Anxiety – Is It a Thought or a Feeling?

Anxiety lies in the space between what we know (and can manage) and what we don't know (and may be prone to worrying about). Disentangling and naming these counterparts is the first step to managing anxiety. Know what you know and know what you don't know. Manage what you are able to manage and let go of the rest, acknowledging that it is beyond your control. All self management starts within. It is the inner self that deals with the world and forms perceptions, values and beliefs. It is this inner self we need to be best friends with.

Sometimes, when we are feeling life a little too deeply (stuck in our feelings), applying logic and reason to unravel fact from fiction can help enormously. Conversely if we are all in the head or drowning in the ‘noise’ often created by a cerebral day-job, then the simple act of identifying and acknowledging how we are feeling can help re-balance this dissonance.

Life is a process of fine tuning between feeling/sensing and reason/logic. Anxiety, when experienced in a situation of real and present danger, the fight, flight freeze response, is perfectly natural. For the purposes of this piece let’s focus on the kind of anxiety we can't quite identify or name. I call this anxiety ‘Nameless Dread’.

I once attended a corporate leadership event where the speaker not only advocated a one minute silence on the hour, every hour but had also put this practice into place with a global brand he was working with at that time.

This tiny little practice increased productivity and improved cognition and well being; it built sanity into a sometimes insane day of none stop work where folk could just stop, for one minute, and be with their selves, in silence.

Our thoughts and feelings walk hand in hand and when they are firing and communicating with each other effectively, we can be highly creative indeed. When they are not they can cause us to spiral so far out of balance that we spin into anxiety and sometimes even into a phase of depression.

Society has so deeply separated us from our internal senses and intuition, as we become ever more technologically dependent in a world where eye contact with the wrong person could be deemed confrontational. The world can be an intolerant, exclusive, detached and sometimes deeply uncaring place to live and shutting down our feelings becomes the remedy. We smile with our mouth but there is panic in our eyes as we willfully ignore our inner voice.

Working proactively with anxiety can bring real improvement to the sufferer and always begins within. The first step is naming the anxiety; it’s mostly the not knowing that perpetuates the anxiety. Knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know is a really efficient way of getting into a meaningful space with your anxiety. Stripping away as much of the mystery as possible is the goal to feeling more secure and relaxed.

Accepting responsibility for your behaviour programming is the next step.

As uncomfortable as it might sound, accepting (without judgment) that we might be operating through a negative behaviour pattern, i.e. “I suppose I could do it; I don’t really want to and it’s going to be difficult and take up a lot of my time” as compared to a different programme which might be “How can I most efficiently achieve this and have some fun in the process?” is a giant step forwards. Are we truly positive in our approach to life or is life serving us a mouldy sandwich?

If the self-speak is negative, the outcome, thoughts and feelings will amount to a negative experience. Being fully awake in this process will show you the impact you make on the world around you. You are the projector and the world is your screen.

What kind of film are you broadcasting?

Writer Summary - Chrissy Sawyer uses a powerful blend of skills in her workshops and through her individual support, to safely move people through their pain and trauma. She writes this blog and provides a copy writing service because she "can't not write"! Chrissy is a speaker for groups and organisations and talks about inclusive approaches to mental health and well being. As a Director of Unload, a social enterprise that provides self-managing support post trauma, specialising in the armed forces family, Chrissy works as co-facilitator and content writer.