Everyday Anxiety

You’re going about your day and you just can’t seem to stop worrying about something, maybe you’re dealing with financial survival issues, or a serious physical health problem. Or maybe it’s an important relationship that’s ending, or a past trauma or wounding that has never been resolved.

Dealing with anxiety can sometimes be difficult to handle. If you’re like many people these days, you’re probably dealing with one issue or another that can easily pull you into anxiety. It can sometimes feel like nothing is safe anymore. You might barely catch your breath after making it through one challenge, only to find you’re having to let go of the next thing that was helping you to feel safe.

If you are experiencing any of this, know that this is to be expected: anxiety needs to have those ‘negative emotions’ associated with it to do its job. That job is to nudge you in the right direction and to take action. It’s an energy activation to change something in your life, motivate you to improve your situation or alert you that it’s time to practice self-care. You are being pushed forward into uncharted territory and having to let go of familiar situations and relationships that are no longer working for you.

When anxiety shows up in your life it is offering you an opportunity to resolve certain things in your life, to let go of them, and move forward in order to experience greater joy, harmony, peace and beauty. It’s a challenging and uncomfortable process – but a necessary one. In one way, you just have to go through what your anxiety is presenting to you and process in any way you can to get through it. But there are some things that can make it easier.

Stay in The Present Moment

If you’ve ever been able to pause into the present moment during a time of emotional crisis, you’ve probably realized that this is a space of surprising safety. There’s a sense of reprieve, a feeling of stillness and clarity and comfort. What has happened is that, in coming totally into the present moment, you have entered where anxiety does not exist, you’re no longer thinking about the past or future, which is what is causing the anxiety you’re feeling.

Your body remembers that feeling of joy, excitement, and inspiration, even though you may have forgotten it. It remembers what being creative and full of life is like. And it loves feeling that way.

It’s helpful to realize that most anxieties tend to arise out of imagined future events and situations – the danger that might happen in the future, based on your perception of what is currently happening, and what has happened in the past. They also stem from your beliefs that have developed due to a sense of being separate, helpless, and alone.

Most of the time, when you pull yourself out of the imagined future scenario and take stock of the actual situation you’re currently in, you can see there truly is no actual danger you’re facing: you are not being physically endangered, you probably have enough to eat, you likely have a roof over your head, and there is nothing you absolutely have to do in that moment to ensure your safety.

Of course, there are times when those kinds of decisions do have to be made – but most times, this is not true. You really are okay at that very moment. It’s just your thoughts about the possible dangers in the future that are freaking you out.

Therefore, if you can just pull yourself into the present moment and see this, you can realize that perhaps, you really are okay in this moment, the same will probably be true in future moments as well and you can let go of your anxiety and give it thanks for doing its job well.

Trusting In Yourself

What this calls for, of course, is trust – trust that you will continue to support and guide yourself and keep yourself safe. It can be a huge leap of faith you may have to make; but this is what is required.

In the process of fully trusting, you give yourself power— and you discover that whatever you need always comes to you in perfect timing in the perfect way. There’s no stress or impatience or fear. If a choice or decision needs to be made, it’s clear what it is, and you make it. You feel held in your own safety net of comfort.

And you also discover something very important: that your only true security ever comes from within you. It does not originate from anything outside of you. Although all outer security and support is good to have, they may or may no longer be around as things constantly change, but knowing that you provide our own sense of security takes away the fear and the anxiety.

Remember the Bigger Picture

Another thing that can be helpful when you’re feeling anxious, especially during these times, is to remember that you are in the process of making changes in your life that may have been ignored for a while, and now it is something profound that you are starting to do for the very first time. So it is important to go easy on yourself as you go through these life changing processes without forgetting what you’re doing and going through at the moment.

This is not easy indeed, it can sometimes feel heavy and monumental causing great anxiety. But take a moment to really take it all in: you are going through a transformational shift that is taking place in your life. You are in the middle of shifting out of an old identification or old patterns with yourself that you’ve become accustomed to and comfortable with but now need to change so that you can move forward. This is your “ego-personality self”, an identity which is essentially composed of your body, your rational mind, and your emotions.

This identity also holds all your beliefs about yourself, about the reality you’re living in, and everything you think you know and believe to be true. It’s a very limited identity that has kept you in a realm in which fear, anxiety, polarization, judgment, self-doubt, and guilt exist.

