Of course it’s normal to have some worry and concern about people, things and situations in your life but when worry starts to take over, you might've noticed that that's when anxiety, stress or nervous tension kicks in and you can begin to feel all on edge, tired, nervous and or even restless.
I don't know about you but people I've spoken to, including some of my clients, say that they when dealing with worry it can often be easy to get annoyed or irritable and sometimes even feel afraid as if something bad is going to happen.
If you have read any of my other blogs, you will know that I have dealt with my own stuff by getting to know “ME” in all sorts of ways, including counselling and I have also found tools to help me along the way, including stuff to help with worry.
In this blog I'm going to share some of those tools to help you release some of that anxious tension. So here goes...
1. Get to know your body
When you’re feeling anxious your body has tension spots. As I’ve mentioned before anxiety is part of the fight flight and freeze process and tensing our muscles can help us to prepare for that process but constant anxiety can keep the body tense which can then result in pain.
Try recognising how tense some of your muscles are. These tight muscles may be those in your stomach, your chest, your forehead, around your neck and shoulders or maybe your jaw.
I have my own prominent tension spots and maybe you do too, or maybe you don’t because, remember, we are not all the same.
Learning to recognise your own tension spots can give your body a relaxing treat ie. recognise and release.
Perhaps next time you make a cuppa you might take a moment to check in with any tension in your body that you might be holding. Are your shoulders tight, can you feel tension in your glutes, what about any tension in your hands. Can you let it go?
2. Give yourself a service
When you Have the car of your dreams you want to look after it, take care of it and give it a regular service.
You will be topping it up with water to keep it running, massaging the leather so that it doesn’t get stiff and crack, taking it for a run to keep it in top condition, parking it in the garage overnight and treating it to some good oil to look after it’s engine.
So why not treat yourself in the same way? You can give yourself a service and help to release that tension by...
Drinking plenty of water
Having a massage - you can do this yourself using your fav body oil/lotion/cream
Including regular exercise
Getting quality sleep
SelfCare such as having time to yourself, taking a relaxing bath or maybe catching up with friends
Treating yourself to some good healthy and nourishing food
3. Learn and practice a breathing technique
I’m sorry if you think I harp on about this one but I think that Breathing techniques are sooooo helpful.
When you’re struggling to think straight, getting yourself in a tizz or feeling on edge using the breath can help to release that tension. You can use it in the moment to get you through or when used on a regular basis for 10 to 15 minutes a day it can help you to reduce your stress symptoms and that includes tension.
One breathing technique which a lot of my clients use and I do too, is the 7/11 breathing. The 7/11 is the count you use for breathing in and out. You can change the counting speed or number of breaths to suit your self i.e. 5/9. The idea is that you breathe in to the count of seven and out to the count of 11 And that you make the out breath longer than the in breath.
There are lots of different types of breathing techniques so have a practice and find the right one for you and then when you get yourself into a tense situation remember to use it.
So here we are at the end of this blog. I hope that you have found something useful to help release some of your tension. Of course, there are lots of ways you can release tension and ... you've guessed it... counselling can help too! How? Contact me and we can have a chat about it.
you can call me or send a text to
07478 754839
OR
You can send an email to juliekuhn@counsellingforyoucornwall.co.uk
Counselling has helped me and its helped other people I know and it's helped a lot of my clients!
DON'T STUGGLE ALONE!