Warmth floods through your body from head to toe. Your heart is beating in your chest and you can hear it thumping in your ears like drums at a heavy metal concert. Your friends are talking to you but you can’t hear them because you’re trying to focus your eyes on them but the whole room is swimming (except you feel like you’re floundering in the deep waters).
You excuse yourself for the bathroom. The questions start flying in from their various destinations (and never from tropical locations like Tahiti). Did I drink that champagne on an empty stomach? Am I still sick from that cold I picked up from the kids?
Then the doubts start coming in as well and crowding your seat on the plane that those questions came flying in on. You know ‘I didn’t think I had anything to be anxious about this week…’ , ‘I thought I was doing well’ or ‘Am I even going to be able to make it through the dinner.’
Your trying to breathe in deeply like you’ve been told by your counsellor. Your head is held in your hands. You’ve been in the toilet for ages. You don’t want them to think you’re in there doing a massive dump. So you compose yourself and head back out to dinner.
“Are you alright?” your friend asks you.
“Yeah, yeah. I think it’s because I had that champagne on an empty stomach” you reply.
But deep down inside you know something isn’t right. You’re pretty sure that it isn’t the champagne.
Anxiety can be kinda like a rude stewardess right? She comes out of the blue, perhaps while you’re sleeping and then awakens you rudely because the plane is about to land. You’re not ready though right? You need a break. You’re not ready to arrive at your destination just yet. There’s sleeping to be done and perhaps some work.
Anxiety can be quite overwhelming sometimes can’t it? We want to get to our destination (meet a goal, apply for that job, ask that person for help or go out on a date) but we’re so darn exhausted from the trip (the million questions that pepper our thoughts on take off) that we don’t even know how to get off that darn plane.
What can you do when anxiety get overwhelming and you don’t know where to start?
Recognise your triggers. You’ll hear it time and time again from me. I love to journal. Actually I love to journal when I’m not trying to avoid my emotions, which means all the reason to stop and ask why you don’t want to journal in the first place. Start to map out your anxiety triggers. Is it deadlines? Too many social events or appointments in your calendar? Not enough sleep?
Do something with the triggers. If you know deadline stress you out and bring on an anxiety attack be proactive and set realistic ways to meet the deadline. If you are struggling with meeting the deadline ask for help and use your ‘I feel’ statements. Eg I feel overwhelmed about meeting the deadline. If you have too many social events or appointments on reschedule them or turn down ones that you really don’t need to attend. Need more sleep? Take a mental health day if you need to or ask your husband to watch your kids so you can have a sleep. Or sleep when your child is sleeping. Everything else can seriously wait. Remember your mental health is paramount.
Feel the triggers in your body Where do you feel it? What does it feel like? Place your hands over that part of the body and ask ‘What is this about?’ Start to get in tune with how your anxiety is triggered. Connect with the emotion and find out what you need to do with it. Again you might need to journal until an answer is revealed or if you are into prayer or meditation sit with it, ask for guidance on how to shift the emotion or what to do next with it.
If you’d love help getting to your destination and would love some help packing the right tools to help you feel like you can work through your anxiety triggers then get on a call with me. Email: thebutterflyhouse@dianabraybrooke.com and find out how you can enjoy life as if you are seated in first class. (Rested, fun and focussed which means you can face your day without the heavy baggage or the tired eyes).
What are your anxiety triggers and how do you work through them? Comment below I’d love to know. Please share using the buttons below if you loved the post and be apart of my sisterhood by entering your details into the subscriber box below. You’ll have instant access to my freebie vault of resources to help you with your anxiety.