From this identity, you are now in the process of shifting into another very different one, that is more aligned with your true self. Shifting out of an identity you’ve had for so long into something so radically different and unknown – although exhilarating in some ways – can also be really frightening because of all you have to let go of in the process.

So keep remembering that you are in the process of profound transformation. And it’s understandably going to take some painful bumps, some losses, and a great deal of uncertainty and confusion as you make such a huge shift. But if you keep focused on your destination and the purpose of all the purging and loss, you’ll see it makes it much easier to endure through it.

Have Compassion for Yourself

Remember to always, always have compassion for yourself, no matter what is happening, or what you have done or said. The issues creating your anxiety may be profoundly painful ones, some that have likely been stored in your unconscious mind for many years, because they were too difficult to fully experience when they happened. But know that if they are now arising, you can handle them, you can resolve them.

There’s a Purpose for Your Anxiety

It’s important to trust that anxiety has a purpose. If anxiety is coming up for you, it is pointing to something that needs to be resolved or balanced to continue moving forward in your life.

If you are going to keep moving forward in your life, these issues causing anxiety need to be dealt with. They’re coming up because they’re in your way – not because you’ve done anything “wrong” or you’re inadequate in any way.

The issues arising must be seen clearly for what they are, acknowledged, accepted without judgment, and resolved – and then released. Your anxiety is bringing the unresolved traumas, woundings, miscommunications, misunderstandings, out-of-alignment relationships, and misguided actions to your attention so that they can be released.

With their release, new, clear, uplifting energies can then flow into your being, raising your vibration even higher than before you had to deal with the challenge you’ve just released. And there is also room for new, high-vibrational experiences, relationships and situations to come into your life.

This process of loss can be especially difficult when it entails the loss of something very important that helps you feel safe in your life, such as a relationship, a job, a home, or something else that has felt essential for your well-being. And yet, if you see that something like this is already gone or is in the process of really leaving, it is wise to simply let it go.

Trust that there is something in that situation, relationship or thing that was not healthy for you, not nurturing, not supportive to your life. It was holding you in a confined and limited position, creating negative energies within you that are not compatible with you and what you want from life.

When you can finally let it go, then something new and exciting can come in to take its place – something more resonant with the new you.

Be With The Anxiety

Be with your anxiety. If anxiety continues to arise, over and over again, take the time to be with it rather than trying to avoid it or get rid of it. It’s an emotion that wants to be felt and experienced – and not judged in any way.

This entails shifting your focus out of your mind and all your thoughts – and focusing, instead, on the area of your body where the tightness or pain exists, which is usually in the gut or the chest. Take some deep breaths into this area. Put your hand over it.

In doing this, tears may come, and this can be helpful. But do your best to not get lost in pain or to wallow in self-pity. Bring your power of observation with you, and strive to both observe and to compassionately be with the emotion at the same time. Ask the anxiety what it wants. Listen and be understanding. You don’t have to resolve the issue or have any answers; you just need to be there as a compassionate, non-judgmental listener. That’s all the anxiety really wants.

When you can do this, you will feel the tightness and pain begin to relax and release. If it still doesn’t fully release, bring the anxiety up into your heart and let it rest there in the Love. When you have fully felt and accepted it with compassion for yourself, the bodily experience of it will eventually release. And your mind will then be clearer and more able to make better decisions about the issue.

Picking Up Collective Anxiety

Keep aware that you are likely being affected by the chaotic and fearful collective energies in the world. Occasionally, anxiety can seem to arise out of nowhere. It has no context for you. Your life seems to be relatively okay for the time-being; there’s nothing going on that should be causing you anxiety. This can be really confusing.

If this happens, know that these spells of anxiety may not even personally relate to you; they involve something you are picking up from the collective consciousness or from people with whom you’re connected. This can often be the case if you are especially empathic.

So when you’re feeling anxious, particularly if it doesn’t make sense, the first thing to do is tune in and ask if what you are picking up is collective anxiety. If it is, you’ll find that just this questioning will begin to relieve the anxiety. And you can then do whatever you can to bring love and compassion into your awareness and release the anxiety.

A final thing to remember is that what you’re going through is temporary. It’s a bridge you’re on, as the changes and transformations take place. It will not last forever.

Keep moving forward, loving yourself at every step along the way. Do your best to stay optimistic and positive as much as possible, and be easy on yourself when you can’t help but fall into old patterns. Know that you are precious and deeply loved — and that, on all essential levels, you will always, always be safe throughout your life journey.