Do you feel that anxiety is something you wish you could avoid? There are many messages in the world that tell us anxiety is something which reflects a problem, but it can also be seen as a gift. Anxiety is our body’s messenger for places within ourselves that need attention, need growth, need to be nurtured.
How do you know when you are feeling anxious? Do you experience intrusive thoughts or do you feel a shortness of breath? Does your energy shift? When you notice these feelings or thoughts do you think something is wrong?
What might happen if you began to shift your relationship with anxiety, and rather than seeing it as something to be avoided, you started to view it as something to be curious about?
Sheryl Paul believes that anxiety is a gift and something which can connect us to greater understanding and growth. Below are three things that she says no one tells you about anxiety.
Three things no one tells you about anxiety:
“Having anxiety does not mean that there is anything wrong with you - it is not evidence of brokenness or disorder.”
“In fact it is the opposite. having anxiety is evidence of exquisite sensitivity, high empathy and an internal communication system that is working in order. but if you are going to harvest the gems embedded inside of anxiety, you are going to have to shift past the shame based way that our culture sees it and instead understand that it is a gift and a wise messenger from the unconscious pointing you in the direction of healing and growth.” - Sheryl Paul
“Anxiety is a call to wake up…Anxiety is telling you that it is time to pay attention.”
“Anxiety creates distress flares letting you know that you have gone off course or that there is room to grow in your four realms of self.” The four realms of self are:
physical body
emotional realm
thoughts
soul or spirit
“ Anxiety attaches to different themes - Notice wherever your anxiety is attaching.”
relationships
sexuality
money
health
parenting
Which of these messages of anxiety, realms of self, or themes speak to you the most? Looking at anxiety through a new lens can help you to grow and expand through difficult areas of your life. Rather than something to be avoided, anxiety can be a helpful guide towards what you are needing to notice and nurture or shift in your life.
A Therapist can help you to explore the connections between your experiences of anxiety and the messages it is revealing to you. If you are feeling anxiety in your life, hoping to better understand it, and looking for a source of support to help you connect with it’s wisdom, contact Megan Bousquet via email to schedule a session: info@mazenspace.com
References:
Sheryl Paul’s website
https://conscious-transitions.com/
3 Things No One Tells You About Anxiety, by Sheryl Paul,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaMZBXsnPag
The Wisdom of Anxiety, a book by Sheryl Paul
The Wisdom of Anxiety by Sheryl Paul - available on amazon