Episode # 129- Coaching Call on Anxiety

This episode is a clip from an Alignment Academy group coaching call.

 

Listen in to see how I apply somatic tools in a real life situation to help Carrie feel calmer and even excited about a situation that caused anxiety.

If you are interested in a supportive coaching community to help accelerate your progress, check out Alignment Academy here:

https://www.bodyandmindlifecoach.com/somatic-coaching

Transcript- Automatically Generated:

This is Betsy Jensen, and you are listening to Unstoppable Body and Mind, Episode 129, Coaching Call. In this podcast, we learn to upgrade our brain and understand the power of our thoughts, to heal and to create the results we want in our life. Become the person in control of your healing and make peace with your life.
Become unstoppable body and mind. Hello, my loves. Today's podcast is actually taken from a coaching call I did in my group coaching program, Alignment Academy.
We have a couple of these group calls per week, and Carrie came on for some coaching about anxiety. I wanted you to have a chance to hear this so you can hear how I use these somatic tools in coaching to help create a different result. And with some of these techniques I use, think for yourself about something that may be causing symptoms or anxiety, and you can apply these same things to yourself.
Maybe even if you can listen in a place where you can relax, you can do some of the meditations along with Carrie.
My question is, tomorrow, I'm going to be away for a good chunk of the day. And so I'm trying to not drink out and keep myself calm. And I just need a little bit of help with that.
Yeah. I'm curious, yeah, if you close your eyes and think of the anxiety that comes up, thinking about tomorrow, anything that gives you anxiety, how strong is that? Like how much intensity is there from 0 to 10?
Like an 8. Oh, wow.
Yeah. Okay. So a lot of intensity.
Where do you feel that mainly? In your body?
A little bit in like my throat and then between my eyes behind the bridge of my nose.
Oh, interesting. Okay. And is this like the anxiety?
Is that what you called it? Or is there another emotion? Yeah, okay.
Yeah, it's anxiety, and now that I've been doing this long enough, it's fear. I mean, it's fear.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Well, do you want to try that peripheral vision technique? I have just really liked it, because it just seems to take the intensity out of it, and then we can still process other things, but it's hard to when there's, you know, 8 out of 10, when you're thinking about it.
Yeah.
We can't really talk ourselves out of anxiety. So, all right. So go ahead and find a spot that you can look at, not on the screen, but maybe on the wall behind you or out the window, and just focus on that one spot, and then start opening up your peripheral vision.
So you kind of soften your eyes, let those, all those little eye muscles relax. Start to see kind of those blurs on the side, opening up more and more to the side of you. Keep focusing forward and even imagine that space behind you that you can somehow sense.
If you can sense that room around you. How does that go?
Yeah, that's, I'd give it a four.
Okay, nice, so definitely a shift. Okay, so now I want you to just go back to those same thoughts, close your eyes, think of being gone tomorrow. How long you'll be gone.
I just got the pain down my leg.
I know that's like stress-related. There's a neural circuit there that, just thinking of that. Okay, that's cool.
More evidence.
More evidence, yeah, yeah, totally evidence, right? That's one of the fit criteria, pain that gets worse when somebody talks about it, or talks about, he doesn't say this, but something emotionally charged, or yeah, and then that happens. He does say under stress, but yeah.
Okay, sorry, I'm gonna hijack for just a second, because there's another one I've been wanting to share with you, and I just remembered it.
Oh, great.
I finally hit the place in my pain journey where I have gratitude when, like just now, I have gratitude when I feel it, because I'm like, this is like, it's humorous. I laugh about it. And I'm like, thank you for telling me that clearly I'm unsettled right now.
So, yes, I never would have thought, yeah, that I'd ever have gratitude for this pain. But right.
Yeah, it almost sounds like, you know, especially when you're right in it, and you hear those people and you're like, okay, that just, you know, that's annoying. Or they think, oh my gosh, so you're telling me the whole rest of my life, I'm still gonna have pain. But when you have pain like this, it's like, oh, just a message from the body.
You know, I didn't realize there's this like trigger and response there, but let's go ahead and detach that because I'm safe. It's okay. You can turn that off.
Wow.
