From Overwhelmed to Understood: A Creative Approach to Anxiety

Anxiety is uncomfortable. It can make your heart race, your palms sweat, your stomach feel uneasy, or even leave you feeling frozen or restless. It’s a feeling that many of us try to push away. But here’s the thing: anxiety is there for a reason. It’s not a flaw or a weakness. It’s your brain’s way of keeping you safe, signalling potential threat, and preparing your body to respond.

Understanding anxiety and how it shows up in your mind and body is the first step toward managing it, rather than letting it manage you.

Why Anxiety Exists

Anxiety is part of our survival system. Our brains are wired to detect potential threats and respond with what is known as the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response. In other words, anxiety is your body telling you: “Pay attention. Something might require action.”

The threats don’t have to be life-or-death situations. In modern life, they might be:

• Upcoming exams

• Financial worries

• Relationship challenges

• Health concerns

In these situations, feeling anxious is normal. It’s unpleasant, yes, but it’s also a signal that your brain is alert and trying to protect you. The challenge arises when anxiety starts to become your default setting or when you begin responding to it in ways that reinforce it over time.

The Cycle of Anxiety

One of the key reasons anxiety can feel overwhelming is because of the cycle of anxiety. Understanding it, and working with a mental health professional can help you recognise patterns and break free from them.

1. Feeling anxious – Something triggers your anxiety.

2. Avoidance or other coping strategies – You may try to escape, distract, or suppress the feeling.

3. Short-term relief – Avoidance feels helpful in the moment and you feel a sense of control.

4. Long-term growth of anxiety – Over time, avoiding triggers can reinforce anxious patterns, making your anxiety more frequent and intense.

Therapy can help interrupt this cycle by providing a safe space to face anxiety gradually, understand its root causes, and develop strategies for long-term regulation.

How Anxiety Feels in the Body

Anxiety is not just a mental experience; it’s physical, too. Being aware of how it manifests in your body is important because it allows you to notice and respond to it before it escalates. Common physical sensations include:

• Racing or pounding heart

• Shaky hands or tense muscles

• Sweaty palms or flushed skin

• Upset stomach, nausea, or “butterflies”

• Restlessness or difficulty sitting still

• Feeling frozen, as if your body can’t move

These sensations can be alarming if you’re not used to them, but they are your body activating its survival system. Paying attention to them is the first step in learning how to respond in a way that reduces anxiety rather than amplifies it.

Grounding Tools for Immediate Relief

While therapy is essential for long-term management, there are practical tools you can use right in the moment to help calm your nervous system. Grounding exercises, mindfulness techniques, and self-regulation tools help you focus on the present and reduce the intensity of anxious feelings in the moment.

One resource I’ve created for this is my free SOS sheet for stress and anxiety, which you can find via the link in my Instagram bio. It’s packed with quick exercises to calm your mind and body when anxiety hits, making it easier to cope in the moment.

Creative Exercise to Explore Anxiety

Art can be a powerful way to process anxiety. It allows you to externalise and explore feelings that are difficult to put into words, and it creates a sense of control and agency over your emotions. Here is an exercise to try:

1. Make an Image of What Your Anxiety Feels Like

• Choose your colours, mediums, and textures intuitively.

• Focus on the process rather than the outcome. What does it feel like to create the image? What are you thinking about? What are you feeling in your body?

• Notice what comes up as you create: does it feel tense, cathartic, heavy, or freeing?

2. Reflect and Journal

• After completing your artwork, take some time to write about the experience.

• What did you notice about your emotions, your energy, yourself while creating?

• Did any insights or patterns emerge about your anxiety?

This exercise can help you connect with your inner world in a gentle, exploratory way. Even small moments of expression can provide relief and insight.

Living in Today’s World

Let’s be real, living in today’s world makes anxiety feel unavoidable. We witness financial crises, humanitarian emergencies, global unrest, and constant news cycles. It’s hard not to feel anxious. What’s important to remember is that your feelings are valid, and you are not alone.

While tools like grounding exercises, journaling, and creative expression can help in the moment, they are not a replacement for therapy. Long-term support helps you break the anxiety cycle, understand your triggers, and develop strategies to regulate your emotions.

If anxiety is something you’re navigating, consider exploring one-to-one art therapy sessions, group workshops, or my printable resources to support your wellbeing. A free discovery call is a great way to see if therapy is the right fit for you and to take the first step toward understanding and managing your anxiety. Email or fill out the form on the contact page of this website to book a discovery call today, no matter where in the world you are.