Anxiety is not just fear.
Did you know there are cheat codes in the body that enable you to access your nervous system? That means you can hack your anxiety. You just need to learn the language and pathways and apply them effectively.
Anxiety is the nervous system stuck on red alert. Anxiety is the body’s physiological/chemical response to too much stimulus or a warning of a situation that may be ‘dangerous.’ The problem is that the body could be responding to a threat that happened to you 20 years ago. If positive thinking isn’t helping you, this is the reason why. Positive thinking is a must but doesn’t help much when you are in an acute stress-response phase. Please note: I’m not addressing anxiety associated with any form of psychosis.
So, how do you release old traumas and turn off the anxiety response?
I’ve spent the last 20 years gathering a number of methods which I have used on myself, students and clients.
You or your loved one is not alone. . .Today more than 40 million adults in America suffer from anxiety – roughly 18 % and climbing. It is the most common mental illness in the United States. In addition, anxiety disorders affect 25% of children between 13 and 18 years old and studies have shown that the rate is higher in girls, especially in the last 5 years.
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) A person feels anxious on most days, worrying about many different things.
- Social anxiety.
- Specific phobias.
- Panic disorder.
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – In my experience as a body and energy medicine practitioner and yoga/meditation teacher, most types of anxiety seem to be rooted in a previous trauma (either emotional or physical) that has gone unhealed.
Skip down to my ‘how-to’ section if you don’t want to read the narrative portion.
A Proliferation of Anxiety
Too many people are going through their days with some level of anxiety bubbling under the surface. Little surges of adrenaline fire up and trigger either the fight, flight or freeze response — a loud noise, an intense personal interaction, or a little challenge at work. Many people find it takes tremendous effort to get out of bed, get in their cars and drive through a storm, or in a busy city.
In many cases anxiety is the body’s signal that there is too much data being processed and the nervous system’s circuit breakers are being tripped. When this happens the heart-rate increases, the thinking mind can go blank, and pain in the body, typically neck, back, hips and knees, can result. These are symptoms of your physical body switching over to the stress response repeatedly.
So why are so many people having this over-drive system response?
Stress is a normal part of life but at this time in history the parts of our bodies that handle stress or are little taxed. In other words, our cache is already full. The causes most obviously relate to the way our lives are structured today and the sum total of our past. So when something happens that is a negative load on the system, both our Central Nervous System and Autonomic Nervous System begin to trigger warning signs. Adrenaline is triggered by the amygdala, hypothalmus and pituitary and the cycle gets stuck in the body’s coping mechanism (or neurology) of the brain and subconscious mind. Suddenly the new sensations and the body’s memory of an old trauma become wired together triggering a repeated ‘stress-response.’
Neuroplasticity - We Have the Technology
Over-write your anxiety – Clear your cache . . .
Neuroplasticity means the brain is malleable and programmable at any age – in other words hackable! This is fantastic news. Meaning that any program that is actively running in the CNS can be changed – overwritten, hacked. Belief systems, thought and behavior groups literally wire together and create a neural group.You can change the behavior of the neural group/network by intentionally adding strategic stimuli designed to change the structure of the neural network. It goes something like this:
When I teach meditation I have people call to mind their biggest concern in the moment. I give them a few minutes to stew on it to be sure it is active. Then I walk them through a breathing technique that may or may not involve some small hand or body movements. After 5 or 10 minutes I have them stop and reassess the strength of their issue. In all cases it is diminished. For long-standing issues it may take several repetitions on a regular basis to make changes but it is completely possible and doable. Not only does this practice help to reduce anxiety, it builds health and stamina in the body while keeping the brain active.
The Hack
Cheat codes or hacking involves accessing the signaling pathways in the physical body, learning its language system or codes and manipulating or over-writing those codes. Nervous system hacks take the form of new data introduced into the system by way of movement, breath, sound or touch. Every time you successfully override the stress response you build depth and acquire strength within your nervous system. In addition you are building your emotional IQ, self-awareness and confidence.