I love that so much. That was really good. Okay.
That's cool. So now when you close your eyes and think about tomorrow, what comes up?
So my initial thought was like, yeah, that's a little bit scary. And then immediately my thought was, it's another chance to practice.
That feels different. Okay. Very cool.
From zero to 10, how much intensity is there? As you think about tomorrow being gone all day. Don't forget about all those things you need to stress out about.
Yeah, okay. If I start to let other things creep in, then it's like six. But it's also, there's excitement too.
So I start to, you know, cross a line between fear and anxiety, and also like more into the yellow of pleasant, high energy and excitement and, you know.
Yeah, yeah. And how does that excitement feel in the body?
How does it feel?
How does it feel different than the fear anxiety maybe?
Yeah, okay, so the fear anxiety was like inward pressure, and this is like an outward pressure. So it was like an inward vibration, and this excitement is like an outward vibration or energy.
Oh, that's cool to know.
Yeah.
So maybe there's even some metaphor thing you could, you know, a switch you could flip or a knob you could, you know, it's like, oh, I'm in the inward pressure. It's the fear anxiety. How can I turn that into like excitement?
Oh, yeah, I am excited about this tomorrow. I am excited about, right, the adventure I'm going to have.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. You did something with me once where you had me think about, I don't actually remember what you asked me to do, but what I did was I imagined like a tree, and it was like the roots were in my chest going down, and then the leaves and the branches were in my head reaching out. What was that?
Yeah. It was like a tree metaphor of that excitement, anticipation, or fear that's like the leaves shaking in the upper part of the chest, and then going down to the root, or like the trunk, I should say, of the tree, more stability, feeling more grounded, maybe even feeling grounded in support by the chair, and your feet in the chair, that kind of thing.
Yeah. But it was like a communication between the two things, like my head and my heart, or my solar plexus, and I forget, I kept notes probably somewhere, but that would take me a while.
Yeah. I mean, I know I even have a meditation on my podcast, that's this tree meditation. So I bet the way I remember it is the way I always explain it, and probably with you, we had a special version of it, and that part I don't remember.
Yeah, I just found it. Yeah, I liked that, and that really seemed to... And what I'm feeling now was like brain and chest and gut, and it just seems like it would, I don't know, be helpful.
Yeah, yeah, maybe even that brain part could be part of the metaphor. It's something in the tree or it's part of the tree, but the sensation in the chest might feel more like that. I think we talked about the...
Well, I'm like, how much should I explain it first or should we just do it? But the wind basically in the storms, that actually makes the tree stronger, right? Like then the roots are able to grasp down and grow down, so that it's really strong because of that turbulence, that kind of thing.
Okay, I like this even more because that plays into the thought that I had of like, this is a chance to practice. Practicing will make me get better at this.
Yeah, exactly. You're just, you're at your growth edge. Yeah, and that's why this is scary.
Your brain is like, okay, there could be physical danger or emotional danger. Either way, we're going to send these symptoms, and we want to just be like, brain, you know, this is safe. We got this.
This is our growth edge. That's why it feels like this. This means this is our chance to practice.
This is our chance to evolve. Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. So let's have you close your eyes and first feel that anxiety and the fear.
And thinking about tomorrow might be even harder to, it's not an eight out of 10 probably anymore, right?
No.
But you probably remember that anxiety feeling. And now that you've done this work a while, you know that. And let's do have you think of all of these things that might cause anxiety in the future tomorrow.
And maybe some of the things we haven't thought about that might be closer to an eight out of 10, just anything that's a fear or anxiety producing topic. And imagine that tree that's blowing in the wind. It's in a storm, and you're watching it, right, and you're watching those leaves shake, and you're watching the branches even sway.
And it may even seem a little scary to watch it like you're worried about the tree. But then as you turn down to see the trunk, you see that the trunk isn't even moving. And then when you look down and you know that those roots are down beneath the ground, like the ground's not moving.
