Physical action is not necessary every time your emotion system is giving you information about a situation. Sometimes it’s enough to acknowledge receipt of the information.
Emotion is not supposed to control our action; it informs our action.
Emotion is an important part of our embodied experience as humans, and so are the other functions of our brain that enable us to engage thoughtful responses to life.
Conclusion
Many of us find ourselves stuck in an anxiety/defense cycle that never addresses the underlying reasons for our anxiety.
Over time, anxiety keeps getting worse, and our ability to enjoy life to its fullest diminishes.
There is another way. Instead, try making friends with your anxiety. Appreciate its God-given function of alerting you to something important, and get curious about what that might be.
Enlist safe, healthy people in your life to be a part of the exploration and caring for the underlying needs that are revealed. Courageously name them to yourself, God, and the caring people in your life. Invite God and the family of God to love these parts of your experience to wholeness.
Let the emotions you discover inform your action plan for navigating your life.
If you find yourself having difficulty doing any of the steps discussed in this article, don’t be discouraged! It’s normal for it to be hard at first. You’re doing something new that involves changing well-worn neuropathways in your brain.
There are professional counselors who are trained and experienced in helping people face these very challenges. You’ll want to find someone who works from an approach informed by attachment theory, is emotion focused, and experiential. Experienced therapists with training in AEDP, EFT, Polyvagal, EMDR, and Character & Competence should know how to help.
The counselors on my team at MyCounselor.Online are trained in these models, and they LOVE Jesus! It would be our honor to come alongside you if you could use the support. You can find these Christian Counselors on our website: MyCounselor.Online/christian-counselors or in the Christian therapist directory ChristianCounselors.Network.
Thanks for reading this article. I pray you find the ideas discussed helpful and enriching to your life.
Cheering you on!
Josh
This article originally appeared here.
