It is natural to experience fear and worry about the future. This is ‘little a’ anxiety, which we use to describe a feeling. It is not a natural feeling to have to: Engage in compulsive behaviours to try and feel safe; or to have physical symptoms like heart palpitations, sweating, or dizziness; or to have a consistent sense of impending danger or doom. These experiences are more emblematic of ‘big A’ Anxiety. Anxiety is a mental health disorder with defined symptoms and types (as not all anxiety is created equal). 

Clients come into our office all the time saying that they feel chronically stressed, overwhelmed and burnt out yet do not know how to relax. This feels foolish to them because, “Who doesn’t know how to relax?” (their words, not ours). In reality, most people do not know how to relax unless they practice it because, believe it or not, relaxation is a skill and not as natural a muscle as we believe. Don’t believe it? Let’s talk some more about our relaxation response system.