3 Questions To Ask When Anxiety Shows Up
Photo by Daniil Kondrashin
There it is again. The tightness in your gut, heaviness on your chest, too quick of breaths… anxiety. Sneaking up behind you again like an unwelcome guest.
The next time you feel anxiety bubbling, ask yourself these three questions:
01 | What am I consuming and how?
Photo by Samantha Roth
From the foods we eat to the podcasts we listen to, we are constantly consuming something. What are you actually putting into your body and how is it reacting?
Heavily processed foods and sugary snacks can cause our bodies loads of inflammation that can give us brain fog, stiff joints, and headaches that can trigger anxiety. Are you rushing through meals or taking time to savor the food you’ve been given?
Thankfulness for the faces around us grows the longer we sit together and actually chew our food instead of racing off to the next activity. Try chewing each bite at least 25 times — you won’t be missing any conversation or flavor that way.
Besides the food, what we are watching or listening to can also massively influence our inner peace. Listening to negative, heated, and emotional news updates for hours on end may be causing you to focus on the worst of the world more than your mind and body need.
Take stock of what you’re letting in your mental and physical space and focus on eating whole foods that nourish your body. Partake in positive and life giving entertainment like reading living books and prioritizing time in nature to fill your cup instead of the alternatives that leave you feeling depleted, hopeless, and rushed. Slow down and let your body be nourished by what you’re putting into it.
02 | Is there margin in my life?
Photo by Samantha Roth
Leaving margin in your schedule is absolutely necessary for a less anxious life. Packing every minute of every day is exhaustive on anyone’s body, not to mention their mental health. Look over your calendar and see where you could let some things go and how you can slow down.
Take some time and pray over your usual schedule and see if there are ways to leave blank spaces for rest and down time. Overbooking and over-scheduling leave us slaves to the clock and less free to help others as things inevitably come up. Incorporate a Sabbath in your new rhythm.
Research proves how a day of rest improves our health and slows us down. Plan to use that day to worship, sleep, be with community, and nourish your soul for the week ahead.
When there is room in your schedule to breathe, you’ll see how you’re suddenly free for that spur of the moment tea with your neighbor, time to read a novel, and helping others who you may have missed if you were buzzing by with too many activities.
03 | Am I adding peace or chaos?
Photo by Samantha Roth
Every little tone, action, and response we have can either fuel chaos or it can encourage peace. Are your words rushed, thoughtless, and irritated? Or, on the contrary, are your words slow, deliberate and thoughtful?
Your soft reactions will reap a more peaceful atmosphere around you. We all need gentleness from others and from ourselves. Take a few seconds before responding to be thoughtful and gentle with those around you.
In the same way, how are your actions adding to your environment? Is your space becoming cluttered and unkempt? Do you have gobs of clothes lining your closet that you don’t even wear? Are the kid toys spilling out of their boxes and becoming impossible to wrangle?
Take some time to simplify your environment. Minimalism may sound too drastic, but adopt some of the concepts of only keeping things that bring your family delight and give yourself freedom to let some (or lots) of things go.
In short…
Anxiety has a tight grip on our culture right now. But, I can tell you first hand, that you do not have to live under its rule any longer. There is power in prayer. There is hope in Scripture. Open your hands and let the unwelcome guest of anxiety go and kick it to the curb. It’s an awful friend to have around anyways.
Life is meant to be lived — with smiles, laughter, an occasional tear or two, and alongside others. Don’t let anxiety claim what is yours. Decide today to move in the direction of letting go and walking towards freedom by slowing yourself down.
