Health Anxiety - Breaking the Cycle

Here we look at how Health Anxiety affects you: How do you know that you are suffering from this kind of anxiety? What goes through your head? What actions do you take? How do you feel? How does this affect your life?

This kind of anxiety usually follows a process from 'trigger' to 'paralysis' (total shut down) caused by fear. Here we look at each step to understand it better and to identify at which points it would be possible to change the course of the process. It is important to be concious of this in order to stop following the same patterns of anxiety.

What triggers health anxiety? In this practical exercise we will look at what stimulates anxiety and what calms us, in order that we can see more clearly how to avoid anxiety and cultivate calm in our daily lives.

Here we learn how to see our thoughts with clarity. What is real? What is an actual physical symptom that may need my attention and what is caused by the anxiety? It is important to make the distinction between being responsible/wise about health and being obsessive about health.

Our anxiety is a symptom of our thoughts. Here we can start to differentiate between which thoughts are serving us well and which are not. We can start to make choices about which thoughts to encourage and which to disengage with.

Most of the things we worry about never happen and so it would be wise to only worry if there is actually something to worry about! Here we use the exercise 'Is the tiger in the room?' to discover if our worries are real or simply existing in our heads. This is a powerful tool that can be used anytime, anyplace for letting go of fear.

A printable summary of this section with space to add your own notes to remember

The fear of health anxiety is usually based upon the ultimate fear of death (the fear of losing our life). But aren't we actually wasting our precious life by living day to day with the paralysis of fear and anxiety? Isn't living every day in this paralysed state actually worse than the thing we are anxious about? If we were ever to get really ill, would we want to look back at our life and say 'I lived every day of my life in fear' or 'I lived every day of my life to the fullest!'?

Are we letting the life we have slip by while we worry about losing it!

This is a KEY lecture! Our need for certainty and control is what keeps us in the anxiety trap. In order to break out of this trap and live a relaxed, fear free life we must learn to live with uncertainty, without total control and not only endure life like this but enjoy life like this.

Here we challenge ourselves to learn to live anxiety free in an uncertain world!

Here we ask deep questions: Do you want to live like this? Do you want to be ruled by fear and anxiety? How would you like to live? What type of person do you want to be?

We think about being responsible, courageous and wise instead of fearful and obsessive, we think about being relaxed and calm instead of uptight and cautious, open and light instead of closed and dark.

This powerful exercise and visualisation will demonstrate to you that how you think, feel and live is a choice and you will start to realise that you have the power to make huge changes!

Dig deep inside your mind! What thought patterns lead you to fear and anxiety and how could you think differently?

You may wish to look again at 'Lecture 1: The Process of Health Anxiety' to help you here.

Finding new ways to lead your thoughts will mean you can think about your health from a responsible, wise stand point instead of a fearful and obsessive one.

NOTE! Please complete the exercise 'How would I like to live? Who do I want to be?' before you take this exercise as your answers from the first exercise will give you a clearer idea of how you would like your thoughts and actions to change.

Often the actions that we take when we are feeling anxious actually only intensify the feeling. Continuous checking, looking things up on the internet, shutting down and hiding under the duvet! These kinds of actions mean that we end up consumed by the anxiety and a small thing can become so big that we feel paralysed by our fear.

By looking at our actions and identifying new actions, we can stop the anxiety cycle in its tracks and be aware of what to do next time anxiety starts to rise.

NOTE! Please complete the exercise 'How would I like to live? Who do I want to be?' before you take this exercise as your answers from the first exercise will give you a clearer idea of how you would like your thoughts and actions to change.

If you were given the choice, what would you choose to have more of in your life, calm, peace and wisdom or fear, anxiety and obsession? It is unlikely that you would choose to feel anxious and fearful but at some point in the past you have subconsciously cultivated these negative emotions, you have done things to fuel the fear. This is highlighted in your 'old patterns' in exercises 'What actions could I change' and 'What thought patterns can I change'.

Here we use a visualisation to help us discover how we can cultivate a sense of calm wisdom in our lives, what it feel like to be this way and what actions can we take to get closer to a peaceful way of living?

Take a look back at your answers to the exercise 'How Would I Like to Live? Who Do I Want to Be?' In this last lecture in the 'Challenge' section we will think about how we can actually make those changes. Especially looking at how you can embrace uncertainty, let go of your need for control and simply not allow fear to rule your life anymore!

It won't be easy but it is an absolute non-negotiable part of letting go of your anxiety.

A printable summary of this section with space to add your own notes to remember

Getting lost in thoughts of 'what if' and 'maybe' can lead you right back to worrying about something that isn't happening, remember 'Lecture 6: Is the Tiger in The Room'?

To live at ease we must learn to live in each moment (not the future or the past) and take things for what they are.

Here we look at mindfulness and how to live in the now (moment by moment on a daily basis.

Here we look at bringing both physical and psychological health and wellness together.

How do you currently feel (in mind and body)?

How would you like to feel (in mind and body)?

How can you cultivate a life that provides the best environment both physically and mentally to feel the way you would like to feel?

What habits and practices do you need to engage or disengage with?

Letting go of our control and allowing life to take its natural course is the only way to live a peaceful and satisfying life. Fighting this flow will only result in a lifelong, fearful fight with life. Here we look at how to get out of the driver's seat and just enjoy the journey!

During this course we have done a lot of self analysing in order to understand how to change our thought patterns, actions and ultimately be free from the anxiety trap. It's now time to say 'That's enough living in my head now it's time to get out of my head - Now it is time to move on!'

As long as you remain responsible and wise with regard to your health, you are now free to stop concentrating on what's going on inside your body and mind and get on with living your life to the full!

A printable summary of this section with space to add your own notes to remember

This is a short meditation to reconnect with your calm, inner self to attain peace and serenity even when things on the outside get chaotic and stressful.

Download it to your phone and use this meditation as a tool whenever you need to get calm.

A list of links to the many resources available to you on this subject.

NOTE: By all means educate yourself further if you feel you need to but don't forget that it will become counterproductive to over dwell on this. Once you feel better, stronger and able to live without constant fear, move on and start enjoying your fear free life!