You Can’t Solve A Thinking Problem With More Thinking
You can’t solve a thinking problem with more thinking.
Since it’s Mental Health Awareness month, let’s talk about anxiety…
Anxiety, for me, is that incessant chatter in my head. It’s a continuous loop of the same thoughts over & over. It causes me to be distracted, unable to sleep or relax, or unable to sit in silence… it’s exhausting. Anxiety used to plague me, constantly. It made it really hard to be productive & to enjoy life in the moment. Things like meditation, or restorative yoga, were impossible… and they would actually make me more anxious because I couldn’t distract myself from the noise. Connection with others was difficult as well, because I couldn’t fully listen to them… instead there was an alternate dialogue happening in my head during & after an encounter. I couldn’t feel my feelings, or my intuition, because I was completely in my head. So, I’d ask everyone else’s opinions as to what I should do, then make decisions that would blow up my life on a major way because they weren’t the right decisions for me.
To solve this, I thought to myself “I just need to control my thoughts.”
Well, here’s a secret…
YOU CANNOT CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS.
Thoughts just happen. We have no control over them… but, we do have choice as to whether we will believe them, and how we respond to them. With anxiety, responding to thoughts with more thoughts is like fighting a fire with fire…. It creates a bigger inferno. 🔥
To combat anxiety, you have to take a bottom-up approach, meaning you have to get out of your head & into your body.
But, as a trauma survivor, for many years, my body felt unsafe. I was completely disconnected from it & the signals it was giving me, which is how I developed autoimmunity. So, the idea of “getting into my body” was completely foreign to me. I had to seek experts in the field of Somatic/Trauma therapy to learn how to do this… these practices & skills have completely changed not only how I handle stress, but also how I interact with others. I believe in them so much that I’ve gotten certified to help others as well. I do Somatic practices on a regular basis when I am calm, so I’m able to access these tools in times of stress & return to calm.
Today, I feel safe in my body, which allows me to get out of my head. The incessant chatter has stopped, and if it does start to rev up, I’m able to quiet it… I’m able to feel comfort & peace… even in times of stress. I’m not perfect at it, but I am improving all the time. I’m still not great at meditation or restorative yoga, but I’m better than I was… and I continue to practice to get better. I’m able to tune into my intuition & make decisions that are right for me… I still consult with others at times, because I do believe there is benefit from getting outside opinions/advice to keep my Ego in check, but ultimately the decisions I make today are what my gut tells me… my gut is always right. 😉
If you struggle with anxiety, I urge you to seek out Somatic therapy/practices. It is possible to quiet the noise & to feel at peace… I am living proof. 😊
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