It's totally stable. So imagine feeling that in your body as you take your attention down towards your belly and pelvis, and I guess that solar plexus.
And how does that area feel to you?
Warm and confident.
Okay, warm, confident. Does it have a different movement, or is it just kind of different than the movement above?
It's yeah, it's not, it's really not moving. It's just, like, I feel like it's just saying, I've got you, got you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, good, and then do you imagine the roots being your legs? Like, and then you could imagine even roots growing, you know. I do this meditation yoga that's like, imagine everywhere that's contacting the surface, you have roots growing out of that, little roots going down.
And as you check in with your body now, how's it feeling?
Ease? At ease?
Yeah. What's the best feeling part right now about feeling at ease? Like, what part of your body feels really good?
Ironically, my gut, my, like, my abdomen.
Really?
That's good to know, yeah. And how does it feel different than when it's not at ease?
There's no, like, cramping or feeling bloated or full, or it just, just is.
Okay. Just is.
Could you describe it any other way than what it's not like? Just like what it is, besides is, but, you know, you said it's not cramping, not bloating. So like, what, what is it?
Is it like, again, maybe like a metaphor? And maybe it's the trunk, but maybe there's something else. I'm just curious.
It feels supportive.
Ooh, supported. Okay.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay, so that supported feeling, that confident feeling, can you imagine yourself tomorrow? Going wherever you're going, you know, the driving over, the whatever it is, right?
Going throughout what you think is going to happen tomorrow with that feeling, like you're making a little movie of yourself, even if you don't know what it's going to look like, you, you know, go to some place, your brain has some idea of what might happen. But like, how would you walk around if you're feeling supported? How would you meet new people if you're feeling supported?
Wow, I just feel like my chest went up, and I'm just not worried about what other people are thinking, or, you know, just enjoying the day.
Another thing I love to do is imagine someone that I feel like represents that. Like, it may just be my idea of, you know, what this person is, but to me, they exemplify a confident, supported person. And so how would she walk into their room?
Maybe it's even a character from a movie or a book. And then, you know, kind of how would she be thinking? How would she be meeting people?
I did this once when I first started coaching, and I was like, I actually, I had just gotten divorced, went on this first trip by myself, and I was like, I'm this million-dollar coach. How would she, you know, like go, it was this Flat Springs place. So I was like, how would she, you know, meet these new people?
And how, you know, how would she walk? How would she even dress or, you know, things like that? It's just like a method actor.
Yeah, I like that.
It's kind of a fun way to just give your brain like another version of what could happen. And then it's more likely, of course, too, because, you know, we just reacting out of fear and what we don't want. That's just a perpetual cycle.
But if we can turn to like what we do want to feel and how would that feel, what would I be thinking?
That's amazing. I feel good now, and I want to repeat this tomorrow morning before I leave.
And then that tree meditation. Gosh, it's been a while since I did it. I don't remember exactly how it was.
But, you know, it's always nice when you do it with someone and have your own version of it.
Another thing sometimes I'll do. Well, we have a little more time. If you want to do this.
This is the one I do in yoga, this visualization. So if you close your eyes and you imagine, and this is good if you're like laying on the floor. We do it during Shavasana.
You just feel you could do it in a chair, though. Feel all the points that your body is contacting a surface. And maybe you could even imagine it with the hands, too.
Roots growing down through the floor, through the basement into the center of the earth. So it's going all the way down. And you're able to, with that root system, you're able to draw up whatever energy you need, whatever creativity or other emotion you need.
You're able to take this through the roots, like a plant would, through every cell of your body. All of those billions of cells, you're just able to, like, suck up whatever they need, exactly what they need from this energy from the earth. And you're able to bring this healing from the earth, this power, this recharge, like your iPhone that's being plugged in, and you're just recharging as these roots are drying up exactly what you need.
