Uncategorized3 tips to shift from anxious to a more conscious CALM
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3 tips to shift from anxious to a more conscious CALM

The wisdom found in anxiety is learning to understand the root, the message, and the contributing factors. 

Taking an investigative approach, as well as gathering the tools that support you, helps you practice disengaging from anxious thoughts, allowing them to pass. What may begin as a disempowered state, gives room for self understanding, compassion, and empowered choice -and always, is an opportunity for learning.  

Becoming aware of how you are feeling, helps you See the anxiety vs Be the anxiety.

Here are 3 tips that are aimed at helping you create ‘the shift’:

#1 Name It

There is an objective power to naming your anxious feelings and it starts with noticing.

With awareness, you become more mindful and learn to understand what is underneath these feelings you are experiencing.  Awareness and personal understanding helps you take a step back from ‘being’ the anxiety, to ‘seeing’ the anxiety.  

Become reflective:  what is your experience when you are feeling anxious?   How does it impact your mind and body?  Perhaps your thoughts are racing, notice a racing heart, or rapid and shallow breathing pattern? 

Recognizing how these feelings impact you, helps you notice and take a step back.   By naming anxiety, you acknowledge what you are feeling and how it may be influencing your behaviours. This helps you objectively see it for what it is and helps you ‘un-blend’ from it. 

#2 Tame it

Once you’ve named it, learning to tame heightened anxiety is a helpful next step.  For example, this may look like taking steps to regulate your nervous system. When our body is calmer, our mind will follow, and vice versa; this is the power of mind-body connection. Taming is all about discovering and choosing a supportive action that helps support you. You can approach this top-down or bottom-up.

1) Top Down = Mind-Body 

  • mindfulness  
  • cognitive behavioural techniques (i.e. identifying cognitive distortions or thought loops)
  • journalling

2) Bottom Up = Body-Mind

  • intentional breathing ‘breathwork’ (i.e. box breath, or 4-7-8 breath) 
  • mindful movement (i.e. yoga, running, weight lifting)
  • tapping acupressure points (i.e. EFT)

Learning to tame anxiety is very individual. What triggers for one, will differ from person to person, the same goes for strategies and tools that will resonate with you.  Self-awareness & patience helps you discover the tools that work for you over time. A process of self-discovery.

#3  Intentionally press Pause 

Lastly, sometimes we need to intentionally press pause on feeding anxious thoughts and feelings by changing our focus. This helps to break the thought loop and helps us to gain distance from our worries. What we feed with our attention grows.

Some ideas to press pause are:

  • practice containment by scheduling worry time 
  • get out of you thoughts and into your body with movement
  • choose a mindful task that requires focus and attention
  • soak in a relaxing bath
  • have a nap 
  • get into nature and focus on the sights + smells + sounds
  • connect with a loved one, or a trusted friend. 

It’s not always easy to navigate anxiety, especially when it’s elevated and leaving you in a state of overwhelm and nervous system activation. If you are seeking more support to feel better, learn new tools to manage anxiety and get to the root of your concerns, reach out to a trained mental health professional today. 

Amy is a RN, Psychotherapist in Ontario, Canada, and Founder of AF Wellness, she is passionate about inspiring mind, body + holistic healing.