Anxiety ~ a pain in the …
Recently
in a group discussion, the topic of anxiety came up. It was mentioned as a
trigger that causes a person to take evasive action, extreme evasive action.
The
extreme anxiety can call forth a desire to mask the stimulus. The mask, can
take the form of medication, alcohol, or drugs. It can also take the form of being
“totally unresponsive, making evasive maneuvers such as tuning out, turning
away, acting busy, or engaging in obsessive behaviors."[1]
The
dictionary tells us that anxiety reflects a state of inner turmoil … a dread
over unpleasant events.[i]
According
to Freud, anxiety can cause extremely different results. He talked about mild
anxiety as a signal that something needs attention. It seems we tend to think
the attention has something to do with what happens outside of ourselves. Freud and fellow therapists also indicate
that at a high level, anxiety can be painful and can contribute to a person
being less themselves and less functional.
Usually,
anxiety is focused on future events. The future might materialize. It might
also contain history, a history of past negative events. The Piggy backing of
past unpleasant events on the present experience will intensify the pain of the
moment. Neither the past events nor the
future events are real; they do not exist at this moment unless we focus
our thinking and feeling on the event. Focusing our thinking and feeling on the
past events or the future events feeds the thought and the pain or discomfort.
The
question that I would like to raise is, “is anxiety caused in part by our not getting
to know ourselves, not feeling our value, not being connected to Source Energy?”
Is anxiety due more to a lack of internal focus rather than events that are
external?
The
group asked “okay, how do we get to know ourselves?”
I
believe that a two-step process can help us minimize the impact of anxiety.
1) The first step is to
breathe, and focus on our breathe. Breathe deeply, inhale deeply, exhale
deeply. Feel the breath as it comes in and goes out. If a person does this for
a brief moment, one time, not much will happen. Perhaps their anxiety or their
disconnect from themselves is so strong that they cannot focus on anything but
their fear (an element of anxiety).
If
a person can do this simple exercise for five minutes, their body will relax
and a variety of physiological processes will calm down. We can think more
clearly when we are calm. If they can do
this exercise for ten to fifteen minutes at least once per day on a consistent
basis, other positive elements come into play. We connect with our own unique
inner self and with creative source energy however you can understand it.
I
believe the very act of breathing establishes our value. Connecting with Creative
Source Energy, opens an intimate connection to Source, to the Universe, to all
things. The voice of Self, the voice of Source Energy will never devalue us;
will never tell us to do something to harm our self or to harm someone else.
In
the openness of the breathing space, our unique talents and our path will
manifest.
2) The second step is to allow
our feelings to help us direct our thoughts. We need to allow ourselves to ask “What
is it that I want to happen?” “What do I want?” Once our thoughts have revealed what we
desire, we need to boldly ask Source, the Universe for it. It is not enough
just to ask, we must have the faith that Source will respond. If we focus on
positive thinking and direction, what we seek will come about.
Anxiety
can be minimized. We can live more fulfilled, connected to ourself, Source and achieve
our potential.
[1] The Four Horsemen: Stonewalling, Ellie Lisitsa, May 20, 2013 WWW.GOTTMAN.COM
Stonewalling, is one of the 4 horsemen that Dr.
Gottman and his wife believe can move a person away from relationship, indeed
can destroy a relationship. It if is applied over a broad swath of people or
events, it can a disconnect the person from key elements in their life.
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