I hate anxiety. If you’ve ever felt your heart race, your stomach flip, or your chest tighten even when nothing dangerous is happening, you’re not alone. I’ve been there too, and so have many of the people I work with. Anxiety is more than just a mental experience; it often shows up in the body in very real, very uncomfortable ways. These are known as physical anxiety symptoms.
Why Anxiety Feels Physical
Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It activates the same fight-or-flight system that helped our ancestors escape danger. But in today’s world, the “threats” are usually things we can’t outrun: deadlines, conflict, financial pressure. As a result, the adrenaline and cortisol released during stress can build up in the body, leading to physical anxiety symptoms like:
- Muscle tension
- Racing thoughts
- Insomnia
- Nausea
- Dizziness
These symptoms can feel confusing, overwhelming, or even shameful. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why can’t I just calm down?” or “Why does my body freak out over nothing?” you’re not alone in that either. I hear this all the time, and I want you to know: you’re not broken. Your nervous system is trying to protect you the best way it knows how. It just needs a little help to reset.
Tools to Soothe the Nervous System
Here are a few simple, practical tools I teach my clients, and often use myself, to help ease anxiety:
- Grounding techniques like holding an ice cube or naming five things you can see
- Breathing exercises such as box breathing or the 4-7-8 method
- Daily movement, even 10 minutes of walking, to help the body process stress
- CBT tools to gently challenge anxious thoughts and build more helpful patterns
- EMDR and tapping techniques like bilateral tapping or visualization for calming and reprocessing distress
- Identifying and naming emotions to better understand what your body is trying to communicate
Just for fun, we can combine some of the skills: - Pat, Pat to 40 Pat each knee while counting to 40 (One and, two and, three and…), take 4 deep breaths and start again. Accomplish at least 3 rounds.
- Box Breathing with eye movements: Breathe up for 4 counts, hold breath across for 4 counts, exhale down for 4 counts, hold breath back to start for 4 counts. Now add eye movements. As you breathe up, across, down and back to start, move your eyes in the box pattern.
- Stretch and yawn: Gently turn your neck from side to side causing a gentle stretch until your body takes a yawn. Really pull in that big breath, stretching out your lungs. Repeat.
You’re Not Alone
If physical anxiety symptoms are making it hard to sleep, focus, connect with others, or enjoy your life, you don’t have to manage it all on your own. I offer warm, down-to-earth telehealth sessions for adults across Idaho. You’ll get real support, real skills, and a calm space to breathe and reset.
Idaho Mental Health Resources
If you or someone you love needs support, you’re not alone. Below are trusted resources available to adults and families across Idaho—including 24/7 crisis help and statewide services.
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare: Behavioral Health Crisis Resources
NAMI Idaho: namiidaho.org
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