How do you deal with anxiety?
There’s degrees of suffering from acute, to that chronic and under the radar but always there kind of anxiety. And then there’s generalized anxiety disorder where the anxiety rules your life.
Regardless of the degree, you might not even know what it feels like to NOT be anxious.
But there is a huge secret we can learn from managing our fears and stress in the right way.
The secret is in getting to know how we form mental pictures — an end result of our normal thinking processes that we never usually pay any attention to.
For example:
- You need to ask someone a favor, but you don’t because you’ve got a story going in your head that it will be an imposition on them.
- You get into a disagreement, but instead of standing your ground you quickly apologise for any misunderstanding because underneath you believe you are a bad person for not keeping the peace at all costs.
- You have a story about how you aren’t loving enough if you don’t know others’ every move.
- You can’t stop imagining scenarios about your social faux pas, which terrify and embarrass you so much you believe you are unlovable.
- If you don’t know your loved ones’ whereabouts, you believe that you can’t control their safety.
Thoughts lead to beliefs which lead to stories, and finally lead to accompanying emotions.
As soon as emotions become attached to certain thoughts — like fear, terror, shame, despair, hopelessness, disempowerment, self-hatred, you get the picture — the thoughts become cemented. Unshakeable.
Just try and change your feelings when you’re in a rage. Or in despair. You have to wait for it to subside, outside of your control.
There is a sequence of thoughts that form a complete mental picture. We’ve broken it down for you in crazy detail in our latest podcast episode.
We made it especially for you if you’re struggling with your anxiety.
And if your life is getting overrun with anxiety and the physical symptoms that accompany it, we’ve got you.
With love,
Louisa + Rachel
P.S. Our Elevated Presence Masterclass is designed to build inner strength and help you better manage your anxiety and develop some agency and awareness around your mental picture forming. It’s all about presence of mind. Sign up for the next class now.