Your body already knows how to relax. 

That might sound very surprising or hard to believe.  Many of our new clients say that they have been ‘anxious person for as long as they can remember.  Some tell us that they can’t think of the last time they felt calm. Most think that they are condemned to feel like this forever. The good news is that anxiety is very treatable.  There is nothing wrong with you.  You just need to learn how to remind your body to relax.

Imagine you are driving on the freeway.  Another car drifts into your lane.  Your body immediately enters a state of tense alertness so that you can respond quickly and stay safe.  Once the danger has passed, your body shifts into a state of calm relaxation and you go on with your day.

Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work anyway.  If you have anxiety, that feeling of tense alertness might be present all day, every day.  Or small events like a car coming into your lane might trigger overwhelming anxiety that lasts for hours or days. Unfortunately, if you have anxiety you can’t rely on your body to relax automatically.

Relaxation is a skill.  Just like driving, baseball, sewing, cooking, gaming, dancing, and any other skill you might have already learned.  It takes dedication and time to learn how to relax, but if you practice with the right tools you will feel better.  And it won’t take nearly as long as learning to be a great cook. The most common anxiety symptoms that my clients’ report are: