The Easiest Way To Change Anxiety

This is what I wish I knew 15 years ago when I was struggling with anxiety.

When I was still a teenager, I went on a mission to understand myself, my mind and the anxiety I was experiencing.

Now I can explain it so easily that anyone can understand what’s going on with anxiety.

For the next 10 minutes I’m going to ask you to put all of your previously held ideas aside and listen to what I have to say.

You might think you know some things and maybe you do but if you’re struggling with anxiety still then you obviously don’t know everything.

I don’t struggle with anxiety anymore.

I have also helped 100’s of others overcome their anxiety.

So listen to what I say from a place of neutrality and I promise I’ll deliver for you.

You’ve probably heard all of it before…

• Anxiety
• Mental Health
• Medication
• Family Genetics
• Nervous System Regulation
• Mind-Body Connection
• Somatic Therapy
• Thoughts
• Emotions
• Trauma
• Counselling
• Coaching
• Mindset

If you struggle with anxiety then you’re a deep thinker who overanalyses everything.

Put all of your buzz words down and check this out.

Anxiety & Fear

The first thing you need to understand is that anxiety is fear-based and a natural survival response to have when you perceive danger.

To put it more simply, anxiety is normal and it happens when you sense some kind of danger.

Here’s what happens when you have thoughts that are fear-based.

Your thoughts send electrochemical signals from your brain to your body through your nervous system.

If you think thoughts that are negative, worried or fearful, you create signals that activate the stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline in the body.

When these stress hormones are activated, you go into fight or flight mode.

This is when you start to feel panic and anxiety.

If you’ve been struggling with stress and anxiety for a while (months or years), this can really damage your system.

Trauma

Trauma is like carrying around a bag of rocks.

If you hold onto it, you're going to get tired and it's going to get heavy.

You can hold onto trauma mentally or physically.

You can release trauma mentally and physically.

It all starts with the story you tell yourself about your trauma.

There's plenty of people who have overcome seriously traumatic events and they usually do it through a process of forgiveness and acceptance.

This is worth mentioning before we get into the next point.

Homeostasis

Homeostasis is a natural process where your body has the ability to maintain balance and stability. 

It's your body's ability to regulate things like temperature, heart rate, and hormones so everything stays in a healthy range.

If you’ve been living in a survival state of constant stress, anxiety and negative thoughts, you’re going to find it harder to maintain homeostasis.

This is why you can get all these heightened physical symptoms.

To regulate your nervous system basically means to come back to homeostasis... to come back to balance. 

Your nervous system is actually trying to bring you back to balance at all times even if you feel like it’s working against you, it’s not… you need to learn to work with it.

Subconscious Beliefs

The reason you’re not in homeostasis and you’re feeling like your nervous system is dysregulated is because you’re operating from outdated mental programming.

This can be the "trauma" that you experienced earlier in your life.

Beliefs like “I’m not good enough” or “there’s something wrong with me” or “I’m worthless” will keep you in this state of mind where you’re constantly perceiving danger.

Think about it, if you’re not good enough, what happens? Failure. What does that mean? Danger. You get left out or left behind.

You’re alone in the world. That's scary.

You can see how the loop of anxiety continues...

You may not be CONSCIOUSLY thinking this, but subconsciously, these are the kinds of beliefs and stories people with anxiety are usually operating on beneath the surface.

Remember, your brain sends signals to the body through your thoughts which create your feelings.

Your subconscious beliefs are just deeply engrained thoughts.

Top-Down Approach

A lot of people talk about “regulating the nervous system” and “somatic release” and don’t get me wrong, those things are important parts of the process and they will give you a sense of temporary relief.

However they won’t work long term if the mental narrative doesn’t change as well. 

You need to shift your thinking from thoughts that create a sense of danger to thoughts that create a sense of safety.

When you get control of your thinking, you get control of your ability to control the way you’re experiencing your life because you can start to choose your perspective.

For example, experiences that used to create the feeling of anxiety, can be turned into experiences that create a feeling of calm. 

Again, this is possible when  you change the thought process which changes the signals sent to the body which changes the experience in the body and the feelings you feel.

You can do this through a practice of self reflection and self awareness.

How I Did It

I did this when I learned to meditate. 

I used to go to the beach and sit down in silent meditation for 10-minutes daily.

At first, I was scared of the world. 

I had my eyes closed and I would think, "what if someone attacks me" or "what if a snake comes out of the bushes and gets me".

I would feel this intense fear that would make me want to open my eyes but I forced myself to stay with my eyes closed until the 10-minute timer went off.

Overtime, I learned to trust the world.

I learned to feel safe in the world.

There's no secret sauce here.

It was just practice.

Practice

This is the easiest way to change anxiety but I have to be honest with you, in the beginning, it might not feel easy.

When you put this into practice, you’re rewiring your internal systems.

You’re programming in new neural pathways.

You’re training your nervous system to find balance.

It’s like going to the gym to get a six pack. 

It doesn’t happen overnight.

It happens through consistency and commitment.

You have to back yourself and do the work.

Mind Launch Method

I’ve helped 300+ business professionals find freedom from anxiety over the last few years and I’ve personally done it myself.

I use a 3-step system called the Mind Launch Method.

Step 1. Regulate - Reduce stress and anxiety quickly.

Step 2. Reprogram - Rewire the neural pathways and change your beliefs.

Step 3. Reset - Experience a complete mind, body and spirit reset to find inner peace.

This can be done in 3-months if you’re ready to put in the work.

If you want to learn more about how this method works, check out the short explainer video here.

You got this.

With Optimism,

Josh