Willingness- The Surprising Antidote to Anxiety - Anxiety Course 5/30

I learned that anxiety wants me to fight against it. Fighting empowers it. Last year I did a few things to let go of that struggle: 1) Eliminated strong caffeine (coffee was causing my body to go into fight mode; caffeine was like fuel for my anxiety) 2) Mindfulness meditation (the book "30 Days to Reduce Anxiety" by Harper Daniels was a great start for me) 3.) Journaling my emotions (old school paper and pen writing for 5 minutes...just spilling my thoughts on paper, then tossing it) 4.) Setting boundaries (I did not have good boundaries, never knew how to set them with people. Saying "no" is so important.)

You're the best emma. You've saved me from ending up at the hospital many times.

Having a terrible time after losing mum, it's my dad's birthday in heaven today too, not helping, thankyou for your uploads ❤

My husband of 26 years passed away July 31st. Anxiety has heightened, having trouble in society, driving, have no friends, and I am 67. I realize I must learn to be me again, but right now I can't remember who that is. I have to drive, go out in public, go to the doctor, etc but really having a hard time. I also realize how inept I have become socially. God has caused me to make some good strides, but I need to move ahead faster. This feels . . . Awful, alone, brutal, lost.

I don’t have a lot of money so these videos are a large part of what is saving me thank you

How do I overcome anxiety and panic that upsets your stomach, to point of needing to rush to the loo at any given moment? So hard to break the anxiety cycle when your head knows what to do, but your body doesn't listen 😢

I'm in autistic burnout after over 30 years of being undiagnosed. My ADHD means I have constant noise in my head. I have GAD, RSD and lately I'm not only in constant fight/flight mode as usual but my anxiety is in constant hyperdrive, it's gotten so far that I can't sleep or eat properly. I stumbled over your videos and they're the only thing that can give me a bit of relief even just for a few minutes. I don't have a very big budget but I'm definitely gonna try the full course eventually. What makes it extra challenging is that as a neurodivergent person I have huge difficulties with body signals/feelings. Very often I don't notice that I'm not actually angry but hungry, or I'm not actually afraid, I'm tired. Thank you for posting these videos!!!!

My mind keeps saying: "I know I have to accept and feel these feelings, but I DONT WANT THEM!!!" Sigh.

Emma, i think your one of the top therapists hands down.

I will share something funny that happened to me while listening to this video, especially the part with the exploring the roof of my mouth. So I try to get into the present moment and just explore the palate with my tongue, and simultaneously I hear my mom screaming in the backyard to our dog like 7-8 times "Jerry, no, Jerry nooo " every single time more furious and louder. And after 10 years of therapy, I realized that my mom was the core reason for my uncontrollable anxiety symptoms nowadays. And after tons of pills taken, jumping from one diagnosys to another in the last one year, 20 years of my life gone through fears, anxiety, avoidance and you name it... feeling that I have lost every last ray of hope, I am watching Emma's videos like a drowning man clutching at a straw, and I am executing this simple exercise moving my tongue at the palate, and I hear my mom screaming at our dog at the top of her lungs " Nooo, nooo.." and somehow I kind of laughed at the whole situation. Thank goodness, Jerry isn't expected to live 50+ years, but I'm sure he is in a lot of pain, too. Thanks Emma, you are amazing !

Changing my diet helped my anxiety more than meds ever did. I stopped eating sugar and carbs, cut out coffee, and started taking adaptogenic herbs. It was like a switch went off and it's changed my whole life. When I started feeding my body what it actually needs, my cells weren't as responsive to stressful environments and situations.

Hi! Maybe my story will help someone. When I tried a physical exercise from this video, I started to cry. I realised that my feelings of anxiety, stress and discomfort are strongly associated with a feeling of humiliation. At first I couldn’t understand why, but then I got an idea. I was bullied at school. A great humiliation and sometimes violence for many years were always in a company with stress and anxiety, so maybe I remembered them as an individed group. Then I had a thought, that I'd never overcome discomfort to get joy. Survival — yes, joy — no. So if I feel that the situation is not about survival, I just want to get rid of nasty feelings as soon as possible. What for? It turns out to be a paradox: if I don't need to survive, I stop doing anything — and my anxiety gets stronger than ever. But… “NEVER overcame discomfort to get joy”? Never? Really? I tried to remember situations when I overcame my anxiety to pursue my goals and when it ended up with joy and happiness. At first it seemed impossible. But then one by one I started to remember more and more situations like that. In the end I felt really proud of myself. And now I feel different about overcoming nasty feelings, I don’t feel such a strong resistance anymore. Now I think that I need to focus more on situations, when I feel anxiety at first, then do something anyway — and feel joy (not just survive). I hope it will help me to associate anxiety with joy, not humiliation. Thank you, Emma, for these videos! Thank you a lot from all my heart!

I like Dr Gabor Mate's acronym, RAIN: Recognize, Acknowledge, Investigate, and Nurture...

Parts work/internal family systems and EMDR has been a game changer for me. Instead of hating those protectors I love them and thank them and it’s much easier to come out of a loop

Totally accept it, learn to not be afraid of it. Then you don’t fear it ❤️

You are a master of wall sitting, I’ve managed to stay for 9 seconds

Sequestering my feelings, not allowing most to rise and be recognized, put me at risk for the anxious and depressed state of mind I currently struggle to exit. Work through anxiety. Acknowledge our feelings. Root cause fixes that work. "Resistance is futile." Willingness is freeing!

Thank you, Emma! Your content has been life-changing and extremely inspiring.

That was a great analogy with the painting. I find curiosity is my go to tool when I'm feeling a lot physically which is how my anxiety manifests).

I cannot thank you enough for posting these videos. You have no idea how much you’ve helped ❤️