Here’s how to do it:
Reset:
Perform System Reset
- Atlas Bone (C1) to Frontal Bone hold to interrupt signal
- How to do it: 2 fingers of left hand go to the top most vertebra in your neck (near base of skull) and hold there; right palm to forehead and breathe. Choose a steady focal point, meaning either close your eyes or stare at a fixed point in the distance. Hold for 3-10 minutes or until you feel your system settle down. Note: Perform both holds gently – without compressing your head.
- Tell your body it is safe.
- Option to consider: Your atlas is a major signaling bone into the ANS/CNS. If it is out of alignment it could cause anxiety and change the manner in which your brain receives info and interprets your world. Your chiropractor can easily adjust this bone for you either manually or with an activator.
Restore:
Restore System by reconnecting with source of power – your core.
- Core and diaphragm activation:
- Any abdominal work – sit-ups or plank pose. Stop when you can’t do any more without significant effort.
Integrate:
Manually override stress response
- Turn on both hemispheres of your brain
- Cross Crawl – stand up and alternately lift one leg and tap your knee with the opposite hand. Reverse by lifting other leg and tapping that knee with opposite hand. Repeat for 2 minutes.
- Tracking –
Trace a figure eight in the air in front of your face (about 18 inches away). Follow your hand movement with your eyes making sure that your 8 is making you look from side to side.
Activate:
Trigger the proactive part of the brain.
- Turn on the whole brain and future planning aspect
- Utilizing the power of drishti or eye focal points for 3 minutes
- Tip of the nose – eyes open
- Brow Point – with inner eyes closed or open
- Looking up to the left – eyes open
Create:
What fires together wires together.
- Reformat or imagine the triggering event differently.
- Call to mind a trauma (this works best for emotional traumas).
- Imagine yourself walking away from a bad situation, feeling empowered, healthy and strong.
- Imagine just letting go of someone or something that caused you sadness or grief. For example, if someone you loved passed away or left you, imagine that you are surrounding them with light and letting them float away or fade away. Go with what works for you.
- Imagine a new outcome. Create a positive, healthy picture of something you want.
Command:
Ask for a biological upgrade for all related systems: simply state out loud or silently to your body. . .
- Clear all active history traumas affecting my nervous system
- Clear all active physical injury traumas
- Remove any trapped negative emotions causing disruption
- Clear all negative energies
- Upgrade and balance my nervous system
- Harmonize my biological functions
- Bring my heart, mind and body into coherence
- Balance and align all of my energetic systems and energy
Anxiety definition from American Psychology Association –
“Anxiety is characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes. Anxiety disorders such as panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) cause recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns and physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat.”
Be Mindful of Your Mind
It goes without saying that cultivating some form of mindfulness practice will help in generating a more settled nervous system. Focusing on breathing helps to train the brain away from repetitive or compulsive negative thoughts. Awareness ‘in-the-moment’ is proven to illicit the relaxation response reducing the adrenaline triggering response. Activities below help to channel trapped nervous energy and change neural patterning permanently if done on a regular basis. Move your body to move your mind. . .
- Whole body movement
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Hypnosis
- Golf
- Dance
- Thai Chi style martial arts
- Playing an instrument
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
“People often believe that because something happened, and because it is a fact or true, that it should be focused upon, and therefore kept vibrationally active. And so, many people keep many things active that do not serve them.
If we were standing in your physical shoes we would not keep something active in our vibration just because it had happened. We would only keep things active that we want to repeat in our life experience.” Excerpted from Long Beach, CA on 2/15/14 Esther Hicks
My hope is that some of the techniques above offer you relief and allow you to enjoy your life. If I can be of any assistance or if you have any questions, please contact me. I’ve had some great progress with people using Diamond Light Matrix Therapy to conquer their anxiety issues. I’m here to help you. Click here to send me an email.
As always, wishing you many blessings and much love,
Kaye
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