And imagine that you're also, those roots are also able to release. So all of the roots can draw anything out that needs to be let go of, release down to the earth where it can be like fertilizer for the earth. All of our crap is actually reused by the earth for other things and growth in other areas.
So we're just able to let it go into the ground, into the earth, letting it go as you're drawing up. So it's this beautiful exchange of drawing up, letting go, this perfect knowledge of exactly how to do it, just like we don't need to think about how to heal a cut. We just let it happen as we relax.
But we can't do it as well when we're rushing all around, when we're in survival mode. But that's why laying here, sitting here, doing nothing is so important. It's like your body's doing nothing.
Maybe to the visible eye. But internally, that's when the digestion happens. That's when your digestive system actually does work and turns back on.
Because in survival mode, you don't need it when you're running from a tiger. That's extra stuff you can't deal with. So it may not look like anything's going on, but your cells are replicating, and you're basically recharging, regenerating.
So just that tree metaphor could even be extended down into the roots, and those roots. Oh, this is cool, too. When I do it in a class, I have them imagine the roots connecting.
We know that actually in forests, the trees communicate with each other through their root systems. And if one tree is struggling, the stronger trees can send it the nutrients it needs. Like, it's crazy to think, but yeah, this whole network of roots are actually interconnected and can communicate with each other.
And so then I have people imagine, you know, all the support that's there that they don't even realize that sometimes we even block because it's harder to receive. And we're just taught to give and give and give, but actually allowing that there are times in our lives when we're more receiving and there are times that we're giving, but we can't give from an empty cup, so we have to allow both. It would just be like only inhaling and never exhaling or vice versa.
You have to have both. So learning to notice that there is that support if you're willing to accept it, and being willing to receive allows other people to give. So fun stuff.
A lot of stuff you can do with that tree analogy.
Yeah, that was super good. I'm going to have to save this one for sure and re-listen over and over.
Yeah, I think that is good stuff.
What are you thinking now? What are you feeling?
I just feel great. I'm ready to go. Yeah, this is amazing.
And I love visualization. I think I've told you that before. That's my jam.
So anything that involves that is just so... I feel like it works really quickly for me, too. Versus like mindfulness or...
I like tapping, too, actually. I think that's really helpful. And affirmations.
But visualization, man, that's so good.
Yeah. And if anyone hasn't heard or forgot about, there are literally research studies showing that people visualizing doing an exercise, even though they were casted, their muscles didn't atrophy, and they even gained strength. But there's no way they moved their muscle because they were casted.
So visualization is so, so powerful. They've known it for decades. People in the 80s in the Olympics were visualizing things, I think.
Sports people know about this. Athletes, I think they're called. I'm not sports people.
Athletes know about this. You know, but it's like we're so focused on the physical, and we're like even life coaching with like, your thoughts are so impactful, like that's like revolutionary. And then to think your thoughts actually affect your body to such a degree, like that's super powerful, right?
That's amazingly powerful to just think, okay, if I stop focusing so much on what I don't want and actually give time and mental energy to what I do want, like it's worth your time for sure.
Thank you so, so much. This is fabulous. Take care.
If you've been liking this podcast and this information, but you'd like a little extra help on your healing journey, consider coaching with me. I do have group coaching through Alignment Academy and you can check the show notes for more details there. And I do have some one on one spots available as well.
If you want to dive into this work and create your fastest results. Not sure if coaching is for you. You can schedule a consult with me to discuss your specific situation.
Check the show notes for more details. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you learned a little bit about your brain today.
That helps you in your life like it helped me. Please be sure and subscribe and leave a review. And of course, be sure and share this podcast with someone you know that wants an Unstoppable Body and Mind.