Aloha everyone! Today I am going to talk about anxiety and how it effects the way we perceive our realities and act in our lives. I want to talk about this today because I am feeling very anxious. Some days I feel a lot more relaxed and calm; but other days it feels as though my heart will explode by how fast it is beating, and my mind runs and runs on all of the things that “need to get done” in the day. This causes me to run around with my head cut off; trying accomplish my mental to-do list. Usually by the end of the day I have no recollection what really occurred…I realize that I did not really enjoy it because I was not taking in the subtle moment of the day. I was not noticing my surroundings or my inner world because I was too busy feeding into my monkey mind. I know that in the modern world, anxiety is something that effects a lot of us and I think that it is important to take some time to talk about it.
So here we go! What is anxiety? In my perspective (again, we all have own unique ways of thinking based upon our experiences) anxiety happens when we are not aligned with the present; with what is happening right in front of our eyes. It is when I am on the yoga mat practicing various asanas, but I am thinking about what I need to get a the grocery store. It is when I am lying in bed trying to sleep, but all I can think about is how I will pay next month’s rent. When this happens, my mind tries to come up with a million ideas to solve it quickly! (We humans HATE feeling uncomfortable). The mind likes to try to solve “problems” right away; even if we are not able to presently. Most of the time these so called “problems” are actually not even really problems at all! They are just something that we make up in our head. It is like thinking about your plane going down and crashing as you think about your flight next week during a work meeting. You heart beats fest, and maybe you feel a bit queasy inside. Anxiety is thinking about something that is not actually occurring in our lives in the now. It goes hand in hand with fear of course.
I feel that the media also causes more anxiety in us. We become anxious when we are constantly scrolling through instagram and wondering why our lives are not as perfect as someone else’s and then we think, “what am I doing wrong?” “Maybe my life is not that great as that persons” “Maybe I should do this or that and I will be happier.” We are constantly bombarded with these messages everyday and we become disconnected with ourselves. We feel off-balance, lost, and confused. I know I have been in this position many times and will continue to do be. It is what I can do to ease it.
What can we do? Well, I can’t speak for everyone, because we are all different and what I might do may not work for you. But, I will talk about things I do to help with my anxiety as well as some other ideas I have learned about.
First, meditation! I will continue to talk about it and list it in every post probably haha, but it really has helped me so much to connect with my inner self and explore my thoughts and emotions. Second, journaling. I have a billion thoughts in my head all vying for my attention. Sometimes I think that one of these thoughts is a big problem that needs attending to right away; however when I write it out, usually it is not as monumental as I had previously thought. Third is exercise! This can be anything you want, but I firmly believe that exercising helps to move energy around. A lot of stuck energy usually leads to illness in one form or another. Four: talking about it! Talking about our anxiety and they way we are feeling can help us to face it head-on instead of feeling shame about it. I will sometimes talk to friends, family members, and of course my therapist! (this has been difficult to do). If you do not feel comfortable talking with someone you know, I recommend a therapist. They are even online now. Lastly, do something that puts you in a flow state. By this I mean that “thing” you do where time seems to cease to exist. This means you are in flow with the universe. You are normally not thinking about your past or future but are immersed in what is happening now. For me this is usually writing poetry.
There are always things that we think “need” to be done. When this happens to us we can choose to engage with our thoughts or we can take a step back and breathe and really take into account how we are feeling. We can choose to observe ourselves and ask if we really need to listen to what our mind is saying to us. Sometimes I like to say to my thoughts, “thanks for telling me this, but I do not need to do or think about this right now” and I let it be on its way. Thoughts do not stay forever and we can always change them into something that aligns better with our being.
I could write more, but this is a lot so I will save it for another day. Feel free to message, comment, share, etc! Peace earthlings!!! Have a great week and life.
