Stop Fighting Your Chronic Anxiety if You Truly Want to Heal

Living with anxiety can be challenging. You’re constantly walking on a tightrope, and anything, big or small, seems to have the power to walk all over you and take control. But some methods and techniques can help

It’s late at night, and your eyes are wide open, staring at the ceiling. Through the holes of the roller shutter, you can see the weak light of the moon and the subtle light of the street lamps. Sometimes, the sound of a car passing by breaks the silence. But truly, each little noise feels so annoying at this time of the night. Once again, the never-ending train of thoughts doesn’t let you sleep. It’s like your mind always has a plan of its own. Which, currently, doesn’t include falling asleep. You think back about work, about what went wrong and what might have got you in a bad light today. Then you worry about tomorrow, as you know, something will happen that won’t be delightful. There is never enough time to do everything you should… You’re skipping the gym, and you feel like you should care more about your habits. “Wait, what time is it? Ugh, I will be so tired tomorrow!”

Feeling anxious occasionally is normal and something everyone experiences. But when anxiety becomes a daily companion, it starts to interfere with daily activities, work, and health routines. Once it takes up too much space in your head, your body likely switches to fight-or-flight… But then it never finds its way back to turning it off.

What is chronic anxiety, and how does the body respond

You might think symptoms such as depression or anxiety are just about the mind. In truth, these feelings can be way bigger than other emotions and can interfere with the body’s natural homeostasis, as well as the optimal functions of each system.

When anxiety comes and goes, it’s acceptable. Everyone has experienced anxiety at one point or another before a job interview or a date with someone special. The heart rate increases, digestion slows down, appetite disappears, and you might have a knot in the stomach or notice a headache. Generally, once the stressful event has passed, a satisfying sensation of relief takes over, and you experience some kind of adrenaline rush or just pleasurable sensations of lightness. 

However, for some people, anxiety seems way bigger than they are. It starts leaking into your life more and more often until you can no longer do anything without having anxious thoughts or overthinking. Again, the mind might be the first one to notice, but the body is fully involved, too.

Often, with chronic anxiety, you also have trouble concentrating. Anxious thoughts are constantly taking over. You no longer try to avoid all the what-ifs because they just open the doors wide to your head and don’t ever leave until you feel drained and mentally exhausted. At this point, it’s no longer just about occasional headaches or fatigue. You start feeling irritable most of the time, and you lose interest in social interactions. Breathing becomes shallow, and although you don’t see it, blood pressure increases. In other words, the body is going into energy-saving mode. At this point, anxiety has officially taken control of the entire system, and the body genuinely believes some terrible danger out there must be coming. Once again, the body is trying to protect you, and it’s putting all the “secondary bodily functions” on the back burner to be ready to fight or flight.

Your central nervous system and anxiety

When I say that dropping the battle is the only way to healing, I mean that unless you understand why your body does what it does, you cannot have it on your side. If you’re suffering from chronic anxiety, you must keep in mind that your body is always doing its best to keep you safe. Chronic anxiety can come as a reaction to a perceived threat, but that’s good news. Another good news is that you can help your body and your brain to understand that you’re actually safe, you are not in danger, and there’s been simply a misunderstanding.

After all, the brain is an incredible machine. It works by trying to create neural patterns that are the most efficient. But sometimes, it doesn’t really understand whether what it has created is working for a good cause or not. Or if an efficient habit that served an essential purpose at a certain time might not be of much use or even turn out to be harmful in the new circumstances. Neuroplastic pain is one example. Some people experience chronic pain, not due to a physical injury but because of neural patterns that are communicating the wrong kind of message to the brain. The brain believes some injury is still there, so it keeps screaming, “Hey, watch out, we might be in serious danger! Please, notice!” 

Similarly, anxiety keeps coming back.

If you still haven’t, take some time to close your eyes and be present with your body. How do you feel? How quick is your breath? Can you let it be as it is and observe it without an immediate need to change it? Is anything changing on its own just from your paying attention to it? Now take a deep breath in and breathe out slowly through your mouth once or twice… Listen to how your heart rate and the sensations in your chest evolve.

Your body is your friend, not your enemy. It’s important to let go of ways of talking to it as if it wanted to betray you and embrace ways of communicating with it that convey love, trust, and gratitude. “Even though I went through a lot, I know my body is doing its best to protect me.” “This has been a challenging year, but I am here now because I care about my body and my well-being.” “I know I haven’t taken good care of my body. However, I am ready to learn and explore ways to get better at it.”

What else can you tell your body to connect back to it with love and kindness?

