Weighted Down with Anxiety

Everyday

Yup. Keep in mind, the pandemic has totally amplified so much preexisting anxiety so it’s felt heavy for so much humanity this past few years. Humans were originally designed to be able to “sprint” away from a threat (a saber tooth tiger, an enemy, etc) for short, quick distances. The adrenaline was never supposed to surpass that short burst of fight or flight. The pandemic has put us all on high alert/ fight or flight for over two years now. Humans as a species were never designed to be able to carry the heaviness / stress of this kind of a thing for the long haul; just a quick “sprint” Here or there. So neurologically (and physically), we just aren’t hard-wired to do well dealing with prolonged stress & anxiety over an extended period of time. The pandemic has done exactly this to us. So I want to normalize for you that - YES- my body too (and so many others) are feeling physically weighed down by anxiety, especially lately. It’s not in your head, it’s very real pandemic phenomenon as our bodies try to keep up and navigate the stress of daily life these days constantly on high alert. Things that have made me feel a bit lighter: 1. Breathing exercises before bed & if I feel a panic attack coming on 2. Guided meditations for anxiety/panic (I use the Calm app, but Curable has some as well) 3. Walking every day for 60 min & listening to something like a podcast that’s Light/fun! (NOT the news!) 4. SWIMMING. I literally cannot share how much the physical weightlessness that I experience when I am in a pool or a lake has helped my anxiety to also feel a bit lighter. If you have access to water, definitely give it a try 5. Calm magnesium drink before bed each night. It is an all natural powder, and you just stir it in with some warm water. It goes down like a cozy warm tea almost. The nights that I take this, I definitely settle into sleep better and wake up feeling less heavy the next morning 6. Grounding: A girlfriend of mine shared this with me about two years ago when my anxiety started to feel really unbearable. If you have access to grass, going outside barefoot and just having your feet feel the grass has incredible stress and anxiety reducing benefits. I can’t speak to the science behind it, but it has certainly worked for me 🤗

YES - sometimes my body feels like it’s full of lead and my arms and legs are so heavy they hurt to move

All the time

I feel more like my body has split into a bunch of little pieces scattered through the air that I’m frantically trying to grab. So I guess I feel more “light” but in a bad way

yes