Chicken or the egg? Negative thoughts... negative feelings... Which come first?

Experiencing stress and anxiety can lead to the distressing physical feelings .... That makes coping hard enough but there are also the frightening negative thoughts to contend with too. 

We can misinterpret the physical side effects of anxiety and find ourselves adopting unhelpful thinking patterns.  These negative thoughts then fuel the negative feelings... and on the cycle can go until you can completely loose sight of how this all started...

The trigger is biology!

A biological reaction to real or perceived danger, the fight or flight response. This stress and anxiety cycle is not a reflection on the individual, on their lives or their abilities, it is biology!!!

To break the cycle first identify the worrying thought patterns. Here are some examples:

All or nothing thinking : " I made a mistake.. I'm useless and never do anything right"

Personalisation : " Its all my fault "

Subjectification : believing bad situations reflect on you  rather than being just a bad/ difficult  event.

Catastrophising : believing one small problem will inevitably ruin everything else.

But of course everyone is individual and you may find some that relate to you and some that don't.  Changing these distressing unhelpful thought patterns is not always easy but it is absolutely possible. try to question those automatic negative thoughts...ask yourself..." Is that true"... " what would I say to my friend if they said this?"... " what are the alternatives?" continue to question the damaging thoughts.

Sometimes just distracting yourself with something mundane can help interrupt the cycle enough for you to see clearly again. Maybe count backwards in 3s or repeat a calming word silently to yourself over and over.  If you struggle with stress and anxiety trying to tackle it can seem like a mountain to climb, but take small steps and you can begin to develop stress management skills and overcome your anxiety.

Trying to address stress and anxiety yourself is a positive move, but if you feel your stress and anxiety is intense, long lasting and causing problems do speak to your health care provider for help and advise.

Stress Management - Back to basics.... breathe....

I have been studying some different forms of stress management over the past few weeks, such as holistic massage. There are many effective techniques available but what has struck me is the importance of one essential thing .... taking time to breathe!

Breathe holistic therapy was born out of this central aim to help my clients find their own time to breathe and relax, hence the name!   Revisiting stress management and overcoming anxiety this week has reminded me of the power of calm controlled deep breathing.

If you feel yourself getting stressed, try to halt those feelings in their tracks by taking deep comfortable breaths. Start by inhaling for three seconds, then exhale for a little longer. Continue this for several breaths until you feel calmer.  To help the process try to think only of the breaths

..... in....  out .... in ..... out .....

Then as you breathe out imagine you are breathing away the stress and anxiety, think about letting go of  the tension with every out breath.  This may sound too simple to work, but the effect of basic breathing exercises can be profound. Give it a try and find your time to breathe!

As always, if you are concerned about your health please do seek medical advice.