Anxiety is an Arsehole

BUT you can kick it in the bum!

I’ve been there….i’ve been on a journey with the Arsehole that is anxiety…we know each other well. She knows just the little thoughts to throw in the pot to try to mess up my day. BUT when we started on the road together I don’t think she banked on me getting to know what makes her tick even better. I’m going to share with you the secrets to overcoming anxiety without meds from the doctor… how do I know it works because i’m the proof in the pudding!

The first secret is…it isn’t the scary thoughts that cause a problem, it’s where your nervous systems at when you notice them. Now I do ALL the stuff…daily dancing, yoga, meditation, cold showers, I eat great and I was shocked too that anxiety can still sneak in there. At my first realisation that is was anxiety I was dealing with, my thoughts were… are you serious?? Do you know who I am and all the good shit I do?! 

BUT it's not that simple… you may have a bodily make up that is more prone to it, it may be hormones, it may even be a condition like Hypermobility which I have that causes it, you may be triggering your vagus nerve somehow or you may just be going through a transition in which the body needs to learn that its safe again but the point is it can hit anyone. There shouldn’t be any shame in it, you haven't failed at life, it just is. SO you must decide whether to be at it’s mercy or whether you are going to show it who's boss.

First of all…don’t try to be a superhero. I am so stubborn at being awesome in my own right, at first I didn’t want to take any supplements to help with the calm. BUT have a break, have a natural supplement kitkat!! Below are all the things that have helped me kerb anxiety:

CBD oil 

Reishi Mushroom 

Lemon Balm 

Chamomile tea 

Take all of them!!! Obviously check for any contraindications for any conditions you have but this combination all synergise with each other to increase their benefits. Do your own research, check they are right for you.

Now you've primed your nervous system with mother natures magic little helpers, you still need to do all the other stuff to make sure that vibration is running high and nervous system is set to chill.

Mindfulness, become the watcher of your thoughts. Realise you aren’t your thoughts, they are just birds passing through the sky, they come and go, they may be happy or they may be roundhouse kicks to the self confidence depending on your body chemicals and nervous vibration that day.

Becoming the watcher is half the job because if you don’t calm the nervous system by lifting your vibration at the same time, you are watching an exhausting shit storm. The real mastery is to lift your vibration and then the mind doesn't have a world to fight… it doesn’t need to bombard you with worry because the body has been told that it is safe. 

When the body feels safe the mind relaxes and becomes quieter. There are naturally less birds flying through your mind sky and the ones that do will be brighter and the odd little shit head one, we can smile at that one as it passes through. Remember it is worry that is the adversary NOT the thoughts and it is the nervous system that causes the worry.

So how do we relax the nervous system to quieten the mind and change the radio station that is playing from ‘how can i fuck you the most FM’ to the ‘let’s put a jolly spring in your step’ station?

You breathe. You connect to joy. You move your body. You meditate. You get massages. You have some orgasms and you do the things that make you laugh. And then you do it all over again. Every day… because when you let life get too busy for these foundation practises you can guarantee it won’t be long before you get a bite on the butt that shouts at you to resort your priorities.

And when you can’t do all of these things every day…you just breathe. You can always do that. A deep breath can dissolve a thought, 3 long exhales can bring you back into centre. 

When you notice a barrage of bullshit thoughts coming through, laugh at your mind and call it out ‘Wow you really are being a twat today!’ This instantly breaks the worry loop. 

Then breathe. If you have the time, take 10 minutes to do a breathing exercise meditation and if you don’t, just focus on breathing into your belly for the time you are hanging the washing out and watch how quickly it gets quieter in there. The biggest secret that most of us don’t know is that the super powers we need for health and wellness are within us.

So to start with, learn how to use breath as your primary weapon… it’s the most powerful super power you have to regulate your nervous system because really that’s the bad boy you need to tame.  Relax the nervous system,  which will relax the body which relaxes the mind…then you can watch those little monkey thoughts hanging out by the pool of your consciousness rather than frantically trying to bat them away, dodging bullets trying to make sure that none of them stick. 

Relax…relax and then relax. Learning how to calm the nervous system is how you will stop anxiety becoming the master of you. You can do it because I did.

And for however long anxiety may want to be your companion, keep doing the things that worry you anyway… teach yourself that your worries are unfounded. Be brave. 

Breathing is your first stop….it sounds simple but it’s unbelievably powerful and the quickest way to quieten the mind when you aren’t in a space to meditate or get your gong out for a sound bath. 

There are so many different types of breathing exercises available for us to learn to become a nervous system Master Yoda…even making sure you are breathing correctly in the first place can be life changing. These are the things I would like to share with you. I’m a level 3 trauma informed qualified breathing coach … Message me to see how breath work can get you your happy back and move anxiety out of the drivers seat and into the back.