How Feldenkrais can help with anxiety

Although it’s easy to think anxiety is all in your head and that the solution must be in your head, most of the time, people feel like they are going around in circles when trying to find the root cause just by thinking. This is the reason why the Feldenkrais method is so helpful and effective for stress and anxiety.

As I wrote in a previous article, the mind-body connection functions in both directions. The mind influences the body, but the body also influences the mind. If you practice gratitude meditation, your body will likely respond by opening up to the world and relieving some tension. Similarly, when you attend an Awareness Through Movement class or experience a one-to-one Feldenkrais practice, the gentle movements and the directed awareness help your mind slow down and let go of tension. 

They help you calm down, reset your nervous system, and find an emotionally neutral state of being. This is a place where you feel safe and comfortable, maybe even curious about all these new sensations you’ve just discovered in yourself. You can be fully present in this very moment, where past and future worries have no place to be.

During this practice, some people realise they haven’t slowed down in weeks and months. Others feel like they’re connecting with their physical selves for the first time. In daily life, we’re rarely encouraged to direct our attention to different body parts and intentionally choose how to move our bodies. We just… Move. But we do it without knowing exactly how or with no conscious thought linking the mind with the body. We don’t think about or notice our posture. We don’t note the shoulders that lift, the clenched neck muscles, or the tension in the jaw that has been building up for a while now.

Feldenkrais lessons can make you feel safe and grounded like you haven’t been in a while. Through slow, mindful movements, the mind can realise that the present moment is rich and welcoming, nothing dangerous is about to happen, and all that tension that has accumulated can be let go because it is no longer needed. This is often a significant first step towards regaining control over one’s nervous system.

Chronic anxiety and your lifestyle

Of course, loving the body is not just about movement. Although Feldenkrais practice might be one of the best ways to start your journey toward healing, other habits influence your body and mind, too.

For example, connecting with nature is such a simple yet powerful way to allow the parasympathetic system to turn on and lower stress levels. In fact, there’s a term for this effect nature has on the body called “forest bathing.” Numerous studies have proven we should spend more time in direct contact with parks, natural trails, forests, and woods because it naturally balances our nervous system, recalibrating it and lowering stress levels, inflammation markers, and all their harmful effects. 

Another thing you should consider about your lifestyle habits is nutrition. You cannot take care of your temple unless you care for it from the outside as much as on the inside. Therefore, whole foods and fresh foods should be your priority if you wish to reduce the effect of anxiety on your system. At the same time, you can experiment with lowering the consumption of caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. It’s known that these substances stimulate the brain and the mind in different ways, and some people are more susceptible than others. 

Personally, I find coffee to be way too strong a stimulant, so I would only have it once or twice a week when I really need to pump my energy up for an important social commitment later that night or something similar. Even then, in most cases, I would go for matcha, black, or green tea, which are high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances and that I also enjoy more taste-wise. 

As for sugar, I try to keep the amount of processed foods low in my diet, choosing fresh fruit, whole carbs, and sweet potatoes instead (especially during the luteal phase of the cycle, when the cravings start to take over). 

I don’t believe you should aim to change your entire lifestyle in a week. But keep in mind one thing at a time, sometimes, is enough to witness incredible shifts in our health and well-being. It’s really about experimenting and exploring what works best for you.

Your invitation to address anxiety and its roots

Although stress and anxiety cannot always be avoided, we can learn to recognise when they are going overboard and bring the body and mind back to a state of balance. My suggestion is that you begin with a simple, structured practice that can guide you toward a calmer mind and freedom from your old patterns of stress and anxiety through the body itself.

To help people who live far from my studio in Luxembourg, I have developed a 7-week online program that can be followed at your own pace. You can find all the details here, and you can also try the first lesson for free from the same page to decide if this is something that feels good for you.

The goal of this course is to slowly guide you in releasing all the tension accumulated in the body, letting go of anxious thoughts by resetting your nervous system and rewiring your brain to experience reality from a calmer state and attitude.

All you need is a quiet space, such as your room or living room, a yoga mat, comfortable clothing, a towel, and your laptop. Then, one video at a time, you can let me guide you through gentle movements and let the rest of the magic happen.

At MindfulBody, our goal is to help you unlearn your pain, reconnect with your body, and discover - or rediscover - the freedom of pain-free movement. We do this by combining mind-body re-education, somatic bodywork - like the Feldenkrais Method - and a range of pain therapy techniques, including PRT and EAET.

For chronic anxiety, various paths are available and can be combined according to individual needs. If you live in Luxembourg, then group Feldenkrais classes, dedicated workshops, or coming for a personalised one-to-one session might be a great place to start.

You can find all the details on my website, or you can simply reach out for any questions or specific inquiries at iryna@mindfulbody.lu