Anxiety, Overwhelm and Burnout
Anxiety Is Your No 1 Survival Instinct
Anxiety is becoming more prevalent, affecting both children and adults alike. Some people feel anxious about almost everything, while others don’t experience it at all. So, let’s take a closer look at what anxiety actually is.
Anxiety is a natural alert system, hard-wired to keep you safe. It’s an on/off switch designed to trigger an adrenaline rush so you can quickly respond to danger - whether that means defending yourself or running away.
Imagine a Gazelle grazing peacefully on the vast Serengeti plains. Suddenly, the snap of a twig, and they’re off... until they realise it’s safe after all and return to grazing as if nothing happened. This is anxiety in action: a response to a real, immediate threat.
When there is genuine danger, anxiety is invaluable: it sharpens your senses, boosts your reflexes, and helps you escape harm. But as humans, our intellect plays a role in how we process fear.
From a young age, we imagine scenarios to project into the future and worry about what might happen. As we grow older, we dwell on these thoughts, ruminate, and turn them into realities when, in fact, they haven’t happened at all. This is when anxiety shifts from a helpful response to something that takes over.
Much of the anxiety we hear about today stems from this. Overwhelm and burnout are extreme examples of our alert system failing to turn off - until your body has no choice but to make the decision for you.
Life’s too short to spend your time feeling anxious. One of the first gifts you’ll receive is how to release tension and make safe choices that preserve the body and help you find peace.
You don’t have to carry the weight of anxiety overwhelm and burnout alone. There is a better way.
Perception, Intellect and Will
Today’s ‘threats’ aren’t hungry tigers or life-or-death situations so there’s nothing to resolve. But we still manage to be anxious, only now it’s by:
- thinking you can’t do something
- believing you’re not capable or worthy of whatever, and
- projecting worst-case scenarios into the future
Your brain doesn’t distinguish between what’s real and what’s imagined so your body reacts as if the threat is happening now; ever seen a panic attack? Did you know there’s a way of clearing a panic attack in minutes?
The solution is to use your Perception to sense what’s occurring, your Intellect to work out whether it’s safe or not, and your Will to respond as you choose. Job Done!
There’s no need to suffer with anxiety, overwhelm or burnout. You just need to pay attention to what’s happening and respond in a new way.
It Makes Sense When You Know How
Sometimes, past traumas (known or sub-conscious) can be anxiety triggers; read more about how I can work with you on that here.
If you are a busy professional and find that you just don't have time to focus on your own wellbeing, learn more here.
Find out how your conscious and unconscious minds affect both your emotional and physical health here.
