The Secret Message Behind Anxiety
Do you suffer from anxiety? Perhaps it is trying to tell you something.
Anxiety: Here’s the Secret Message It’s Trying To Send You
by Amy B. Scher, author of How To Heal Yourself From Anxiety When No One Else Can
I always saw anxiety as a condition that appeared out of nowhere, a force that I couldn’t control, and thought I would have to cope with it for the rest of my life. It was only through my own healing that I discovered anxiety was very different from what I believed it to be.
Anxiety does not come from out of the blue. In fact, anxiety is likely something totally different than what you’ve thought it was.
Where Anxiety Really Comes From
As an energy therapist who helps people heal from anxiety and chronic illness, I often hear from clients: “I can’t remember anything so bad in my life that I should have anxiety like this!” But the truth is that anxiety does not usually have one cause. Anxiety is not a mysterious condition that pops up suddenly when everything is going perfectly in life.
Anxiety is a side effect of a long-standing unhealthy pattern of ignoring or suppressing emotions that need to be addressed.
It has long been known that our emotions are stored in the body at a cellular level. Candace Pert, Ph.D., author of Molecules of Emotion, was the person who opened my eyes to this. Dr. Pert’s work is based on important findings of how feelings and unexpressed emotion from experiences can get stuck in the body. She explains that only when emotions are expressed can all the systems in the body be made whole—or, in other words, heal: “When emotions are repressed, denied, not allowed to be whatever they may be, our network pathways get blocked, stop- ping the flow of the vital feel-good, unifying chemicals that run both our biology and our behavior.”
Anxiety is not an evil entity trying to ruin your life or the product of an unhappy childhood; it is simply the messenger for emotions that need to be expressed in the body.
Your Body is Freaking Out From Holding So much In
Anxiety comes from your body being in freak-out mode, not because of what’s happening outside of you but because of what’s stuck inside of you. While external circumstances outside of your control certainly may trigger you, that is not the actual origin of anxiety.
The feeling of anxiety arises because your body is trying so hard to keep old emotional baggage contained, and it’s just too much for anyone to hold. Anxiety manifests when stored emotional energy is trying to bubble up and out. As I mentioned earlier, anxiety is not simply caused by fear. Anxiety can be caused by any emotional baggage that you have not dealt with. It’s not “just fear.” I’ve seen as many people with anxiety due to suppressed anger and frustration as due to fear. But I don’t want you to be scared that every time you experience stress or strong emotions, you’ll create emotional baggage that will cause a problem for you in the future.
A Technique to Release Anxiety Now
The thymus gland is the master gland of the body’s immune system and is located in the upper part of the chest, behind the breastbone. It sits right over the heart. The thymus is responsible for making T-cells, which are vital to the healthy functioning of the immune system, providing protection against allergies, autoimmune diseases, and immunodeficiency. The thymus gland is connected to the entire energy system and is so powerful that it can work as a stress modulator when stimulated.
A lot of people are naturally drawn to the thymus area when they are feeling anxious and don’t even realize that their body is trying to help them tend to this special gland. Do you ever “flutter” your chest with your hands when you’re upset? Think of how gorillas in the wild thump their chests if they perceive danger. In both these cases, it’s a natural tendency to strengthen and balance our energy when we need it most. See, you’re already doing this by accident! Now we’re going to help you do it on purpose, too.
How to Tap the Thymus: Tapping the thymus gland using your fingertips is a powerful calming, strengthening, and balancing technique. I use it many times throughout the day, and it’s especially good for when you’re feeling anxious. Simply tap with medium pressure on your chest about an inch below where the knot of a tie would be on your neck. Breathe deeply. Focus on how you are feeling and imagine gently tapping those old emotions right out of your body. Tapping the thymus is both stimulating to the immune system and calming to the body at the same time.
Now that you know that anxiety is your messenger for old emotions that want to be expressed, you can take the next step of going back to heal the old baggage you’ve been so courageously carrying for so long. Healing from anxiety is possible; you’re worth it.
You will also enjoy How to Heal Yourself from Anxiety When No One Else Can and 10 Health Resolutions for 2019
About the Author
AMY B. SCHER (New York, NY) is the author of the bestselling How to Heal Yourself From Anxiety When No One Else Can (Llewellyn) and This Is How I Save My Life (Gallery Books). Scher was named one of The Advocate’s “40 Under 40” and has been featured on CNN, CBS, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, and numerous media outlets in print, broadcast, and online. Her books have been endorsed by Elizabeth Gilbert, Pam Grout, and Bernie Siegel, MD. Visit her at www.AmyBScher.com
