One of the sneaky things about anxiety is that it tricks us into believing that we’re the only ones experiencing it and that everyone else has their shiz together.

Well, let me share a little secret with you, many of the people who come to our studio experience anxiety.

Anxiety is so much more common than we realise.

And it’s often the people who appear to have their lives together and who are outwardly successful that are affected.

Many of my clients have High-Functioning Anxiety, meaning they can hold down a job (and be really good at it), manage at home and have great social lives. On the outside, their lives look great.

But on the inside, they feel anxious.

And many of these clients devise complex coping strategies to numb the anxiety.

These coping mechanisms may work in the short term, but eventually become problematic.

Common ways we cope with anxiety and soothe ourselves include:

  • alcohol
  • sleeping tablets
  • stress eating
  • overworking and overperforming (to prove we are good enough)
  • constant busyness, including being there for everyone else except ourselves (to prove our worth)
  • excess shopping, gaming, gambling or social media to get a dopamine hit and avoid feeling bad

Anything that distracts or numbs the anxiety can temporarily feel good, but ultimately doesn’t solve the problem.

A helpful metaphor to reframe anxiety is to view anxiety as a smoke alarm.

When the smoke alarm sounds, we know there’s smoke, so we look for what’s burning.

Anxiety is the alarm, and what’s burning is often an uncomfortable emotion we don’t want to feel.

We hate the alarm and want to eliminate it because it feels so bad.

But the alarm won’t stop until we figure out what’s “burning” beneath the surface.

Trying to get rid of anxiety without going to the source is like taking the batteries out of the smoke alarm – it doesn’t address the root cause of anxiety, which is that there is a part of us that’s not okay.

And the part of us that’s not okay can often resemble a younger version of ourselves who felt scared, worried, lonely, unlovable or ashamed.

Many of us struggle with acknowledging and expressing our feelings, especially the uncomfortable ones like rage, grief, and shame.

So we push them down.

But those feelings don’t go away…

Those uncomfortable feelings stay stuck in our body and nervous system, and we experience them as anxiety.

Getting to the source of anxiety requires us to check in with ourselves about how we’re really feeling.

When we process the underlying feeling, the alarm stops.

No amount of positive thinking or telling ourselves to get over it will stop anxiety.

We can’t outthink anxiety because it’s not a thinking problem.

A better way of relieving anxiety is to address the nervous system and the underlying emotions that cause the “alarm”.

Because we naturally think better when our nervous system feels safe.

Movement is one of the most effective ways to help your nervous system feel safe again. Our Vinyasa classes are designed to do exactly that, no experience needed.

Start with Us — 3 Weeks for $77 →

And if you want to go deeper into your mental and emotional patterns, check out Energy Alchemy.

Not sure yet read more about how movement can be medicine for our mental health.

Keep calm,