We all want some joy and peace in life I’m sure? but when anxiety knocks it can demolish your joy and peace and send it packing!
The source of most anxiety is triggered by fear or worry or a weight or burden that seems to enormous to carry.
Your heart can weigh you down and your mind can cause you to worry.
The late Corrie ten Boon quotes …
‘ Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a centre of fear’
Very true and accurate I would say- as an occasional anxiety sufferer.
The mind is a powerful tool and weapon it can help you or even harm you , it can work with you or against you and like all good tools it needs to be sharpened, mended, serviced, powered and restored…. frequently.
Good nutrition and good sleep are the requirements for a healthy mind but there is a lot that can and does go wrong with it.
I am attempting to share with you some of my discoveries and thoughts about managing or lowering and perhaps even healing your anxiety.
As a young child I was anxious about certain things, this was probably genetically transferred from my parents who both had various fears and anxieties but mainly my Father who had been through the 2nd World war in prison of war camp and fled his home in Poland and was suffering with what we now know to be Post-traumatic stress syndrome.
I believe that through research it has been discovered that anxiety can be passed down the gene line and also certain behaviours and patterns may be learnt and need unlearning.
Anxiety is a state of uneasiness….worry…..abnormal fear that sometimes lacks a specific cause.
Anxiety also means to take thought or being apprehensive about what may happen or concern about a future event .
Anxiety is caused by trying to mentally and emotionally get into things that are not here yet or things that have already been and gone and are over or a situation that has caused fear and it can be worse and may be more in the PTSD camp with flashbacks and re-living incidents.
I experienced this after being involved in a physical incident when jumped on in school as a member of staff,( another story).
Anxiety has triggers that can be caused by fears, changes,influences of other people or being under stress, suffering with illness, lack of sleep, pain, trauma in fact the list is endless and personal.
Finding a way to combat your anxiety and looking out for the triggers is key to your success in managing it.
Recognise your feelings and when they occur.
Lookout for any triggers.
Try to manage the triggers, change what your doing if you can.
When you feel an attack coming on or building up
Learn to breathe out slowly and in slowly
Settle your gaze softly
Unravel your fingers and lay them on your lap
Look up
Breathe gently
Try not to think too much or overthink
Focus on something visual
Listen to some calming music
Tell yourself it’s going to be alright
You will get through this.
Write down some thoughts
What’s in your mind try and identify what is worrying you.
Write it on a sheet of paper and then let it go into the bin and as you do let go of the thoughts
Do something nice for yourself.
Look at some flowers, go for a walk, watch a programme
Do something to take your mind off the situation.
Don’t pressurise yourself too much.
If it helps write a short to do list not an unachievable one!
Tell yourself that things will improve.
Visualisation
Sit comfortably and visualise a garden, this garden is your heart
Is it in good shape or does it need some attention?
Are there weeds growing or thistles choking you
New growth may be appearing but the place may need tilling or plowing.
To put new plants in first,the old dead ones need to be removed.
Create a compost heap where you can literally deposit all the old plants weeds and rubbish put them in a pile.
Set fire to them if necessary or wait for them to rot down and use the experiences to fertilise the new plants
The new things your putting in your garden like thankfulness, gratitude, appreciation, new growth new plants will blossom if you water them with kindness , love and joy.
Don’t kill them off with negativity or condemnation and criticism, these will just stop the new stuff growing before they start.
Begin each day with thankfulness,
With an attitude of gratitude.
There is a new advert for Amnesty International which addresses this in a way it starts off with talking about the snowflake generation moaning about little problems and it moves onto facts and figures about people who are imprisoned and persecuted around the world , so it’s appealing to a generation who should be happy but aren’t who should be ok but are consumed with their own issues perhaps ?
It’s a bit like being made to eat greens because of all the starving children in Africa it doesn’t make the greens taste better and neither does minimising your problems make you deal with them helpfully.
It is also true that turning our focus from ourselves and looking to helping those less fortunate also can take our gaze off our problems for a time and can be cathartic for us.
For some – anxiety may be a lifelong battle, for others it maybe a momentary set back whichever or whatever you are experiencing now or in the future or in the past take stock of your garden of the mind so that you can maintain a healthy one full of goodness and fruit, so that it will serve you well for the future years,
Joy is not happiness, but a deep down feeling which releases you from anxiety and enables you to live in the moment.
May your joy be complete, as you exercise your mind,clear your garden,plant some good deeds and water it daily.
From one pearl to another
Mags xxx
I have put a few links in to help xx
Www.anxietyuk.org.uk
Pearls for the journey 