Say hello to anxiety

Does anxiety sometimes sit on your chest like a small elephant pinning you down? What do you do when that happens? Tighten up even more? Fight it?

Here's a thought: When you feel anxiety or fear creeping up—or more than creeping—stop and say "Hello" to it. Don't ignore it. Don't focus on it with clenched fists. Just acknowledge it. Somehow just doing that will take some of the power from it.

Then once you've acknowledged that you feel anxious, ask yourself questions about the genesis of that feeling. What's it all about? When did it start? Did something happen? Is it just that your to-do list is growing faster than your ability to cross off things? Or is this a long-term issue just reaching an end-point and desperately needing resolution? Did you have a fight with a loved one? Are you facing something you fear? Do you fear a bad outcome for something?

Whatever the cause, when you stop to say "Hello" and name the problem, you can begin to come up with solutions. Anxiety and fear will lessen and recede just by being acknowledged. And you'll be more open in heart and mind to think about your response.

Please contact me if you'd like some coaching on the issue of anxiety. And share with us all in the Comment box below if you have some tried-and-true methods of dealing with it.