The POWER of ACCEPTANCE when coping with ANXIETY
The Power of Acceptance when coping with Anxiety
Do you struggle with anxiety?
Feel stressed or suffer with panic attacks?
The charity MIND say that “1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England”
Anxiety is what we feel in our mind and body when we are worried or stressed about something in the future.
Once we understand anxiety and why this is happening to us we can learn ways to cope and overcome this.
I understand, I used to feel overwhelmed, frustrated with myself, stressed, tired. Suffering with anxiety and panic attacks, struggling with too many worries. Not knowing how to cope!
I used to try and fight the Anxiety, which didn’t work and only made me feel worse.
On this journey I learnt the power of acceptance.
What’s great about acceptance is the power of letting things go. So now if I have a bad day or feeling too anxious I have tools to cope. I understand that it’s ok to feel this way, don’t worry about this and do what I need for my mind and body to feel better. Then start again a fresh the next day.
Your mind and body tell you things. I Used to feel overwhelmed and frustrated that I had wasted a day if anxiety took over, but in reality, you have not.
It’s ok to need to rest or take a step back. Let the stress go or allow yourself time to ride the Anxiety.
By LEARNING more about ANXIETY I was able to UNDERSTAND what was happening to my MIND and BODY, this helped me be able to ACCEPT and MANAGE this over time.
ACCEPTANCE is not about giving up.
ACCEPTANCE gives you a deeper understanding of how things really are, letting things just be, and giving you clarity on what is.
YOU CAN go from ANXIETY and STRESS to CALM and CLARITY
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is actually a natural human response to have when we are perceiving that we are under threat. Anxiety is experienced through various thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. Traditionally anxiety comes from a ‘fight, freeze or flight’ response which releases hormones such as, adrenaline and cortisol in order to prepare us to fight, freeze or flight. This is valid in terms of real danger to help us for example, escape from a lion attacking us. But this can have a negative effect on our minds and bodies when we have this response to everyday stress, that we can’t physically run away or fight from. It is perfectly normal to have this reaction if we are coping with stressful events or changes which have a big impact on our life. Anxiety becomes a mental health problem when it starts to affect your everyday life and prevents you from being able to live your life fully.
The Charity MIND have a useful page which lists out some of the effects that Anxiety has on your body and mind, helping you to understand what is happening to you:
Once you are able to understand more about what is happening to your mind and body you can then find ways which help you get through Anxiety or a panic attack. By finding something that works for you it can help you to recognise if you are struggling with Anxiety and give you tools to manage this and feel more relaxed and able to cope.
Some of the areas that worked for me include:
Talking to someone you trust
Keeping a worry diary (especially when my anxiety was at a high)
Mindfulness
Breathing exercises
Meditation
Taking better care of myself with my sleep, exercise and diet
From these steps I ended up accepting that I have Anxiety and it made my life better knowing this and being open with others so that they could understand.
This acceptance now means that I can recognise if there are times when my anxiety may be triggered and I have tools to cope, and most importantly it means that I am able to live my life fully instead of living in stress, fear or avoidance.
“Happiness can only exist in acceptance”
There is a cycle of stages to acceptance, which include;
The Bad News (the Oh No moment, how am I going to deal with what has happened. How we choose to act based on what has happened to us)
Denial (Anxiety cannot be happening to me, why. What is happening cannot be true)
Anger (Feelings of aggression towards someone, feelings that a person should not be able to tell me this)
Depression (Why has this happened to me, there is nothing I can do, leading to feeling trapped, sad or feelings of hopelessness)
Bargaining (Feeling more capable, taking action to move forward, thinking more clearly again and be able to work out a solution to the problem)
Acceptance (the Ah HA moment and self acceptance. I am glad this happened, things could be worse. I can cope and there are solutions to help me with this)
“Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it… This will miraculously transform your whole life”
To learn how I can support you with any of these struggles
Inner Calm With Jane
MIND | BODY | SPIRITUALITY
NB: If you are severely struggling to cope with a mental health problem please seek help and support from your GP/Doctor or Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org who you can call anytime on 116 123
Always ask for help, there’s always a better day.