WTF Anxiety! Tools, Truth & Techniques That Help

In this week’s episode, we sat down to talk about something that shows up for all of us at one point or another—anxiety. We shared personal stories, spiritual insights, and the exact tools we lean on when anxiety starts to creep in.

We talked about how anxiety often shows up when we’ve been ignoring our emotions, and how simple awareness can be the first step to shift out of it. We also reminded ourselves (and you!) that we don’t have to call it “shadow work” or make it fancy. Sometimes it’s just about sitting down with a journal and getting real with what’s coming up.

We shared our favorite grounding techniques, including the 5-4-3-2-1 method, color focus, and our “golden cape” energy shield. We walked through a variety of breathwork tools, from 4-7-8 breathing to vagus nerve-activating sighs, and reminded you to make space for the practices that actually work for you.

Then we got into building your own emotional support toolbox—something we both use often. Whether it’s affirmations on a sticky note, a pocket crystal, or simply remembering to drink water, we believe your go-to tools should be accessible, comforting, and uniquely yours.

We also talked about tracking your triggers—how noticing patterns in food, sleep, energy, and even astrology can help you make more empowered choices. The more you notice, the more you can navigate.

Here are some of the tips we talked through so you can easily copy and paste for your own use!

🌘 1. Shadow Work (aka Blind Spot Work)
- Start by writing it down: What triggered this? What emotions came up?
- Don’t get hung up on calling it “shadow work”—call it journaling, venting, or blind spot digging.
- This is how you get from cause to resolution.

🌿 2. Grounding Techniques
- 5-4-3-2-1 Method: 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you can taste. Helps stop the spin.
- Color Focus: Find a color, count how many times you see it in the room.
- Elemental Grounding: Let the Earth rise to meet you. Water, sand, or stream imagery works beautifully.
- Spiritual Shielding: Imagine your golden cape (hello superhero!)—“Not my bubble!”

💨 3. Breathwork
- 4-7-8 Breathing: Inhale 4, hold 7, exhale 8—calms the nervous system fast.
- Sighing with Sound: Releasing with vocal exhale activates the vagus nerve.
- Qi Gong-Style Movement Breathing: Deep, intentional expansion and slow contraction while connecting to energy.
- Box Breathing (4-4-4-4): Calm the chaos by drawing an imaginary square with your breath.

🧰 4. Create a Personalized Toolbox
- Affirmations: Choose 2–3 that actually land for you. (e.g., “I’m safe,” “This will pass,” “I am okay.”)
- Talisman or Crystal: Wear or carry something grounding like black tourmaline, smoky quartz, or super seven.
- Sticky Notes or Mirror Markers: Write your affirmations where you’ll see them daily.
- Food + Water Hydration: Apples, carrots, water—nourishment is grounding.

🧠 5. Left-Brain Distractors
- Engage the rational brain to derail the panic:
- Spell your name backward.
- Count down from 100 by 7s.
- Read one word per page in a book, string them into a sentence.
- Sing or hum—bonus: helps open your throat chakra.

✍️ 6. Track Your Triggers
- Keep data points: Time, food, sleep, stressors, astrology.
- Write them down post-attack to identify patterns.
- What helped? What didn’t? That becomes your emotional dictionary.

🌈 Quotes from Today:
“Being present is the best gift you can give yourself—and everyone else.”
“You don’t have to call it shadow work. Call it ‘dear diary,’ just write it down.”
“Not my bubble. Not today.”

As always, we're here to support deeper healing and spiritual growth—make sure to check out The Framework of Living Your Soul and our newest, annual program, Immersive Spirit's Foundation for Spiritual Living! You can find everything in our Course Offerings on Immersive Spirit.

Have an amazing day with the deep knowing that we’re ALL walking this path together! 💖