: Set your mobile timer to ring every hour during the day for 30 days. When it goes off, pause, take five to ten deep breaths through your nose, and upon each inhale recite a positive statement such as “day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better,” or “I am good, confident and worthy, I am no longer anxious.” The positive self-talk combined with the deep breathing will burn away the tension and eventually override the negative energy lurking within (especially when combined with the other drills).
Know your why: Keep your mind focused on your purpose in life, align your purpose with your passion, and develop a stand to guide your actions. Connecting with self-awareness at this level, and re-connecting with it every day, is extremely empowering and allows you to move forward with confidence in life. Anxiety will slowly wilt against this positive pressure.
Somatic counseling: This one is an accelerant, like adding rocket fuel to the above practices. Somatic counseling can come in the form of Yoga Therapy, Psycho-Massage Therapy (that is my term for someone who is trained to counsel while massaging the body), Emotional Focused Therapy and EMDR. These and other similar therapeutic processes are integrative in their approaches and extremely effective.
Ok, enough on emotional development for today. We will continue this important discussion next week by looking at the third demon, arrogance. For those of you who wince at the notion of emotional awareness and development, thanks for hanging with me. I am confident that eventually you will come to understand the criticality of developing the emotional mountain for effective, authentic leadership and relationships. Developing a warrior’s spirit requires that we can merge our hearts and minds into our actions. Absent the positive energy of the heart and spirit, the mind veers toward negativity and materialism – and will eventually burn itself out.
Until next time, stay focused, train hard and lose the anxiety.
Anxiety. Anxiety is the second demon we must cast out into the desert to die a certain death. Anxiety stems from a nervous system rattled with a never-ending stream of subconscious fear. This fear is different than the fear that sparks anger. Anxiety can be even more insidious than anger. Whereas anger is typically focused on an easily identified target, anxiety acts covertly, like poison, just below the radar, often without a target to lock onto. It slowly and surely erodes confidence, energy and performance. Anxiety can linger for a long time, since the underlying causes are hard to pin down, and denial often blocks access.
What does anxiety feel like? We experience it as a tension in our stomach, a constriction in our heart and the feeling that we are crawling out of our skin. We are overwrought with dread and nervousness, often accompanied by sweaty palms, elevated heart rate, hyperventilation, and problems with digestion and sleep. The behavioral responses to anxiety are procrastination, impatience, erratic behavior, easily triggered frustration, quitting on projects and people, a lack of intimacy and a defeatist, pessimistic attitude. Every one of these is an ingredient of unhappiness, but combined they are a recipe for catastrophic failure.
So how do we deal with anxiety? The answer is to train and work it out of you through a variety of proven techniques. The process is likely to be slower and subtler than dealing with anger, and is best supported by a trained professional. Here are some guidance and training tips:
Take control of your breathing: Learn the subtle art of breath control to re-wire your nervous system. Our Unbeatable Mind online academy includes breath control training and has helped many overcome anxiety. Try starting with the simple 1-2 breath. Inhale through your nose using a 4 or 5 count, then with a pronounced relaxation of your face, shoulders and body, exhale through your mouth to a 8 or 10 count. Do this for five minutes a day, consistently for 90 days, and you will likely heal your anxiety. Keeping your eyes closed and meditating on the source of the anxiety while you practice will also lead to insights as to the source of the trouble.
Feed the courage wolf: Set your mobile timer to ring every hour during the day for 30 days. When it goes off, pause, take five to ten deep breaths through your nose, and upon each inhale recite a positive statement such as “day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better,” or “I am good, confident and worthy, I am no longer anxious.” The positive self-talk combined with the deep breathing will burn away the tension and eventually override the negative energy lurking within (especially when combined with the other drills).
Know your why: Keep your mind focused on your purpose in life, align your purpose with your passion, and develop a stand to guide your actions. Connecting with self-awareness at this level, and re-connecting with it every day, is extremely empowering and allows you to move forward with confidence in life. Anxiety will slowly wilt against this positive pressure.
Somatic counseling: This one is an accelerant, like adding rocket fuel to the above practices. Somatic counseling can come in the form of Yoga Therapy, Psycho-Massage Therapy (that is my term for someone who is trained to counsel while massaging the body), Emotional Focused Therapy and EMDR. These and other similar therapeutic processes are integrative in their approaches and extremely effective.
Ok, enough on emotional development for today. We will continue this important discussion next week by looking at the third demon, arrogance. For those of you who wince at the notion of emotional awareness and development, thanks for hanging with me. I am confident that eventually you will come to understand the criticality of developing the emotional mountain for effective, authentic leadership and relationships. Developing a warrior’s spirit requires that we can merge our hearts and minds into our actions. Absent the positive energy of the heart and spirit, the mind veers toward negativity and materialism – and will eventually burn itself out.
Until next time, stay focused, train hard and lose the anxiety.
