Break the Anxious Cycle

Anxiety affects not just the mind but also has a great impact on your physical state making it difficult to break the anxious cycle

Anxious Thoughts

When you feel anxious it lowers not just your mood but also pulls on your energy. This can cause you to feel tired and then you don’t have the energy to do simple tasks. This can then cause overwhelm, the anxious thoughts then multiply and you stay stuck in the Anxiety Cycle. Does this resonate for you?

Let’s go deep on the effects your anxiety is currently having on you and your body

Physical Effects of Anxiety

Say you were driving and the car in front of you stops suddenly this is a real threat so not only do you physically react by hitting the break your internal body will also react by nerve and hormonal signals, this system will then release a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline increases your heart rate, raises your blood pressure and increases energy supplies. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone which increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream. The increase in these hormones

Anxiety is like being on high alert. Your body is preparing you to fight or flee, and so it is flooded with energy so that you can respond to a threat. Then, when that adrenaline runs its course, your body goes through a crash that can leave you feeling drained.

The effect of anxiety on your body can vary but you will likely have physical symptoms as well as feeling drained from the thoughts that will in your head

How to Overcome Anxiety

Overcoming your current anxious state does not have to be hard if you do it through a gentle process.

Try these 10 steps:

Do a mind dump of everything you’re currently worried about
Ask yourself which ones you have control over. For example, if you are worried about a project at work then what can action can you take to make sure you get the best outcome
For the ones you have no control over leave them on the page then come back to when you are feeling in a higher state
Make a list of everything that lifts your mood, time with friends, reading, exercise, self-care. What can you put into your daily routine from this list?
Make a list of everything that lowers your mood then look at what you can do to remove or take action over
When you are high anxiety sit with the thought, and take time out to meditate or breathe through the thought. If you feel it in your chest sit and breathe in and out forcing your chest out to break the tightness. Breath in through your nose fill your lungs, and breathe out through your mouth whilst working through the thoughts
Ask yourself how you want to feel, how do you want to show up in all areas of your life and start to embody it connecting back to how you want to show up
Create a vision board or list of what your dream life would look like. Take into account all areas of your life and think about the ideal outcomes.
What can steps can you take towards these areas? All of these positive actions support you in taking back control when your anxious thoughts make you feel out of control
Check-in with your thoughts moment by moment taking time to correct the path they are taking. You can control what you think about. Picture a red post box……..See you just changed your thoughts!

Make all of this gentle and easy but don’t stop trying to work through this anxious state, you will overcome it