Quick Guide to Anxiety Relief & Emotional Self-Awareness

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Increasing emotional awareness allows you to slow down and become aware of what it is that you are feeling. Once this is in your awareness, you don’t just react automatically, but you have a chance and the freedom to choose how you want to respond to the world around you.
 
This takes a lot of practice, so be gentle with yourself. It is like any other skill; you need to do it over and over again until it becomes something that is effortless and automatic.
 
The following questions can serve as your guide. You can journal about your reflections or simply take some quiet time to be curious about your inner experience. Notice any sensations, images, feelings, and thoughts that may be arising, without judgment or trying to change them.
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1. Name the predominant feeling(s) you’ve experienced in the last few days/weeks?
 
2. Is this emotion(s) familiar to you? In what situations have you experienced the same emotion?
 
3. What “positive” or “negative” strategies have you been using to manage these feelings?
 
4. Is there an emotion you are trying to avoid? What is most frightening about this emotion?
 
5. If there is a message in that emotion? What is it trying to communicate to you?

 
Once you have a sense of what it is that you tend to experience during stressful times and the way you are dealing with it, ask yourself if there is a better way to manage your feelings? When I say better, I mean in a sense that it is not simply a strategy that brings relief in the moment, (but actually adds to your stress over time). If you were able to utilize a different coping strategy, could this minimize your stress?
 

*DISCLAMER* Blog posts are created with a goal of sharing my personal reflections as well as practical tools and tips to create relief and increase your wellbeing. Please note that, while I hope that information I share is going to be helpful, it is not meant to be a substitute for therapy.