There’s not a single week that goes by without at least one of my clients coming to their workout with an overwhelming sense of anxiety about everything that’s on their plate. And if the stress of their to-do list doesn’t get the better of them, something seems to come along and throw a wrench in their plans or health to seemingly hold them back.
Let’s face it, life isn’t predictable, and it can be frustrating to deal with the valleys when all we strive for are the highs of life.
I might know a thing or two about anxiety. My blood pressure most certainly goes up during days when my kids aren’t listening for the 100th time I have told them to do something. I might be known to scream a bit (and shed a couple silent tears) when I am alone in the car- just trying to get my emotions to flow rather than stuffing them in.
What do you do when you are at your wits end?
Throw your arms up and give up?
Give in to food or alcohol temptations to soothe you?
Call a friend and vent?
Take a nap or zone out in front of the TV or social media?
Or maybe you just push harder to tell your unsettled heart to suck it up and move on.
None of these are necessarily bad…well, some of them are. But my goal isn’t to focus on what you are doing now, but to give you a tested method that works for me to ease my anxiety every single time.
Step One: Move like crazy. Whatever you have to do to get he willies out, do it. If it includes yelling or laughing, even better. My personal favorite is running HARD (but not for very long, just long enough to feel a release) and then letting out a good scream. My runner up (ha!) is turning on disco and dancing like a fool and laughing at my own dance moves- even if I only have a few minutes.
Step Two: And this one is really important, so don’t skip it thinking it’s not worth your time. Stop and Breathe immediately. After you let stuff out through movement in step one- lots of energy is moving through your body. You need to breathe to Let. It. Go. Stand or sit or lie still and feel your body breathing deeply from your belly.
“Movement moves your soul”
There are a lot of other things you may need to do to have full resolution or treatment of anxiety. However, I’ve not come across a single drug, food, relationship, or even mind-numbing activity that’s better than this 2-step move.
Give it a try and reach out to us to let us know how it supports you.