Anxiety doesn’t always begin with an anxious thought.
Sometimes we notice it first in the body. The physical symptoms of anxiety can take many forms.
A tightness across the chest.
A knot in the stomach.
A racing heart.
Tension through the jaw, neck or shoulders.
A headache that seems to arrive from nowhere.
Feeling shaky, restless or unable to settle.
And sometimes alongside all of this, the mind is running ahead—replaying the same fears and imagining what might happen next.
There can simply be a feeling that something isn’t quite right.
And when these sensations appear, it can be frightening—particularly when we don’t understand why they are happening.
Anxiety itself is a normal human response.
We are wired to survive, and our brain and nervous system are continually taking in information about what is happening around us and whether we are safe.
When the brain perceives potential danger, the body can respond before our conscious mind has even caught up.
Our heart rate may increase. Our breathing may become shallower. Muscles can tighten. Digestion can change. We may become more alert to what is happening around us—and to sensations happening within us.
Sometimes the danger is very real.
At other times, the brain may be responding to a perceived threat — something it believes might happen rather than something that is actually happening in this moment.
And when this response has been running for a long time, it can become a deeply familiar pattern.
The patterns behind anxiety can come from many places.
They may be connected to what is happening in our lives now—pressure at work, financial worries, grief, relationships, health concerns or significant life changes.
Midlife changes such as menopause, an empty nest, bereavement, relationship changes or a change in career can all bring uncertainty and emotion to the surface.
At other times, we may recognise ways of responding that have been with us for much longer.
Our early experiences can play a part in this. The environments we grow up in and the ways we experience relationships, emotions, expectations and safety can influence what our nervous system learns.
Certain parenting styles or family patterns may unintentionally leave an imprint. What once helped us adapt can sometimes become a constraint later in life.
This isn’t about blaming our parents.
Many of these ways of coping can travel quietly through generations. Our parents may have been responding from patterns they themselves learned, often doing the best they could with the understanding and resources available to them at the time.
We are learning so much more now.
And perhaps that gives us an opportunity—not to look backwards with blame, guilt or shame, but to become curious about what we have carried and what we may no longer need to carry forward.
There can be another layer to anxiety.
We feel something in the body, become frightened by it, and begin monitoring it.
Why is my heart beating like that?
Why can’t I get a full breath?
What if something is wrong?
The fear of the sensation can create further nervous system activation, making the sensation feel even stronger.
Sensation → fear → increased nervous system activation → stronger sensation → more fear.
The symptoms are real.
And new, persistent or concerning physical symptoms should always be appropriately medically assessed.
But when medical causes have been considered, understanding the relationship between the brain, nervous system, emotions and body can allow us to begin responding differently.
When anxiety has been with us for a long time, we can begin to believe it is simply who we are.
I’m an anxious person.
I’ve always been like this.
This is just me.
But anxiety is something we experience. It doesn’t have to define who we are.
Think about some of the things that can create anxiety in everyday life:
What if I’m late?
What if I get it wrong?
What if I’m not good enough?
What if I embarrass myself?
What if something goes wrong?
Our physical survival may not be under threat, yet our nervous system can still respond strongly to the possibility of rejection, failure, uncertainty, embarrassment or loss.
And underneath all the thinking, analysing and trying to control what happens next, sometimes there is something much simpler:
I’m scared of what might happen.
There can be something deeply compassionate about acknowledging that.
Instead of judging ourselves for being anxious or immediately trying to make the feeling disappear, we can simply recognise:
I’m feeling scared right now.
That acknowledgement can itself be an act of self-love.
We are no longer fighting ourselves.
We are beginning to understand ourselves.
And that can be a breakthrough.
Our mind is incredibly good at taking us into the future.
It tries to predict what might happen, prevent things going wrong and protect us from experiences we don’t want to have.
Sometimes we can become so caught within that story that the possibility begins to feel like the reality.
So we can gently become curious:
What is actually happening right now?
Not what might happen tomorrow.
Not what somebody might think of me.
Not what I fear could go wrong.
But what is true in this moment?
This isn’t about dismissing our worries or pretending everything is fine.
It is about beginning to recognise the difference between what is happening and what we are afraid might happen.
And rather than immediately trying to get rid of the sensation, we might begin to ask:
Where do I feel this in my body?
What happens if I meet it without immediately becoming afraid of it?
What might my body be responding to?
This isn’t about searching for a hidden trauma behind every symptom or believing that every physical sensation has an emotional meaning.
It is an invitation to become curious about ourselves rather than frightened of ourselves.
This is one of the things I find particularly interesting when combining somatic work, Pain Reprocessing Therapy and Energy Healing
During Energy Healing, we become very present with what is happening in the body in that moment.
As everything begins to quieten, people can sometimes experience moments of self-discovery — an awareness, a feeling, a memory or simply an understanding of themselves that wasn’t as clear before.
We don’t have to go searching for it.
Sometimes something simply becomes easier to see when there is space to be present with ourselves.
The work can become less about fighting anxiety and more about developing a different relationship with ourselves and our bodies.
That kind of self-discovery can be deeply empowering.
Healing doesn’t necessarily mean never feeling anxious again.
Anxiety is part of being human.
But we can begin to recognise the difference between experiencing anxiety and believing anxiety is who we are.
We can notice the fear and recognise when our mind has travelled into what might happen rather than what is actually happening.
And instead of meeting that frightened part of ourselves with judgement, perhaps we can meet it with compassion.
I’m feeling scared right now.
Sometimes acknowledging something so simple can be the beginning of a very different relationship with ourselves.
If anxiety has been part of your life for a long time, you may have spent years trying to think your way out of it, control it or push the sensations away.
My work offers another way of exploring what may be happening.
I combine Pain Reprocessing Therapy, somatic approaches and Energy Healing to explore the relationship between the brain, nervous system, emotions and body.
Together, we can become curious about the sensations you experience, the fear that may accompany them and the patterns that may be keeping the cycle going.
The intention isn’t to tell you that your anxiety is “all in your head” or to dismiss what you are feeling.
It is to help you understand your experience differently, feel less frightened by what is happening in your body, and begin to discover that anxiety does not have to define who you are.
Sessions are available in person in Aberdeen and online.
You can also begin gently with my free SAFE IN THE BODY recording, created to help you slow down, reconnect with your body and experience a greater sense of safety within yourself.
Where Science Meets Spirit