Anxiety – Let’s stop the Chatter

where Fear is actually seeing that bear on the hike.

Anxiety is basically that feeling like it’s all out of control – as if you are just waiting for the next thing to happen.

Sometimes we really have no idea why we are anxious and it often doesn’t really interfere with our life. But for some, anxiety is overwhelming and a total interference in their daily life. This overwhelming fear is caused by inappropriate brain function which sets off inappropriate or irrational behavior or behaviors. These behaviors are often referred to as panic disorder or social anxiety disorder.  (Please realize that this is NOT something you self diagnosis – you must see a medical professional to be properly diagnosed.  The doctor may or may not suggest medications to help with your symptoms.)

Now science used to believe that anxiety was caused by the amygdala, 

but science now believes it is just the result of constant chatter between different brain regions – kind of like a network of fear.

So – How in the heck do we silence the chatter?  

First we must realize that you have 2 sides of your brain – left and right.

The left side is narrow focused attention, while the right is broad open attention. The left prefers to deal with what it already knows, while the right deals with the new. Anxiety prefers the left side where it can focus on one thing – kind of like a hamster on a wheel going around and around in a never ending circle. This round and round way of looking at things keeps us from seeing the whole picture. When functioning just on the left side of our brain, we tend to live life in the past and this is where anxiety draws you into seeing things only one way rather that seeing what else is possible – basically, limited thinking. Now, if you engage the right side of your brain, you allow other stimuli to be noticed and you see more of the big picture. You become more spontaneous and flexible in your thinking.

So, one way to stop the chatter is to switch from narrow attention to more open attention. This means crossing polarities. There are several ways to cross polarities. In the following videos, I will demonstrate 4 different ways:

• Hand Crossing Shoulder to Shoulder
• Sideways Figure 8’s (or infinity sign)
• Swinging arms back and forth
• Ball Toss