Feeling Anxious Even When Nothing Is Wrong
If you feel anxious most of the time, even when nothing is wrong, you’re in the right place.
We’re going to spend some time talking about emotional blocks & patterns that may keep you off your path.
Today’s Video focuses on Why You Feel Anxious Even When Nothing is Wrong
Watch it here or read the transcript below.
If you feel anxious most of the time, even when nothing is wrong, you’re in the right place.
Today I’m going to break down what this looks like when you’re actually in it, what most people think the problem is, what’s really driving it, and then I’ll guide you through a short somatic practice to begin the shift.
I am Essence, your Feminine Energy Mentor here at The Self-Healing School. I help purpose-driven women release emotional blocks so you can hear your inner voice, your intuition, and show up and do the work you’re here to do.
What This Pattern Looks Like
Feeling anxious even when nothing is wrong might look like:
Waking up and your heart is already racing before the day even starts
Your mind running through everything you have to do
Starting the day from a rushed, hurried place
Life being stable, but there’s still this constant hum of worry in the background
Finding it hard to relax even when you’re hanging out with friends
Feeling on edge even when you’re on the couch watching Netflix
Something in you won’t let you fully sink into the couch and just be in Virgin River or Bridgerton
Most people think, “Oh, I just have anxiety,” or “I’m just a worrier.”
One of my clients told me, “I feel like anxiety is who I am.”
So I want to share what I tell my clients when this comes up.
Anxiety as a Learned Response
I want to preface this by saying I tend to work with neurotypical brains, and I honor what neurodivergent brains go through. They are different. I’m speaking to neurotypical patterns here, although one of my clients who really valued this perspective is neurodivergent.
When I think of a neurotypical human, and I take it all the way back to a baby, in my spiritual mind I’m like: babies aren’t born naturally anxious. They’re not born naturally worrying.
So I see this as a learned response. As a child, your nervous system learned that you had to be hypervigilant. You had to be on alert.
Imagine a little kid coming home from school who never knows what the home environment is going to be like. Are Mom and Dad arguing? Is it peaceful? Is Mom going to be yelling because she had a bad day at work?
This kid may have had the greatest time at school, but on the way home the anxiety starts to kick up. It feels like this humming. And now the child is thinking:
Do I go straight to my room?
Sometimes Mom doesn’t like that.
But sometimes when I go into the kitchen and share my day, she starts yelling at me.
I just don’t know how to be.
If that’s the day-to-day from childhood through high school or college, your nervous system gets trained to be in a constant state of anxiety. Always looking out. Always on edge. Because you never know what to expect.
Your body learns it’s not safe.
I don’t know if I’m going to be embraced.
I don’t know if I’m going to be yelled at.
So your body goes straight into protection mode. It assumes, “I’m not going to be safe,” even if it ends up being a great day.
Most people think, “When I get older and I’m out of that environment, I’ll be calm.” But that’s not how the body works. Once it’s been trained, you have to retrain it.
How This Shows Up Now
You might be hypervigilant at work, always looking out for the next thing.
In your business, you might worry if you gave your client enough value.
You can never fully be at ease with who you are and how you’re showing up.
When you’re living in a constant state of anxiety, it’s really hard to be on your path. It’s hard to be who you’re meant to be because you’re always worried about how people are receiving you. Even if it’s not conscious, your body is reacting.
How We Begin to Shift It
The work is to teach your body that you’re safe now.
With my clients, we do breathwork and movement to start shifting that energy out of the body. I once told a client to imagine every anxious moment like magnets. Magnets on magnets on magnets. And magnets attract more magnets.
So if you’re full of anxiety magnets, you keep attracting more moments to be anxious about.
When you move and breathe, it’s like those magnets start falling off. And the more that fall off, the more your body becomes a magnet for different experiences.
We might also do inner child work, going back into specific moments and feeling and moving through the emotions. We might do journaling. These are all things you can do to start shaking off some of that anxious energy.
Another visual is a piggy bank. If it’s stuffed full of anxiety pennies, there’s no room for calm quarters. It’s hard to feel calm and present when you’re already stuffed full of anxiety, worry, and fear.
We need to release some of that so there’s space to surrender and just be in your body. To sit on the couch, eat your popcorn, and watch Bridgerton without part of you being on edge.
A Simple Practice You Can Use Right Now
When I’m feeling anxious or really in my head, I start tapping. I tap all over, sometimes down to my feet, and I say:
I’m choosing to be in my body.
I’m choosing to be here in this moment.
I’m leaving my head and coming into my body.
I am safe here.
It is safe to be inside myself.
Then I rest my hands, take a deep breath in, and exhale.
I sit and breathe and let my body settle.
You Are Not Stuck With Chronic Anxiety
One of my clients was on anxiety medication and having panic attacks two to three times a week. After doing this work, she talked to her therapist and is now off her anxiety meds.
She can fully feel and be in the moment and choose a different feeling instead of letting anxiety be the first and only response.
There is a way out.
It might take some work.
And if you need help with that, I’m here, click here and we can talk about it.
It was lovely speaking with you and I’ll talk to you soon!
Much love,
Essence
