What's Driving Your Stress & Anxiety? And What You Can Do About It
No problem can't be overcome if one is willing to do what it takes to overcome it. Of course, that's not to say it will be easy. Or that it should be.
For some, anxiety recovery is a relatively straightforward process. For others, it will be their equivalent of Sir Edmund Hillary's ascent of Everest. Maybe even tougher. After all, Hillary had a specific goal laid out in front of him as well as the best training available back then to ensure success. Not to mention his victory wasn't a solo effort with Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, alongside him every step of the way.
And on that vein, I'll go out on the limb and say conquering anxiety — for some— can be as remarkable a feat as conquering Everest. The crazy thing is nobody in their right mind would try to conquer Everest alone, yet most try to conquer anxiety alone. And in doing so, fail. The same way they'd fail if they tried to summit Everest alone.
It took me more than a decade to find relief from my anxiety. Now, with six years of experience working directly in the field supporting others, I have come to learn there is an awful lot potentially contributing to an individual's stress and anxiety.
That said, below, you will find a list of that which you might want to tend to if anxiety is causing distress in your life:
Diet
Fitness
Gut health
Water intake
Loneliness
Spine-health
Hormone imbalances (for example, thyroid)
Unresolved childhood trauma
Unresolved trauma
PTSD
cPTSD
A range of mental health issues
Work
Bullies
Blaming others
Asshole bosses
Asshole colleagues
Asshole friends
Asshole partners
Behaving like an asshole and thinking that's acceptable
Not feeling safe
Poor boundaries
Incorrect breathing
People pleasing
Comparison
Social media
Self-sabotage
Procrastination
Not meeting your basic needs
Allowing current circumstances to meet those needs
Too much self-help
Trying too hard
Denial
Lack of acceptance
Lack of personal accountability
Lack of gratitude
Lack of perspective
Lack of direction
Lack of support
Lack of sleep
Lack of love and connection
Lack of self-compassion
Lack of self-worth
Lack of self-belief
Impatience
Shame (around so much shit)
Poor values
Being super self-critical
Trying to repress, suppress or deny negative emotion
Living inauthentically
Absurd expectations
Victimhood
Self-pity
Finances
And a hell of a lot more.
Now, let's discuss cause-and-effect.
Many listed above work on a cause-and-effect basis, setting off a vicious anxiety cycle within the system. i.e., shallow breathing can cause anxiety, and anxiety will cause shallow breathing. Likewise, stress will cause poor gut health, and poor gut health can cause stress. Same for spinal health.
In the instance of breathing, consider we take roughly 21,000 breaths a day. If you're doing it wrong, what kind of impact do you believe it could have on your overall health?
Correct, a major one. So it's safe to say the return on investment from learning to breathe correctly is not one to be sniffed at.
When you go from breathing incorrectly 21,000 times a day, what impact do you believe it could have on your life once corrected?
Insane. Your entire endocrine system will begin to fire as the big man intended, and your adrenals will finally calm the fuck down. Now you get cause-and-effect, but it's no longer maladaptive. i.e., correct breathing can help repair your entire nervous system. This then ripples down to improved digestion, gut health, posture, spinal health, sleep, and more goodness in the system that will positively impact all aspects of your life.
The good news is that by utilizing cause-and-effect, you need not overwhelm and cause yourself even more distress — something so many inevitably end up doing. Instead, get into the habit of slowly introducing healthy habits, and you can then begin to trust your body's innate wisdom.
Of course, it is NOT that simple.
You still have to challenge yourself — your perception, your beliefs, how you view yourself and the world. And you need to be intentional in pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone. Not to the point of overwhelm — just outside where the magic happens.
You also need to unlearn a lot of shit that hasn't served you and will continue to operate in your subconscious mind until it's brought forward to your conscious awareness. And you likely need to forgive.
Misery will always be the easiest option. There is no escaping the battle — we can only accept or deny it. But if it's freedom you're after, the only choice you have is acceptance.
From there on in, all it takes is little patience, willingness, and commitment. And, of course, a little cause-and-effect working in your favour.