Let’s be real, anxiety is a fucking bitch! Whether it be racing thoughts, overthinking, difficulty concentrating, feeling foggy or the full-blown feeling of panic as though you are having a heart attack. When I work with clients who experience anxiety, more times than not they experience what are called somatic symptoms, meaning physical sensations or symptoms. Examples of somatic symptoms are neck pain, headaches, stomach issues (i.e., the nervous poops), tingling or numbness in limbs, you get the idea. The emotion of anxiety is being manifested physically in our bodies and for a lot of people it can be absolutely terrifying. I’m here to offer some help!
I am a firm believer in breath work and the power of our breath when we are experiencing anxiety. That being said, “practicing” breathwork when you are in a full-blown panic attack may not feel helpful in that moment. Breathwork can be done DAILY even when nothing is “wrong”, you are simply strengthening that “muscle” and practicing a tool to take out at a later date when the time comes.
Another helpful tool is called progressive muscle relaxation. More times than not we are clenching a part of our body and do not even know it. If I said to you right now, unclench your jaw you’d be surprised to know if was already clenched. Or my all-time fave, stop furrowing your brow! This is why I’ve had a permanent crease between my eyes since my early 20’s! Progressive muscle relaxation helps to ground you back into your body while also assisting you in relaxing parts of your body you didn’t realize were “stressed.” YouTube has TONS of progressive muscle relaxation scripts that you can follow along to! I am a huge fan of guided anything because then my brain and body just have to follow directions versus me trying to teach myself or read something. That being said, I will breakdown how to go through a progressive muscle relaxation exercise step by step here. You could record yourself reading this and play it back for yourself, or perhaps you have someone in your life with a calming voice and you could ask them to read it to you!
1. Take three big belly breaths, making sure to inhale and exhale slowly, start to imagine the tension melting away from your body.
2. We’re going to start from the bottom and work out way up! Curl your toes and hold it for 5-7 seconds, then relax.
3. Tighten your calf muscles by pulling your toes toward you, hold…… let them go.
4. Time for the big ones! Flex your quads, squeeze your glutes, the goal is to tighten all of the muscles in the tops of your legs and anything attached to your pelvis…hold……then release.
5. Tighten your lower back by arching it up…. hold….and release.
6. Suck them abs in! Hold them tight, squeeze and hold……. slowly release and imagine a wave of relaxation spreading through your abdomen.
7. Now we’re moving on to your chest, tighten your chest by taking in a big chest filled breath…. hold….and slowly release. Imagine a light stream exiting your body as you release, that is the stress leaving your chest.
8. I want you to push your shoulders back, clenching your upper back muscles, hold that pose, squeeze, hold and release. If this a spot you normally hold tension, repeat this a few more times.
9. Now, lift your shoulders as if you are shrugging, hold that position, keep squeezing, and release.
10. Take a few more big bell breaths and envision that each breath is releasing more and more stress from your body each time you do.
11. Next is your neck…this is where I hold so much stress and tension (hello migraines). First, you will tights the neck by pulling your head back as if you are trying to touch the back of your head to your actual back…focus on your neck, hold this position and then relax. Repeat if necessary!
12. Next up is your jaw, if you are a jaw/teeth clencher, this is for you! Open your mouth as wide as you can and stretch all those muscles, hold…. relax and just let your lips part and your mouth hang out slightly.
13. Now we’re gonna squeeze our eyes shut really, really hard…hold this…. then relax, envision yourself in a deep state of relaxation almost like sleep.
14. On to the forehead! Raise your eyebrows as far as you can (if you have Botox this may feel impossible lol! Just hang in there), hold that….and relax until your forehead feels smooth and relaxed.
15. Now, flex them triceps, extend your arm out straight and lock your elbows, hold….and release.
16. Moving on to the biceps, flex your muscles by drawing your forearms up and making muscles with both arms, hold….and release.
17. Last by not least, clench your fists, tighten them, squeeze them as if you are incredibly angry and ready to fight, hold….and release.
18. Now it’s time for a mental scan of your body. See if there are any areas still holding on to stress/tension and redo those steps.
19. Finally, imagine a wave of relaxation slowly spreading throughout your body, starting from your head and moving its way gradually down your body penetrating every muscle down to your toes!
Do this as often as you need to in order to relax, research says doing this at least once a day will make a substantial difference. If you can do it twice a day (perhaps morning and night) you’ll be significantly more relaxed! Try it out and report back so I can celebrate you!
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