Storm Of Anxiety – Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

Sometimes anxiety can seem to come crashing in upon you like a storm. One moment you may feel calm and ok. And then in no time at all, the wave after wave of anxiety comes crashing in upon you and you find yourself struggling with all those anxious thoughts and feelings that bombard you. In the midst of the anxiety storm it can seem hard to remain grounded and present and to stay strong and resilient enough not to get carried along by the forceful tide of your anxiety.

Anxious thoughts and feelings can come at you seemingly out of nowhere. Sometimes it builds up slowly and at other times it falls upon you fast. And when the anxiety takes over, the thoughts and feelings are like an emotional storm that you try your best to just battle through until it passes. Anxiety can seem very powerful and it’s easy to get caught up and carried along in the swirl, waves and force of the storm. You can feel overwhelmed and start to engage in worst case and catastrophic thinking that only serves to amplify your uncomfortable feelings.

Anxiety storms can vary in their severity and duration. Sometimes things pass on quickly and at other times it seems like the storm is never ending and that you will never feel better. The process I’m sharing with you here today (and I’ll have a hypnosis download version for you soon too) is designed to help you to stay present and grounded when the anxiety storm falls upon you. It sits nicely alongside many of the other cognitive behavioural strategies for anxiety that I’ve covered in these articles on my website.

This storm of anxiety process is designed to help you to stay present and grounded as you handle whatever challenges may come your way. You imagine being out on sea on a boat in the calm waters before a storm falls upon you. You drop your anchor to hold you steady. And then, like you are also anchored in to the present moment, you find that rather than getting swept away by anxious thoughts and feelings you can think clearly, handle things well and come out the other side even more resilient.

Navigating the Storm of Anxiety

I’ve just recorded a new hypnosis download to help you with successfully navigating the storm of anxiety. This will soon be available over in my shop so do grab yourself a copy.

Until then, here’s a neat process to help you to manage these emotional storms, those times where thoughts and feelings just seem to come right at you in a way that can be uncomfortable and unsettling. Instead of that, you can learn to stay strong and resilient rather than getting swept away by those unwanted thoughts and feelings. You can start to manage any difficult thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensations more effectively. You can learn to manage those difficult anxious thoughts, feelings and sensations as you drop anchor and hold firm.

Just follow these steps:

1. Ensuring you are sitting somewhere quiet, take a deep breath and close your eyes. If you know self-hypnosis, meditation or mindfulness techniques you could incorporate some of these here. Start to extend your out breath and say the word ‘relax’ to yourself on every breath out. You could tense and relax each part of your body or tell yourself that each part of your body is relaxing. You could imagine a calm colour or sensation spreading through you or you can imagine filling your mind with a relaxing sound. You could engage your imagination and imagine being in a remembered or created place of calmness, seeing the sights and hearing the sounds as if you were in that place for a moment. Or you can draw upon and utilise any other ways that allow you to feel comfortable, calm and relaxed. Your aim here is just to feel as safe, calm, focused and comfortable as you can right now.

2. Start to become aware of your entire body as one, from the top of your head down through your body and into the tips of your toes. Just aim to be aware of your entire body as one right now. You don’t need to try to change anything and you don’t need to try and stop anything from changing. Just notice what you notice, feel what you feel in your body and be aware of your entire body as one, with a sense of comfort and contentment.

3. Now, move your awareness to your breathing. Notice the sensations of your breathing. The rise and fall of every breath that happens so automatically. The feeling of your chest expanding, and then relaxing. Notice the sensations anywhere and everywhere caused by your breathing. Just tune in and watch your body breathing. If your mind wanders at any point you can gently bring your awareness back to your breathing.

Tune in and notice the sensations of your breathing as you let your body do the breathing, almost as if you were watching someone else breathing, or a little bird in a tree breathing or like you are watching a perfectly working machine. Imagine that you are breathing in calmness and becoming more calm, balanced and at ease as you breathe out.

4. Now, start to become more comfortably absorbed in the sensations of your body. Become aware aware of the sensations in your arms, in your chest, in your stomach and legs and then into each and every part of your body. You can notice whether each part of your body feels warm or cold or somewhere in between, whether you feel lightness or heaviness or something in between and just be content to notice what you notice as you let your awareness go deeper into your body. And throughout you can bring your awareness back to your breathing, the rise and fall of every breath that happens so automatically.

5. And so feeling calm, relaxed,safe and comfortable, start to imagine now that you are on a boat out at sea. Imagine being there now, seeing what you see, hearing what you hear and being aware of the things around you. There is a beautiful clear blue sky, the waters are so clear and blue, there is a lovely soft breeze and the sun is shining down upon you. You can notice the gentle ripples of the waves as you relax here in your boat, gently swaying upon the calm sea. You can be aware of all the sights, sounds and sensations here on your boat out at sea. Really take a few moments to imagine and develop a sense of being so calm and peaceful here right now.

6. Then, as you are relaxing on your boat, you start to notice that the sky and the sea around you are beginning to change. The sky is starting to darken, the wind begins to pick up strength and the waves of the sea are becoming more lively against your boat. You recognise that a storm is coming upon you. The sky continues to darken and the wind begins to push upon you. The waves are picking up and are now rocking you in your boat more. You stay calm, confident and in control as the storm gathers momentum. You decide to calmly drop anchor at this time. And as you drop your anchor, you notice a powerful sense of strength, resilience and robustness spreading within you. It’s like dropping anchor increases your belief in your own ability to handle, deal and cope with whatever the storm is about to throw your way.

7. And so the storm gathers pace now. The sky is dark, the wind is pressing and the waves are rising against you in your boat. Spend a few moments here noticing the storm and it’s force. Yet even as the storm rises, grows and falls upon you, you remain safe, strong and resilient, anchored in place. You continue to stay present and to think clearly. So that even when it seems you must be thrown off your feet from the force of the waves and the wind, you hold steady, you stay firm, strong and present.  You keep your mindset of strength and robustness no matter what is getting thrown at you.

Really notice and be aware that you could engage in anxious, negative thoughts and feelings and start thinking the worst that could happen here, but instead of that you decide to sty anchored and present in the face of these challenges. You stay present and grounded no matter what the storm throws at you.

8. And then finally, you notice a change taking place around you now. The sky grows lighter, the wind eases and the waves drop. The storm is now passing. The sky returns to blue, the wind is once again a soft, gentle breeze and the waters return to calmness. Remind yourself how you dealt with things well. You stayed present, resilient and grounded throughout. Once again feeling calm and now feeling equipped to handle any future challenges that may come your way. Having come through the storm and knowing now that you can handle any future storms with a sense of mental calmness and control, staying anchored and grounded and handling things well.

9. Then, when you have done this, and being ready to bring this process to an end, count yourself up from one up to five and at five open your eyes and reorient yourself into your present surroundings.

I really like the metaphor of being at sea and dropping anchor. It’s a positive reminder of your own capability and resilience to handle those unwanted anxious thoughts and feelings and to come out the other side of the storm feeling stronger in the renewed calm. Do enjoy this and I wish you every success with it.

To your health and happiness, 

Dan Regan

Award Winning Hypnotherapy for Anxiety Ely & Newmarket

Struggling with anxiety, stress, worry and fear and need some help? Find out how I can help with a Complimentary Hypnotherapy Strategy Session. Learn more here: Appointments

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And check out these powerful hypnosis downloads that can start helping you right away to tackle anxiety, boost confidence and more: Hypnosis Downloads