Breathe Into the Anxiety
Within the culture we live in today, anxiety is on the rise. Especially in America, we have created a culture that thrives and promotes working hard 24/7. If you aren’t constantly doing or achieving something, then what kind of person are you?? (Cough: LAZY. At least that is how I’ve felt for years).
This was the mentality I grew up with. My sense of worth has derived from my achievements and how well I do at them. It wasn’t until these last few years that I really began to notice how even when I thought I was relaxing, like reading a book or watching a movie/show, my BODY wasn’t actually relaxed. My nervous system was still caught in a state of “doing”. Reading and watching a movie is still doing something. I would even notice how my body would tense up in places while sitting on the couch, without me really realizing it at first. And I would be like, “why am I tensing up my right thigh??” This still happens to me, but I am more aware now of where I grip within my body.
Through yoga and going to acupuncture regularly, I have discovered how correlated my constant doing was to the state of my nervous system as well as how that impacts my emotions and my stress levels. It is all interconnected. I never really saw myself as an anxious person but I have reflected on how (for me, I know everyone is different) my constant doing was a way for me to cover up my anxiety, that feeling of waiting for the “other shoe to drop”. It has been a way that I avoided feeling and I mean actually feeling, like the deep dark depths of feeling.
Tools like yoga can help create a container for us and our bodies to begin to regulate and feel. One of the most simple techniques - breathing - can help shift us back into a more calm and relaxed state. Actually, your breath is a beautiful way to notice if you are ever beginning to feel tense or stressed. When the breath becomes compromised (same is true when practicing yoga) that is your cue to maybe back off, slow down, and come back to center.
One of the most helpful things for me is naming what I feel and WHERE I feel it. That way when I am going about my day and then I realize that I am tensing my jaw, or I feel that gripping in my gut, I know that for me, I need to consciously take a deep breath, soften and if I can, close my eyes.
Anxiety can feel overwhelming and chaotic which is why being able to regulate your nervous system through deepening your breath and grounding your energy, can help you come back to center, and feel more calm, even if it is just a little bit.
Feeling anxious? Practice this!
Three-part breath
A simple technique that you can do anywhere.
Begin by taking the deepest breath you’ve taken all day and then exhale it out with a sigh. And do that one more time.
I find it helpful to place one hand on your belly and one on your heart. If that isn’t accessible or doesn’t feel right for the moment, place your hands in a relaxing way on the thighs or in your lap.
Breathe into the belly. Pause.
Breathe into the chest. Pause.
Breathe into the collarbones. Fullest breath capacity. Pause.
And then SLOWLY exhale in one long exhale, from your collarbones, chest, belly.
I emphasize the slow exhale because this is what will shift the mind and body into a more calm state.
Repeat this 3-5 times or for however long you can.
If it feels good to do so, you can even say “In this moment, I am okay. I am safe.”
The practice of returning to our center, to our breath is the greatest, most simple yoga that you can weave into any moment of your life. Our nervous systems are meant to be able to regulate between a state of being and doing, not getting caught in one way. And something like connecting with our breath is such a simple way we can begin to shift our energy, and our nervous system, while deepening our capacity to hold the complete range of living a life at this time.
And as always, Shar(e)on Lightly