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Does anxiety overwhelm you?
Have you ever felt that feeling where anxiety arrives like an uninvited guest and takes over just when you need it least? That relentless cycle of thoughts, shallow breathing and racing heart… I know how exhausting it can be.
Anxiety is not simply fear. It can feel like a heaviness in the chest, a lump in the throat or a constant inner restlessness that won’t let you stay still for a moment. Often it comes with a sense of losing control or a nagging uncertainty about the future. This is the moment when your body has gone into alert mode and needs a gentle reminder that you are actually in a safe place.
When we feel fear or uncertainty, our brain automatically focuses on threats. This is the body’s natural way of protecting us, but prolonged tension exhausts the soul and body. One of the quickest ways to bring yourself back to the present moment and offer yourself relief is the practice of gratitude. It is a way to guide your nervous system from fight mode to calm.
Why does it work at all?
Gratitude does not actually mean putting on rose-tinted glasses or ignoring problems. It is more of a conscious decision to direct your attention, even for a moment, to what is still whole in your life and what truly supports you.
It gives your thoughts a rest. When we are stressed or sad, our brain automatically switches to survival mode. We only notice threats and what is wrong. Gratitude, however, is like a switch that calms the emotional centre of the brain and helps us see more clearly again. It stops that seemingly endless cycle of thoughts and helps create distance from negative beliefs. Sometimes it is exactly that small pause that is needed to notice solutions where before you only saw obstacles.
Your body gets a chance to recover. Soul and body are inseparable wholes. Scientific research has repeatedly confirmed that practising gratitude reduces stress hormone levels and thereby strengthens our immune system. When you fall asleep with a grateful heart, the nervous system finds its way to calm more quickly, meaning deeper and more restful sleep. It also helps release tension-related locks that have accumulated in the body, which often manifest as vague back pain or headaches.
It is a bridge between you and the world. Ultimately, gratitude is a way to feel connected to something greater. It does not matter so much to whom you direct your thanks — what matters is that warm and held feeling inside you. You can feel gratitude for the peace of nature, clean air or a guide who has helped you find light in darker times. But most importantly, be grateful to yourself. For being here, for trying and for not giving up despite everything.
5 steps to come back "home"
You can try this small exercise anywhere — whether waiting for a bus or lying in bed waiting to fall asleep. This is your time to get back in contact with yourself.
- Stop and breathe. Place your hand on your heart, close your eyes if possible. Take one deep breath in through your nose counting to four and a long, relaxing breath out through your mouth counting to six. Notice your body and how it relaxes with each exhale.
- Notice one thing in your body. Be grateful for something in your body that is working well right now. For example: “I am grateful for my hands, for always serving me, even when I myself have been tired.”
- Notice one thing in your surroundings. Find something physical around you. For example: “I am grateful that the sun is out today.”
- Notice one thing in your life. Someone or something that is constant. For example: “I am grateful for the understanding and kindness I have encountered, even when it came from a stranger by chance.”
- Notice yourself. Thank yourself for taking this moment. “I am grateful for the courage to notice my worry and to look for ways to find peace within myself again.”
When to seek additional support?
Although simple self-help techniques are great, long-term or deepened anxiety often needs a deeper and more supportive perspective. Sometimes it is necessary to work with tensions that have been deposited in our bodies and that are difficult to release through talking alone.
If you feel that you are alone with your worry and need something different in addition to conventional psychological help, an approach that considers the whole person — thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations — may help. Your peace of mind is important. And you do not have to face everything alone.
If you feel that you need a safe space to share your thoughts and feelings, that opportunity is there for you.