Ways Anxiety Can Show Up In The Body:
Anxiety exists for a reason. Before modern day stressors, the nervous system’s job was to scan for danger and prepare the body to respond quickly. When a threat appeared, the body released energy to fight, flee, or freeze, helping humans survive real physical risks. That same response to a real or perceived threat still exists. However, most of our threats are no longer life or death. Anxiety is what happens when this protective system activates when we feel overwhelmed, unsafe, or stressed. And, anxiety is not only mental, but it is often showing up physically. Here are five ways anxiety shows up in our body:
Muscle tension
This can be in the form of tight shoulder or neck, grinding or clenching your jaw, headaches, or back and hip tightness.
Tightness in chest and unsteady breathing
This could be either shallow or quick breathing or feeling a pressuring in your chest. It could also look like you cannot catch your breath, or there is a need for frequent sighs or yawning.
Digestion issues
This can be nausea, stomach aches, bloating, loss of appetite or hunger. Often times, people who struggle with some kind of disordered eating might feel their anxiety in their stomach.
Fatigue or restlessness
You might feel totally wired and unable to sit still or you could feel exhausted and foggy. The nervous system is toggling between feeling activated and shutting down.
Sleep disturbances
It is common for anxiety to interfere with sleep. This looks like having trouble falling asleep, waking frequently during the night, racing thoughts at bedtime, and/or waking up and feeling drowsy
In therapy, we will learn to work with anxiety through both talking about and dealing with it somatically. This can happen through increasing awareness of where anxiety shows up for us, supporting nervous system regulation, building a sense of safety, and incorporating routine mindfulness practices in whatever way that feels good to you.
