In this episode of the Recovery Rebirth Podcast, we discuss anxiety, an increasingly common human experience. The COVID pandemic has had a profound emotional impact on humanity. Even for people who are generally unaffected by anxiety, the unknowns of a pandemic caused us collectively to be more anxious. For those of us already affected by anxiety, the forced isolation of the pandemic amplified our anxiety.

Anxiety is a ubiquitous and it’s an especially common experience for  many people in recovery due to our dysfunctional family systems. It can be described as a constant state of vigilance. It’s a whole spectrum of negative emotional & physical experiences. can range from low-grade worry to a full-blown panic attack where we feel like we’re going to have a heart attack or die. We can feel disconnected from reality, like we’re losing our minds.  Anxiety can also manifest as insomnia and disrupt our sleep, which can make us more anxious. The quandary with anxiety is the same thing that causes us to feel anxious–our brain–is what we need to use to calm and soothe ourselves. Trying to think our way out of anxiety is incredibly difficult when our amygdala is activated. 

Romantic relationships can be a source of anxiety when we select  partners whose traits trigger our childhood trauma (e.g. fears of abandonment) Also in recovery, many of us can be adrenaline junkies or addicted to chaos. When life becomes more serene through the recovery process, we can find ourselves getting anxious when things feel too calm. We can have a difficult time sitting with ourselves.

Some ways that we counteract anxiety include nature therapy, practicing yogic breathing & listening to meditative music. These are good ways to calm our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and employ our parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) Some therapeutic treatments that are used for trauma recovery & can help with anxiety are: EMDR (Eye movement desensitization & reprocessing) & NET (neuro-emotional technique) 

We hope you’ll find some resources within this episode to assist in allaying anxiety & support a more peaceful, serene life.

Resources

Social Media Pages

The Wisdom of Anxiety

https://www.instagram.com/wisdomofanxiety/?hl=en

The Anxiety Healer

https://www.instagram.com/theanxietyhealer/?hl=en

Videos

Meditative Mind Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMeditativeMind