Anxiety can come out of nowhere. It can most definitely be sudden. It can most definitely catch you off guard. It may be that you were not aware of your always present lower levels of anxiety. Or it may be that you have been actively scanning your environment for threat and your focus has been on keeping you safe. Rather than noticing how much your heart rate has increased. Or how much you are sweating. Or how you can’t stop overthinking no matter how hard you try.
Anxiety is at its core, an activated flight or fight response. So can we suddenly develop an activated flight or fight response. Yes we can! Our amygdala, which is an almond shaped part of the brain, is always on the lookout for danger and tries to keep us safe. Just because we feel anxiety or threat, doesn’t mean we are actually in danger though. It could just be an overactive amygdala being a bit overprotective. So how do you tell it to calm the heck down?
If you are suddenly feeling overly anxious, then that means your sympathetic nervous system is active. And to calm down, we need to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Your parasympathetic nervous system is also known as the “rest and digest” nervous system. Helping your body get into this state requires some basic breathing. But not just any breathing.
In order to feel calm, you need to breathe out for longer than you breathe in. This is the trick! Try breathing in for a count of 4, holding for a count of 5, and breathing out for a count of 6. Remember, this is going to be really hard when you start. Because you have a higher breath rate when you are stressed. So stick with it! The more you can get into a habit of doing this when you are calm, the easier it will be to do when you are feeling anxious and overwhelmed.
