Anxiety affects my confidence and holds me back
In this week's Anxiety Slayer podcast, we're talking about how anxiety can affect our confidence and sharing some of our favorite lessons and tools to help build a sense of acceptance.
This episode is sponsored by Health IQ - we invite you to take the Health IQ quiz and get a free quote at healthiq.com/anxietyslayer
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Listener Question: My biggest frustration lately is how anxiety affects my confidence and holds me back from things I want to do. I know I'm capable but when the time comes I freeze or give up. Things that I once enjoyed doing I now dread because there's that constant anxiety hanging over me.
Points covered in this episode:
Bach Flower Remedies for confidence and anxiety support
Elm for overwhelm which can affect our confidence. Elm helps those who are good out carrying out work or tasks they believe in, but sometimes feel over-burdened and unable to cope.
Larch is the remedy for when we doubt our ability, or fear we might fail. It also helps when we fear we are not as competent as others.
Aspen is a good remedy for fear that can’t be named, a fear that something might go wrong. This remedy is usually recommended where there is a sense of dread or foreboding.
Or, if we know what’s worrying us, we can take Mimulus - this is the remedy for fears we can name.
And, of course, Rescue Remedy is always helpful - especially the Night Time combination with added White Chestnut for persistent unwanted thoughts.
Bach Flower Remedies are available at most health stores and online from Amazon and Nelsons.
How EFT Tapping can help
This podcast includes a guided EFT Tapping session to help you calm anxiety that affects your confidence.
Get your Tapping diagram here, so you can see the points and follow along with us.
Journal gratitude and triumphs no matter how small
Anxiety can focus our minds on the things we feel we're missing out on but it's not the whole picture.
Ananga shares her expereince from living with years of chronic illness.
"Sometimes I would sit in my chair and stew on not being able to do the things I wanted with my life and it made the suffering so much worse."
Here’s what helped: "finding others that were going through similar experiences with grace. One author that helped me is a lady called Toni Bernhard, she wrote an excellent book called ”How to be Sick” which offers some great advice. She also writes a column for Psychology Today called Turning a straw into Gold and she's very open and transparent about the same struggles I went through. The difficult days when you look like you're resting from the outside, but inside you're fighting and exhausted from the weight of your perceived limitations, or the sadness because you feel you are missing out on life."
Take a Snow Day!
Throwing up the white flag and declaring a rest day with no expectations. Listening to guided relaxations, colouring while listening to inspiring audiobooks and lectures. Taking the pressure off and being kinder to myself. Keeping a journal of inspiring passages from reading.
How journaling can help you build your self-confidence
- Record your triumphs no matter how small
Did you learn something new?
Do something to support yourself, for example, EFT Tapping, or listen to a guided relaxation?
Did you get outside?
Did you do a little something to help someone else?
Ananga: when I look back over my journal I see a thread of self care and learning that helps me feel more self-appreciation. I see how I tried to keep learning and growing through a lot of pain and adversity. If I hadn’t written it down I could easily think I’d lost, or wasted time.
- Write down what makes you feel happy, or grateful
We recommend spending a few minutes at the end of each day journalling about something you feel grateful for. Maybe you had a laugh it a good talk with a friend, or enjoyed watching the birds from your window. Maybe you read or heard something inspiring. Whatever little pearls you gathered today, write them down.
And then write something small you would like to do tomorrow that doesn't challenge your anxiety too much. Maybe something you'd like to read or listen to, an audiobook on self-care for example. Or maybe something creative you can do comfortably at home: baking, colouring, knitting, or scrapbooking. Bring your mind to things you like to do that don't stretch you, but rather help you feel relaxed and keep your mind engaged while you rest and get your anxiety under control.
Today’s anxiety slayer podcast is sponsored by Health IQ. If you listen to Anxiety Slayer regularly, you know we are health conscious. We often recommend healthy nutrition, walking in nature, yoga, and an overall fitness plan for your mind, body and soul. With our love for health and wellness, we found a US based life insurance company who rewards their clients with exclusive, special and lower rates for being mindful and health conscious!
We invite you to take the Health IQ Quiz at healthiq.com/anxietyslayer which is really eye opening and fun to do!