A day doesn’t go by that someone doesn’t tell me they struggle with anxiety. Anxiety can range from mild stress or apprehension to a full blown ‘get-me-out-of-here’ anxiety attack. While there are many techniques and tricks to help manage anxiety, the real goal is and should be to overcome anxiety.  

Picture it like this: your boat hits a rock that creates a hole in the bottom. You begin taking on water. This is stressful. As the boat begins to fill with water, the obvious thing to do is to get the water out of the boat. You begin to bail out the water. This helps and relieves the stress/water to a degree. But it does not solve the problem.

The hole in the boat was created by crashing into the rock. Similarly, traumatic events - primarily in childhood - create personal, usually subconscious holes in the fabric of our lives. The incoming water is the resulting stress, anxiety, poor self-esteem, etc.  Engaging in a talk-out or cognitive therapy is like bailing out the incoming water. However, until that hole is repaired, any and all management endeavors will be temporary.

Here’s what I have learned.  There are two parts to anxiety. First comes the alarm. This is a physical sensation in the body, usually as a result of a trigger. A sight, smell, sound or memory that subconsciously brings you back to the original trauma in some way shape or form.  You may feel a tightness in your chest or throat. Your digestive tract may start doing back flips or send you running to find a bathroom. There will always FIRST be the alarm. Next, and this can be within nanoseconds, the brain will process this alarm into anxiety. Anxiety is created by or simply thinking about the alarm. The anxiety will then send a signal amplifying the alarm, which goes back to the brain resulting in more anxiety. And the feedback loop can ramp the situation to overwhelming proportions.

So here’s the good news. Since there are two parts to this process, there is naturally a break, however small it may be. Neuroscience has discovered that if this feedback cycle can be disrupted, the escalation of anxiety can be stopped. We have learned that you cannot think your way out of a feeling problem. The sense of alarm is a feeling. It is extremely difficult to think (rationalize) your way out of the feelings of alarm. Rather, you must feel your way out.

In his landmark book, Anxiety Rx, Dr. Russell Kennedy introduces techniques that can teach you how to overcome anxiety. Very simple, but not necessarily easy.  The object is to divert or reprogram the engrained neurological pathways so your default, when alarmed, no longer jumps into the groove or pattern of alarm-anxiety escalation.

The process he teaches when your body is triggered into alarm is following the A-B-C’s. You can initiate the ABC’s without listening or reading the book, but I highly recommend learning more, especially if you or someone you love suffers from chronic anxiety.

The ABC’s stand for Awareness, Breath/Body and Connection/Compassion.

There is so much more in the book that you can understand and follow but here’s what to do in a nutshell.

1. Develop intentional Awareness of your alarms. Train yourself to become aware of the repetitive scary thoughts of your mind and the familiar feelings of alarm in your body.

2. When you sense worries or alarm, immediately move your attention into your 

Body and Breath (no more thinking!) Put your hand over your alarm area and focus on making a connection with that alarm sensation.

3. With a grounded, present moment sensation in your body, make the specific intention to practice acceptance, Compassionate Connection, and love towards yourself.

Our goal here is to break the cycle of the alarm sensation in the body and the anxiety thought pattern in the brain. Putting your hand directly on the site of the alarm in your body - if you’re not sure, put your hand in the middle of your chest -  then focus on the slow deep rhythmic breathing. If your mind jumps in and you begin to entertain the thoughts of anxiety, refocus on feelings of your hand on your chest and observe your breath going in and out.  Other sensory inputs can work as well such as smelling an essential oil, clapping your hands, rubbing your face like you are washing it. Really, any activity that will engage physical sensations can work to break the alarm-anxiety cycle.

One aspect of overcoming anxiety is discovering the genesis of the trauma which resulted in the alarm or emotional injuries. Understand that all anxiety is separation anxiety. Separation from within yourself and/or others (parents, caregivers, etc.). Discovering what “created the hole in your boat” can be tricky.  It can be from childhood experiences or even experiences that have been passed down from parents or grandparents.

In Mark Wolynn’s book: It Didn’t Start With You, he shows how the traumatic events of our parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents can live in our unexplained depression, anxiety, fears, phobias, obsessive thoughts, and physical symptoms—what scientists are now calling “secondary PTSD.”

The traumas that need understanding and resolution can be discovered by following the exercise in both Dr. Kennedy’s book,  Anxiety Rx or Wolynn’s book,  It Didn’t Start With You. Another option we highly recommend is a few sessions of hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy will enable you to discover where your alarm/anxiety is, and work on resolving the issue or repairing the hole in your metaphorical boat. 

We recommend the following:

Anxiety Rx by Dr. Russell Kennedy - the audio book is excellent. Dr Russ is a great reader to listen to.

It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn

DeGrey Christensen, ACN, Hypnotherapist  - schedule with our office (801)360-0749