More Than A Why

Within two weeks, I started therapy for anxiety. My therapist gave me homework that helped me dig into not only why I was experiencing anxiety, but also how I was feeling. I was beginning to understand that knowing the “why” was only one part of healing. There was more to my story than I knew.

We talked about the reasons behind my anxiety, but therapy was also about learning how to work through my feelings and recognize how my body responded to them.

At the same time, my physical therapist helped me understand what happened when stress overwhelmed my nervous system. My body often reacted with muscle pain and tightness, so he spent a lot of time teaching me about the connection between anxiety and what I was physically experiencing.

I didn’t know then that when my nervous system set off my body’s alarm, I could end up hurting all over.

During those appointments, we worked on breathing, talked about what my body was experiencing, and practiced stretches because my tight muscles needed gentle movement.

The breathing technique became something I could carry from physical therapy into my counseling appointments. When I became overwhelmed and could feel the anxiety building in my body, I could use my breathing to help myself move through it.

During this season, my therapist at the counseling center left, and I began working with someone new. My second therapist encouraged me to start blogging as a way to share my story.

I called the blog Finding Joy in Anxiety because I was learning how to find the joy that I have today.