The Anxious Brain: Chapter 1

Hello, Anxiety.

Oh, you anxious brain. You are constantly wandering around, hunting for worry and seeking “busy”. You make quiet moments loud with thoughts of how things could, might, or should be. Even after a long day at work when we are exhausted and painfully tired, you remind me that “there is always something that could possibly, maybe come up tomorrow.” 

Let’s set the record straight; two things can be true at the same time. Yes, anxiety can be an incredibly helpful thing in our lives. It motivates us to train, study, and prepare more effectively. In those ways we can appreciate anxiety. 

However, for those that understand the first few lines of this blog all too well, you probably don’t know the lighter side of anxiety. To you, anxiety is not all that helpful. Rather, it is quite debilitating and overwhelming. Although there is a lot that goes into understanding and working through anxiety, I hope that in sharing this short guide on calming the anxious brain can be helpful. 

When I work with clients on anxiety, I typically talk about three separate ways to tackle it: management, tolerance, and exposure. Below are some of the strategies that describe each of these methods. I will go into more detail about them in the weeks to come!

Management: adequate sleep, exercise/yoga, diaphramic breathing, meditation/prayer

Tolerance: Changing temperature, paced breathing, paired muscle relaxation

Change: EMDR, exposure therapy