The Physical Symptoms of Anxiety: 3 Ways to Self Soothe

We often over conceptualize what it means to feel anxious or to experience anxiety. Anxiety is defined as: a feeling of worry, excessive nervousness, apprehensiveness about real or perceived threats, typically leading to avoidance behaviors and often to physical symptoms." A common question we often ask is: "What am I anxious about?" or "What am I stressed about?" Sometimes there are clear answers to these questions and other times we can feel confused and mystified about our anxiety triggers. Meanwhile, as we are trying to logically sort the roots of our anxiety; our bodies are experiencing a cascade of symptoms that affect our ability effectively communicate, process information and problem solve.

Some of the physical symptoms that are associated with anxiety include but are not limited to: increased heart rate, gastrointestinal movements (butterfly feelings/overactive or underactive digestion), muscle tension or tremor, hyperventilation, overthinking, dizziness, dissociation or a "floating away" sensation and chest pains/tightness. There are a number of ways to treat these physical symptoms.

1. Slow down breathing for a 6/6/6 breath - breathing in on the count of 6 seconds, hold for 6 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds

2. Go outside - go for a brisk walk, stand in the earth barefoot (grounding), play with a pet/take for a walk

3. Sensory shifts - drinking a cold glass of water, take a cold shower or immerse face into cold water

All of these the aforementioned methods are calming to the nervous system which is a helpful way to interrupt anxiety symptoms.