Anxiety, fear and stress can all be emotions or thought processes that often feel like they slow us down, or keep us from accomplishing our goals. Anxiety and fear can function as protective emotions, or something that reminds us of everything that could go wrong so we don’t get hurt. Oftentimes we view or experience anxiety, stress and fear as negative emotions or feelings we want to avoid. What can happen when we get in touch with the physical feelings and symptoms of anxiety and stress, and reframe them to be motivation?
Anxiety can feel like...
Some of the more prominent and physical symptoms of anxiety and stress include:
Rapid heart rate
Sweating
Shaking
Increased speed of thoughts
Restlessness in the body
Fixation on a certain thought, scenario or outcome
Activation in the chest and arms
When we list these possible manifestations of anxiety or stress, they all seem fairly uncomfortable, right?
Now, let’s list some of the biological changes or expressions of excitement
Increased energy
“Butterflies” in the stomach
Shaking in the hands
Increased heart rate
Activation in the nervous system
Restlessness
These manifestations of excitement are very similar to manifestations of anxiety and stress. Why does one experience feel positive and is attached to motivation, but the other tends to isolate us and feel debilitating at times?
How emotions, thoughts and behavior are intertwined
There are several aspects of anxiety, the two we tend to address in the therapy setting are anxiety- fueled thoughts and the somatic, or, physical symptoms and manifestations. Sometimes, one or the other can feel more prominent or easier to control, however these two typically go hand in hand. In Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), the theory is that our thoughts, emotions and actions can all affect and influence each other.
The idea in this theory is that we have the internal power to reframe our thoughts, regulate our emotions or have more connection with our actions in order to change the effect on each point in our inner “triangle.” If we connect to reframing a thought, belief or perception of a prompting event, we can better connect to or channel our body’s physiological response to a feeling like anxiety or stress. In using this CBT approach, we can find the power in reframing a belief like “I’m never smart enough” or “I can’t do anything right” that may lead to thoughts like “I’m going to ruin this presentation” or “There’s no way I can do this without messing up” that may bring up emotions like anxiety, stress or fear.
So what happens when we reframe these thoughts?
When we reframe thoughts like “There’s no way I can do this without messing up” to something like “I’m nervous I will mess up” or “I’ve messed up before so I’m scared to do this,” we become open to and accepting of our feelings, and open the door to use our physiological experience to motivate instead of isolate. Here’s a quick way to interrupt an anxiety-thought spiral:
My thought is: There’s no way I can do this without messing up
My feeling is: nervousness
My body feels: restless, shaky and my heart is racing
My reframe is: My body is preparing me to take on a challenge
When we use this reframe, we are now accepting our body’s natural reaction to a stressor and allowing it to move us forward as opposed to being something scary or shameful. When we can use the extra energy, activation in the arms or increased blood flow that anxiety may be giving us to propel ourselves forward, we can turn anxiety into motivation and move through a stressor rather than moving away from it. For more information on what this can look like, we recommend the Ted Talk “Making Stress Your Friend” by Kelly McGonigal.
Now, we can also acknowledge that sometimes, it takes extra effort, help or tools we don’t have to do something like reframing a thought. This can be difficult at times, and doesn’t come naturally. There is help out there if you would like to connect with yourself and better understand your own experience. Anxiety, fear and stress are things a therapist can support you in throughout your therapy journey. If you are interested in starting that, please don’t hesitate to reach out.