Anxiety is not the enemy, it's your body's cry for help. It begins subtly with nagging thoughts, a constricted chest, or an unpleasant feeling that something isn't quite right. And then, it amplifies. Your heart accelerates, your breathing quickens, and your mind takes off with jumbled concerns over things beyond your control.
We've all been conditioned to be afraid of anxiety, viewing it as weakness or something we must hide. But the reality is, anxiety is communication. It's your system attempting to inform you that something in you needs attention, rest, or balance. When you attempt to suppress it, it battles all the more to be heard.
It sometimes makes sense. After my house in Asheville was hit by a hurricane, my tension and fear were understandable. At other times, however, anxiety just seems to emerge out of nowhere and that's fine too. You don't have to deal with it yet; you need to get curious about it instead.
Begin by paying attention to where you feel it in your body. Do you notice that it appears when you attempt to relax? When you speak the truth? Or when you fear disappointing someone? These tendencies are full of telling information about what's really happening within.
Anxiety needs something to feel safe. It's requesting your reassurance and notice. When you cease judging it and respond with curiosity, you begin developing inner peace. Underneath that anxious energy, there might be sadness, fear, or a need for love and safety unmet.
Stop and kindly ask yourself:
- "What are you trying to tell me?"
- "What are you fearful of something happening to?"
When you start to listen, anxiety shifts from something that runs you to something that teaches you. It turns into a teacher for self-knowledge and recovery.
Peace isn't the result of eliminating anxiety, it is the result of reframing your relationship to anxiety. Every time you breathe deeply, relax your body, and remind yourself that you're okay, you rewire your nervous system to trust you.
You don’t have to silence your thoughts to feel calm. You only need to trust that you can face them without fear. Anxiety loses its power not when it disappears, but when you stop believing it means you’re broken.
You're not broken. You are human with a nervous system that's doing its best to keep you safe. The aim is not to get rid of anxiety, but to be fully present even when it shows up, understanding that you have the resilience to remain grounded in spite of all of it.