Somatic Resources for Anxiety

Anxiety is a part of the human experience and as unpleasant as feeling anxious can be, it is ultimately there to keep us safe and help us survive.

If I am alone and walking down a dark street at night, it is actually very adaptive to be experiencing a certain level of anxiety. I will likely be hyper-vigilant and scan my surroundings for any sign of danger, my heart may be beating at a more rapid rate, and my mind is likely racing with thoughts and fears of worst-case scenarios. Obviously this isn’t a pleasurable experience, but my anxiety is serving a purpose here to increase my chances of making it safely home.

For the scenario detailed above, anxiety serves a purpose and feels appropriate given the context of the present moment situation. The issue is when anxiety and survival mode gets “stuck on” in situations where your survival isn’t actually at risk.

“Resources are anything that enhances the quality of our lives and relieves us from difficult circumstances”, Pat Ogden. There are ma…