The pandemic changed the lives of us all and this may have caused many to feel anxious, sad, worried and experience a wide range of negative emotions. As part of our Mastery Series, here are three techniques from Confidence Coach and Coaching Academy Trainer Pam Lidford that help her face anxiety with confidence, they might work for you too.
I was recently listening to a Ted talk by Lucy Hone, a resilience expert, she asked her audience “to stand up if they had ever…..” then she listed things like, lost a job, been rejected, had your heartbroken, had fertility problems, got divorced, been an addict, had a loved one pass away, plus many more painful experiences you and I may have experienced. “Adversity” she said, “doesn’t discriminate, if you’re alive you will have to deal with tough times”.
I believe that’s true, most people I know, including myself, have experienced adversity in all sorts of ways, and when it hits, it smashes everything we thought we knew and understood to be real, to smithereens and at that time we can lose ourselves to fear, anxiety and panic. At those times logic and reasoning can fly out the window, we just want things to go back to how they were. “No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” - Nietzsche
This week I’ve had friends and clients share they’ve experienced anxiety about our current situation, some severely others mildly. When I was young, anxiety and I were best mates, we hung out a lot together until I learnt mental and physical techniques to help me reduce it and since then I’ve managed anxiety really well.
So it caught me by surprise when I had a mini attack a few days ago. It wasn’t conscious, it just crept up on me. I felt that familiar feeling start to well up, a pain in my chest, an emotional surge, a desire to cry, a jitteriness, a need to do something – but what? I didn’t like it, I didn’t want it, so I decided to get back in touch with ‘owning myself’ and interrupted it fast with some powerful techniques. I know these technique work for me and I want to share a few with you in case they may help.
I enjoyed all three activities. Tapping and the song could have been enough, timewise those two took five minutes to do, but as I had a little more time on my hands than usual, the videos made the experience even more enjoyable and only took up 10 – 15 minutes extra.
The anxiety went away and it hasn’t returned. But if it does, it’s ok, I know the above works.
In case you’re not sure here are some tips:
• Do the breathing exercise from one of my earlier blog posts, think of something or someone you love and then breathe in for a count of five and out for a count of five. Do this five times. Repeat as often as you need to, it really works at reducing anxiety
• Become aware of what you select to focus on and where you place your attention. If you notice it makes you feel bad - say NO, I’m not giving you my attention and energy! Then tap, or dance, or watch something positive.
• Lucy Hone says ask yourself: “is this thought (or action) helping or harming me right now?” If it’s harming you, stop it, focus on what would help instead. If you can take action do so.
Let me know what other techniques you find helpful when dealing with anxiety. By sharing, we can move forward together, united - remember it’s ok to experience whatever emotions come up without allowing them to own you.
Pam Lidford is an incredibly experienced and successful coach in her own right, Pam delivers training as part of our Core Life Coaching Diploma teaching team. If you are interested in Anxiety Coaching as a niche, then you can see dates for our next Anxiety Coaching Masterclass here. New to the coaching world? Attend our free Introduction to Life Coaching webinar and find out more about the industry, coaching as a career and studying with us: Choose from available dates.
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