I’ll never forget sitting in class and having my master coach drop a life changing piece of advice on how to calm anxiety.
He said to everyone, “Now a lot of things are about to change in your life, and this may bring up some anxiety, but just think of it like this…”
“Anxiety is just new things happening.”
Woah.
New things happening?
I’ve never thought of it like that before.
When we really get down to what anxiety really is…it’s a feeling of worry or nervousness about a situation that has a little bit of uncertainty surrounding it.
Oh good lord…more rowboat thinking right? Future based?
What will happen next? What will the outcome be? I’m sure you are well aware of the questions surrounding this type of thinking by now.
In a way, anxiety popping up in your body is a fantastic leading indicator of rowboat thinking.
Remember, the only moment you have is right now. In fact, if you’ve been engaging in the meditation practice you might already have come to a greater understanding of this.
But what can actually help with anxiety popping up?
That uncertainty?
Love it.
Embrace the hell out of it.
The uncertain places in your life are opportunities for growth and development. Do you actually know what is going to happen? Of course not. Will you try to project as much as possible? Yes, we’ve all done that haven’t we.
But when you start coming back to the present moment over and over again because our minds never stop getting distracted, you get to fully be here.
Here is a really great place to be.
Start actually seeing what is going on around you instead of spending so much time distracting yourself from everything that is not in the here and now.
In fact, a tip for when you are experiencing some anxiety or nervousness in your life is something that you’ve already been engaging in for the past few days…
Come back to your breath.
Slow down. Breath deep. Slow everything way down.
When you do this, you come back to being present.
Really bad anxiety? Slow down even more. In fact, you might actually take some time to sit down and meditate for a bit.
Do what it takes to come back to the present moment.
So all anxiety really is, when it comes down to it, is new things happening.
Embrace that feeling and sit with it. Actually take the time to really feel the anxiety in your stomach and then take a moment to begin to understand why it’s coming up. Learn from it.
“In this moment, what’s the thing that is happening right now that’s new?”
When you start to do that, well, things become a lot more interesting. But when you stop living in the future, the anxiety starts to disappear altogether.
I hope this helps you with how to calm anxiety down.
Take it for a ride.
Action Steps For Today
Intention: To build a healthier relationship with anxiety
Practice: The Old Friend Method
After you digest the lesson above and learn the main way to view your anxiety, I want you to begin to work with it. As anxiety arrives in your life, ask yourself , “What new things are happening.” Then, as if anxiety was an old friend of yours coming in to tell you a story, see what it is saying. When you maintain a sense of curiosity about what is bringing this anxiety about, you will be able to take a few steps back and not feel it as deeply. See what you can understand!
PS. If you’re feeling a bit “stuck” in life right now and looking for some help in navigating through your challenges, here at the 7 ways I can help you as a life coach www.1on1withevan.com