The Power of Anxiety
The word “anxiety” comes from a Latin word that means “to choke or to strangle.” If you struggle with anxiety, you can identify with that image. There may be times when the anxiety is so powerful that it is difficult to breath; you literally feel like you are choking or being strangled. But even if it not a literal feeling, the distress of anxiety can be very threatening. You are always on edge; you are hypervigilant as you look for the next thought, feeling, image, or situation that could trigger your anxiety.
Relaxing is hard for you if you struggle with anxiety. You believe that to be relaxed is to let your guard down. You have to be alert and aware. The truth is anxiety can lessen your awareness. When you look at life through the filter of “Will this make me more anxious?” a couple of things can happen. One, just about anything can be seen as a threat. Two, moments of joy and delight that are not connected to the anxiety get lost.
One of the practices that is helpful for dealing with the hypervigilance of anxiety is learning how to be still. The word “still” comes from a German word that means “to be fixed, to stand.” Even if you do not struggle with anxiety, the world in which we live does not hold being still in high value. Being still is equated with inaction, not getting something done. Being still can become nothing more than the short pause between the end of one task and the beginning of the next one.
However, when being still is combined with awareness and mindfulness, it is helps with your anxiety or just the busyness of your life.
The practice of being still goes like this.
Put yourself in a position in which you feel most comfortable. Settle into that position. Then, close your eyes and become aware of your breathing. The air moving in and the air moving out. At some point, feel your body slowly becoming totally still. Notice how your body settles into stillness. Notice how it arrives at a place of stillness.
Now, just sit with the stillness. Notice your breath. If you notice urges or sensations in any part of your body, just let them be there without doing anything about them. If you feel an itch, just notice it and let it go by focusing on another part of your body that does not itch. It you feel the urge to move your arms or legs, again, just notice the urge and focus your attention on another part of your body that is more at ease. If you notice a thought or an image that is not related to the stillness, acknowledge it, let it go, and return your attention to your stillness.
See if you can settle into and notice the stillness of your whole body. There may be a quiet and a calm that you experience inside and around. If a part of your body becomes uncomfortable, inhale and imagine the breath surrounding that part of your body. Exhale and imagine the discomfort going out with the breath.
You can end the practice by slowly opening your eyes and gently moving some part of your body.
A couple of reminders.
This practice is not about locking your body in a still position. It is about putting yourself in a comfortable position and settling into the stillness. I would suggest you do this for a couple of minutes the first few times you do it. You can lengthen the time as you want.
This is one of many practices that you can use to develop a different relationship with your anxiety. I invite you to go to my anxiety treatment page to learn more about how I can work with you and your anxiety.