Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure. Psalm 23:4 (The Message)
I was speaking to a client the other day about breathing. Obviously, we take breathing for granted- we have to do it every few seconds in order to remain alive. However, breathing is both voluntary and involuntary. In other words, we can take control of our breathing (voluntary), but if we don’t think about it, we will breathe involuntarily. That is one of the remarkable things about how we are made. The incredible sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that are built into our brain.
In dealing with anxiety, I tell my clients that when we are stressed, we need to take more control- control being the antidote to anxiety. The more control we have, the less anxious we feel. The natural place to start taking control is our breathing. If we can take control of that, we are in control of our bodies. The message to our brain is- “I am in control of me”. Therefore, anxiety is not in control of me, but I can control the anxiety.
Anxiety, as I have stated before, is our “unwanted travelling partner”. So, I say, let’s make peace with that partner, but let the anxiety know who is in control. We are in the driver’s seat, and anxiety is in the passenger seat- whether or not we want that partner riding along!
Everyone struggles with anxiety at some point- some a little, some a lot, but we all deal with it to some degree. Since this is a common characteristic of humankind, I say we ask one another for help with it when we need it. Nobody needs to struggle alone with anxiety- it is a “team sport”.
So, we do what we can on our own, and we CAN do things to control anxiety, but when we need help, we ask for it.
That, my friends, is healing.
Prayer: Lord, you told us so often in the Bible to “fear not” Help us to remind ourselves of that promise, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 