What Does it Feel Like to Live With Anxiety?
When you experience anxiety, it can feel all-encompassing and consuming. It can seem as though your mind just won't shut off and let you enjoy the present moment.
While it is part of the human experience to feel a range of emotions, including worry and fear, feeling overcome by anxiety and panic can indicate that you could use extra support and resources.
Before we begin, know that if you are experiencing anxiety, you are not alone, and there are healthy ways to cope and manage the anxiety and move towards a greater sense of peace. The first step is understanding how anxiety shows up for you, what it looks and feels like, and how to tend to it.
Living With Anxiety - How Does it Present in the Body?
Here are a few things to pay attention to that might be your body letting you know that you’re anxious.
Digestive Issues
Anxiety manifests itself in different ways for different people, but a very common symptom of anxiety is stomach pain, nausea, or digestive trouble.
Headaches
If you’re prone to headaches, you may notice that they show up for you when you’re feeling more anxious or overwhelmed. If you notice that you are getting more headaches during periods of time that are more stressful, it might be your body’s response to the anxiety you’re experiencing.
Insomnia and Sleep Troubles
Many people who have anxiety also may have sleep issues that are caused and/or exacerbated by anxiety. When your mind is racing, it can seem almost impossible to quiet your mind enough to get a good night’s sleep.
Weakness or Fatigue
Along with sleep troubles, you may also notice that you’re feeling increasingly more tired, irritable, weak, and unmotivated. Anxiety can be very consuming and drain your energy which can lead to fatigue and exhaustion.
Trouble Breathing or Shortness of Breath
Shortness of breath is one of the first indicators that we’re anxious or stressed. Breath can also be one of the greatest tools to alleviate anxiety and regulate the nervous system (more on that later).
Pounding heart or increased heart rate
While it’s natural and expected for your heart rate to increase when you’re doing something exciting, nerve-wracking, or scary, feeling your heart pounding when there is no threat or cause for your heart rate to go up can be a sign of anxiety.
How to Relax Your Mind and Body from Anxiety
There are many other ways that anxiety can manifest in the body, and it can be helpful to pay attention to your body and notice the state of mind you’re in when you experience different physical symptoms.
Because the mind and body are so intricately connected, not only will our bodies let us know when we’re anxious, but they can also be a tool to help our minds work through the anxiety and feel a sense of calm.
Here are just a few practices that target the physical symptoms of anxiety to help both the body and mind feel more at ease.
Try to exercise and move your body daily
Research shows that exercise is incredibly helpful in managing anxiety. Whether it’s going on a walk or run, biking, hiking or doing pilates, moving your body can have calming effects on the mind. When you are exercising, you are more likely to be focused on how your body feels as opposed to what you’re feeling anxious about. Engaging in exercise diverts you from the very thing you are anxious about. As noted in this Harvard publication, increasing your heart rate up changes your brain chemistry, and increases the availability of anti-anxiety neurochemicals, including serotonin, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and endocannabinoids (Dr. John J. Ratey, Harvard 2019).
Practice Yoga
Yoga can be an excellent form of exercise, and also incorporates breathing and mindfulness practices that are exceptionally beneficial for reducing anxiety. Yoga typically doesn’t exert as much energy as a more high-intensity workout, and even just a few simple poses each day for a few minutes can shift your mood. Here’s a yoga practice to help guide you through some poses.
Do deep breathing exercises
We touched upon the power of breathing in yoga, but breathing exercises can be practiced throughout the day for a quick reset. Here are some breathing exercises to try when you feel anxious.
Take Cold Showers
Popularized by Wim Hof, also known as The Iceman, taking freezing cold showers is becoming a more widely recognized method to decrease inflammation, improve circulation and immunity, boost endorphins, and reduce anxiety. While it sounds a bit crazy to hop into an ice-cold shower, the many benefits, including anxiety relief and sleep improvement, suggest it might be worth trying out.
Check your vitamin D levels
Researchers say that vitamin D deficiency can be linked to mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety. The Journal of Diabetes research conducted a study to see if vitamin D supplements could improve mental health and type 2 diabetes. Forty-six women participated in the study for six months and completed a survey about their mental health. The study found that taking vitamin D supplements significantly decreased anxiety levels in women suffering from type 2 diabetes (Montare Behavioral Health).
If there’s one thing you take away from this article, I hope you know that you are not alone and that there are ways to manage anxiety from both a physical and mental perspective. Our therapists at the Therapy Center of Houston specialize in helping individuals with anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. We offer Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, which is a highly-researched treatment for trauma and stress. By bringing the nervous system to a relaxed state, traumatic and distressful memories that cause anxiety and panic can be processed and dissolved.
If you’re looking for support in your mental health journey, we welcome you to reach out to our team at support@therapycenterhouston.com.