Anxiety
Anxiety can come in so many different forms and can range on scale from very minimal to very extreme. Many times the anxiety that you experience can show up in the following ways in your life:
- Your anxiety prevents you from putting yourself out there and taking chances.
- It gets in the way of operating in healthy relationships.
- You find yourself living in fear and not pursuing the things you want or love.
- You struggle to make decisions because you don’t want it to be wrong.
- Anxiety presents itself as self-doubt.
- Your anxiety can result in panic or anxiety attacks.
- Social situations are too overwhelming and prevent you from meeting new people.
- You could feel the need to be constantly busy.
Your anxiety is not something that has to run your life anymore. The most common fear of no long being anxious is “how will I get anything done?”. There are healthy levels of anxiety because anxiety can be a motivator. It can help us make the smart choice in given situations, but living with an over abundance of anxiety can impact personal health, relationships, and life-satisfaction. Allowing anxiety to run the show puts you in a position of burn-out and exhaustion. You can learn to run the show while allowing healthy amounts of anxiety to motivate us to accomplish the things we want and need to accomplish.
Understanding Anxiety
As I said before, anxiety comes in many forms and it can range on a scale from very minimal to very extreme. Anxiety presents itself in many different ways for each individual, and is yet still one of the most diagnosed conditions in today’s society. So why do you feel totally alone in it? Why do you feel like you are the only one that struggles with anxiety? Anxiety is also one of the most well masked things that we face. We are able to put on a brave face, push through, and pull up our boot straps. We can feel like we are fighting the fight alone and that no one could ever understand what we are going through. Anxiety feels like a cycle that we are trapped in, wanting out but not knowing how to get out.
Anxiety convinces us that we need it in order to protect ourselves and make it in the world. Anxiety is a form of coping skills that gets in our way of being able to live life to the fullest. It tells us that we are to be focusing on controlling the things around us so that we can feel safe and secure. We rely on control or other people to make us feel ok.
Anxiety In Real Life
Anxiety in real life looks like falling apart in the inside while attempting to hold it together on the outside. Not wanting to let your friends or family see that there is more going on under the surface. Anxiety looks like putting on a mask from the moment you wake up to the moment you (try to) fall asleep. The racing thoughts and questions of how things went during the day flood your mind the moment your head hits the pillow. The second you wake up you begin to questions and make lists of things that need to happen during the day when in reality all you want to do is stay in bed because it feels super overwhelming. Anxiety is a never ending list of insecurities, things to do, people to help and please, judgement, and worrisome social situations. Anxiety can present itself in fear of saying no because you are worried to disappoint people or lose people in your life.
People can’t see the internal battle nor do you want them to. You want to be the strong one for everyone around you, and you want people to be able to rely on you without question.
Anxiety and Horses, Animals, and Nature
Anxiety lives in the future. Anxiety is all about what is to come, how certain interactions will impact you in the future, things that have to get done, people that need to be pleased in order to keep them around, and focusing how to keep yourself safe and secure. Horses, animals, and nature live in the present moment. Horses and animals are perceiving the present moment and what it brings rather than worrying about what comes next. Horses and animals require the same attention and perception from us while we work with them. Horses help us with being able to be mindful in the moment, build awareness with what is happening around and within us, and create meaningful and true connection with another being.
They want us to be in the present moment because that is the only moment that serves them. The present moment is also the only moment that serves us and the moment that experiences come in that can help us change. Horses, animals, and nature help ground us back to the present moment. They are constantly reminding us to come back to our body and to allow ourselves to feel what is happening in the moment. Through awareness we can experience emotions, memories, and situations in the present moment so we can being to formulate change from the inside out rather than just masking the changes with replacing behaviors. We can heal from the core of who we are and find a new way to operate so that anxiety doesn’t have to run the show.
