As a psychotherapist, I’d never try to breathe or meditate through anxiety. Here’s what I do instead. When you feel anxious, one of the worst things you can do is force yourself to sit still and clear your mind.
Or tell yourself you just need to calm down with gentle breathing.Because anxiety is energy, a surge in your nervous system that needs somewhere to go.
It’s like having one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake. Your whole body is flooded with activation, but there’s no release.
The result?
You feel stuck. Restless. Overwhelmed.
The solution isn’t suppression. It’s completion.
So, how do we do that?
We want to use up-regulating practices that channel the excess energy in your nervous system and give it a way to release.
Things like shaking, dancing, humming, or going for a run.
Think of it as your body’s pressure valve And once that charge has been released?
That’s when down-regulating practices, practices like slow breathing, meditation, gentle stretching, become effective.
They soothe your system into rest, rather than forcing calm onto a body that’s still buzzing.
The key is discernment: knowing which state you’re in, and responding accordingly.
Because anxiety isn’t just a mind problem. It’s a body experience.
And when you give that energy an outlet, up or down, you guide your nervous system back into balance.
