Recommended book of the month: “Thriving with Anxiety”
Did you know anxiety can actually become your superpower? I absolutely love this quote by Dr. David Rosmarin, PhD, the author of “Thriving with Anxiety”, “We have turned anxiety into something to be gotten rid of because we make the mistake of fearing anxiety itself. We need to interpret our anxiety not as something to overcome but as something that can potentially enhance our lives”. So many of my clients, coaching as well as hypnosis clients, reach out to me with the same goal in mind, to lessen stress and better manage anxious thoughts and feelings. Dr. Rosmarin’s transformative approach pushes us to stop, evaluate why we are feeling anxious instead of running away from it, accept it for what it is and go deep to figure out why.
The part I love the most about his approach is how Dr. Rosmarin encourages us to face anxiety with self-compassion, not self-judgement. So many of us were taught by our parents to be kind to others. To rise up, be the better person but the part that was missing for so many of us was we were not taught to love and be kind to ourselves. I sit across from so many clients and when I ask how they practice self-compassion, I get blank stare after blank stare. How often do we allow that self critic to go haywire in our minds, or ruminate over that mistake we made over and over or judge ourselves for even having anxious thoughts? Dr. Rosmarin presents the reader with actual tools to learn how to be compassionate with ourselves. We can learn this skill! It’s just like any other skill, the more we practice, the better we get.
One of my favorite tools Dr. Rosmarin teaches is turning a negative anxiety spiral into a positive spiral. We all have triggers and those triggers unleash pretty powerful emotions and thoughts when they are hit just right. Instead of allowing your triggers to lead to catastrophic thinking, self-judgement and increased anxiety, we have another choice. We do?? So many of us are stuck in that negative anxiety spiral but yes, we have another choice and it actually involves my favorite topic, self-compassion. Nest time you are triggered, remember you have a choice, choose to accept your anxiety. Being anxious in and of itself is not dangerous, uncomfortable, yes but not dangerous. Try to let “anxiety wash over you and simply try to notice how it feels without tying to make it go away”, says Dr. Rosmarin. Then instead of judging yourself, accept that this is just part of life and remind yourself, it’s okay to feel this way. I actually invite my clients to put their hand on their heart and literally say, I’m okay, I will get through this, any supportive wording that a best friend might say to you. When you accept the anxiety and face it with self-compassion, the anxiety starts dissipating slowly.
Should You Read “Thriving with Anxiety”? Yes!
This book is full of powerful and practical strategies and tools that you can incorporate into your daily life. Unlock anxiety’s potential as a superpower in your life and pick up this book today!
