Anxiety Series Day 1

This is day one of a 14-day series on diffusing anxiety. Anxiety is a normal emotion that ranges from slight nervousness to full-blown panic attacks. It is triggered by the amygdala, a part of the brain that reacts quickly without rational thinking. Modern stressors can trigger the amygdala even though they are not life-threatening. To take control, acknowledge and name the fear, and use the "stop practice" - Stop, take a breath, observe, and proceed. This is the first step in mastering anxiety. Tomorrow we will explore the fight or flight response. Stay strong. Welcome to METTLE, this is day one of our 14 day diffusing anxiety series. I'm Chibzo Kereke and I'm here to help you confront and conquer this tricky emotion. Now let's meet our opponent, anxiety. Have you ever felt that sudden rush of uneasiness and fear that takes you by surprise? Or maybe it's a prolonged state of tension and worry? Have you ever wondered what's going on? Anxiety, it's a word we hear often but what is it really? It's just an emotion, like joy, sadness or anger. It's completely normal, not some weird or rare terminal illness. You could even call it what it is, fear. And this fear runs on a spectrum that ranges from slightly nervous on one end to full blown panic attack at the other. The trick is to recognise that it's just fear, nothing more, nothing less. And like any fear, it's something we can face and overcome. Now let's dig into the science for a few seconds. I'm not going to get too deep but it's important to know. This fear, this anxiety is sparked off by something called the amygdala. The amygdala is a tiny almond shaped part of the brain tucked away in the brain stem in your survival command centre. The amygdala is separate from the prefrontal cortex which is the part of your brain that does all the rational, logical, reasonable thinking. Why? Because back when we were cavemen we didn't have time to ponder whether that rustling in the bushes was just the wind or a big scary sabre-toothed tiger. So the amygdala, our bodyguard, kicks into gear without us having to pause and think about it. Pretty cool right? But here's the snag. Our modern day stressors aren't exactly the same as a sabre-toothed tiger. Deadlines, emails, work stress, girl stress. These might feel like wild animals sometimes but they're not. And even though our rational mind knows they're not life-threatening unfortunately the caveman part of our brain doesn't always get the memo. As a result all of these harmless situations can trigger the amygdala and our fight or flight response turning your average Tuesday afternoon into an unnecessary battlefield. And because our rational brain doesn't see a threat anywhere we instead focus on this sudden feeling of fear. So next time you're feeling that adrenaline rush, that fear remember it's just your inner caveman trying to protect you. Acknowledge it, name it for what it is, stop letting it freak you out and let's start the process of taking back control. For today's practical tool I want you to try something. When you feel anxiety creeping in I want you to stop and close your eyes. If you're driving or in the middle of a meeting probably keep your eyes open. Then I want you to take a few deep breaths. Observe what's going on in your body. Are there any false saber-toothed tigers in your life right now? How is that caveman trying to get you ready for battle? Notice where in the body you feel these sensations. They might show up in several ways. Maybe a tightness in your chest, butterflies in your stomach perhaps sweaty palms. Accept these feelings as harmless and proceed with whatever it was that you were doing. As you stop fighting these temporary sensations they're going to go away on their own. Now what I've just done is taken you through what we call the stop practice. It's easy to remember. S T O P Stop, take a breath, observe and proceed. Stopping the cycle and acknowledging it is the first step to mastering it. All right that's all for today. You've just made your first step on the journey to understanding and conquering anxiety. Tomorrow we'll be diving deeper into that primal fight or flight response. Till then stay strong, stay metal.