Welcome New Year, Welcome Anxiety
Early this morning I was sitting on the porch before daylight listening to the wind as a storm approached. Everything went still for a moment and then I heard one rain drop fall. The moment was quickly followed by a rush of almost deafening wind and rain, but the sound of that one, singular raindrop has stayed with me all day.
Our worries, our anxieties can sometimes fall like a downpour, fast and furious. We are bombarded with a deluge of anxiety stimuli on the daily - covid, and school, and bills, and social media messages and the list could be endless. In the middle of the deluge, it can be impossible to focus on, or even hear a single raindrop.
Anxiety can get overwhelming quickly and then the desire to shut it down, to get some relief can be pretty intense. Anxiety does not feel good at all. No wonder we seek ways to numb out and distract. This can be a healthy intervention to regulate the feelings, get your nervous system calmed down, and let the worst of the storm pass. But have you noticed the temporary relief doesn’t last and anxiety can rush back in with a vengeance? How do we find hope or calm or a sense of being centered when anxiety is lurking?
Do you have the space in your consciousness to not only accept anxiety as part of being human but to invite it to dinner? If your only tool is to numb the feeling or distract, the fear of what may happen is left to continue without brakes and then it gobbles up everything it’s path – joy, laughter, contentment, curiosity. It is then that fear becomes the unwanted guest, monopolizing the conversation. When anxiety is expressed, when it is welcomed to the table, to share nourishment, to be a part of the conversation, then other states of being, like compassion, can sit with anxiety. Inviting all our emotions to have a seat at the table and giving ourselves time for expression through creative modalities like storytelling, writing, or movement keeps us from being stuck, from being frozen in fear.
We can honor our complex selves and be willing to feel uncomfortable without jumping right away to behaviors that distract and numb. Managing strong emotions through body movement/exercise, breathing, talking about it, meditation, and yes, sometimes medication, we can calm the storm enough so that it’s possible to listen, feel, and respond to worries before they become anxiety. It is possible to take things one drop at a time.
