How to Stop Feeling Anxious?

That tension in your chest, the tight shoulders, the endless mental chatter, they all seem to say: Something is wrong with me. But actually, your body is trying to tell you something essential and with positive intention.

Why trying to stop anxiety keeps you stuck?

When you fight anxiety, when you tell yourself you mustn’t feel it, you enter a self‑sustaining anxiety cycle. You scan for symptoms and evidence of anxiety and of course you find them because you are looking for them (Is my chest tight?, can I breathe fully?).

You judge and perceive this as dangerous, tense up more, and the anxiety intensifies, you then notice more symptoms and evidence of further anxiety and that loop just feeds itself. 

Trying to squash anxiety actually reinforces it: you become hyper‑aware of every flutter of heart, breath, or muscle tension, interpreting them as threats. 

Swap fight for invitation: listen to your body with curiosity

Instead of trying to silence anxiety, shift the question: What is it here to tell me?

Your body is constantly communicating through your heartbeat, your breath, your muscle tension. This is called interoception, its your awareness of your internal state. When you can tune into these signals in a balanced way, you open the door to more emotional clarity and self‑trust.

But here’s the nuance, if you’re living with anxiety, your nervous system may be primed to interpret every signal as a threat. A racing heart might feel like danger, when in fact it’s just your body’s normal stress response. The work isn’t to hyper‑focus on every sensation, but to build a steady, compassionate awareness that helps you discern what’s truly happening.

Balance, not over‑monitoring, is what creates control, calm and mastery for you.

What anxiety might really be saying

• You’re carrying too much. Your nervous system is signalling that you’ve been in “go” mode for too long without enough pause.

• You’re bracing for the unknown. Your mind is scanning ahead, rehearsing every “what if” to try to keep you safe.

• You need to feel safe again. Your body is preparing you to act or protect yourself but it’s become a constant background hum instead of a momentary alert.

When you see anxiety as communication with positive intentions, you can respond with curiosity rather than fear.

When you see anxiety as communication with positive intentions, you start to create space between the feeling and your response.

Here’s how that can sound in daily life:

• Before a presentation: Instead of: “Oh no, my heart is racing, this means I can’t handle this.”

  You might say: “My body is giving me energy to perform. This is adrenaline preparing me. I can work with this.”

• When overthinking at night: Instead of: “Why can’t I just stop these thoughts?”

  You might say: “My mind is trying to protect me from missing something important. Thank you, but I can set this down until morning.”

• When your chest feels tight in a meeting: Instead of saying: “Something’s wrong with me, what if I can’t hold it together?”

  You might say: “This is my body asking for a pause. A few slow breaths will help me respond clearly.”

• When you feel restless on a Sunday night: Instead of: “I hate that I can’t relax before work.”You might say: “My system is anticipating what’s ahead. I can thank it, and choose something grounding to signal safety.”

Responding this way doesn’t mean ignoring anxiety, it means meeting it with emotional mastery, curiosity, and self‑trust.

Language Shift: From Fear to Curiosity

When anxiety shows up, the words you use internally or out loud, can either escalate the fear or create calm. Here’s what it looks like to shift from a fear‑based reaction to a curiosity‑based response:

Fear‑Based Response	Curiosity‑Based Response
“Why is this happening? Something must be wrong with me.”	“My body is sending me a message. What might it be asking for right now?”
“I can’t cope with this.”	“This is uncomfortable, but I’ve handled discomfort before. What would help me feel more supported?”
“My heart is racing, what if I lose control?”	“My heart is pumping faster. This is my body mobilising energy. Can I channel it into focus?”
“I hate feeling anxious. I need to make it stop.”	“Anxiety is here. I can sit with it for a moment and see what it’s trying to tell me.”
“If I don’t calm down, everything will fall apart.”	“I can take one slow breath. I can respond step by step.”

These shifts don’t erase anxiety overnight, but they absolutely rewire your relationship with anxiety and that in itself reduces the intensity and duration of anxiety and over time, this approach builds trust in yourself, safety in your body, emotional mastery and calm.

Mindset shift

• Anxiety isn’t your enemy, it's deeply human.

• When you stop fighting your body’s signals, you get to reclaim your power.

• Understanding anxiety, what it is communicating and more importantly what you need is when you get that sense of control that you are craving right now.

  
  

This is the Freedom Formula™ in action: Freedom From the Root: you’re not just easing symptoms, you’re resolving what drives them. Sustainable Calm: your nervous system finds its natural balance, without constant effort.

Emotional Mastery: you feel steady, clear, and in charge of your internal world.

The Freedom Formula™: clinical insight + nervous system alignment + subconscious reframe.

Well—at least a small taste of it.

If you’re ready to step out of the anxiety cycle for good and create lasting emotional freedom, this is where the real work begins.

Book your Connection Call today. It’s time to feel calm in your body, clear in your mind, and free to live without anxiety running the show.

With so much love,

Emma.