What Anxiety is NOT and What Anxiety ACTUALLY is

Here’s what anxiety is not.. It is not is a disease. It’s not hereditary. It’s not something we all experience in the same way. It’s not one size fits all. It’s not something that affects more men than women, or more women than men.

It’s not something children can’t struggle with- some people have the perception that’s it’s only adults who can have anxiety, that it’s only people who have bills, a house to pay for, jobs to go to.

Children can as well, it’s something that we’re all able to experience.

We are emotional human beings. We are multitude of emotions and energy. Anxiety is purely energy. It can effect us mentally and physically. What anxiety ACTUALLY is.. It’s a whole body experience- It may effect certain parts of your body, but its an energetic experience in your body. Anxiety puts you in 3 places—fight, flight, or freeze. Why? Something is causing you fear, triggered by some form of fear, though you may not be aware of it. It can also be triggered by danger. There may not be particular danger there, but if you have social anxiety, if you’re stressed about covid, if you’re worried about what people think of you, your brain will sense danger. It’s the most natural experience. Therefor your body and mind wants to protect you…due the fight, flight or freeze mode. It’s basically the universal sign of danger or fear. Here’s the thing, anxiety is a blessing. It’s a red flag that your body is signaling to you that something is going on in your environment or in your mind is causing unease and it needs addressing. It’s simply doing it’s job. Some stress is actually good for us. We actually thrive under a certain amount of stress/pressure—when you’re invited in an interview, you usually get nervous before that, heart’s beating faster, but if you channel that energy in the right way, you can get yourself into flow and find you are able to focus well and thrive. But when we start to feel a heightened emotion and we label it as “my anxiety”, “I’m anxious”, “I have anxiety”, “I am an anxious person”, and the more that we cling onto the identity of the anxiety belonging it you, your brain is going to believe that it’s important to you and it is in fact yours. You may not feel it right now, but Anxiety is a good thing. It helps you to recognise that something is going on that needs your attention, change may be needed. But anxiety is not yours to keep. If you find yourself identifying yourself as an anxious person, begin to change the identity that you’re giving yourself when it comes to your emotions, thoughts, and feelings such as anxiety. How can you begin to recognize and release anxiety? You need a level of self-awareness. Awareness is having the ability to recognise how you’re feeling, how you’re thinking, and it’s something that you have to practice. The key thing here is to recognise it, but not judge it. If you experience anxiety, see if you can notice what you were thinking about, or what was going on in the moment. What was going through your mind when you were feeling that way? That’s how you begin practice self-awareness, it’s about practicing checking in within yourself, with no judgment or fear. Get access to the Mental Health Thrive Guide and Free 3 Part Coaching!

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