E23: What To Do If You Wake Up Feeling Anxious

If waking up to the relentless buzz of the anxiety alarm clock is NOT your favorite way of waking up then you're going to love this episode that will help you to shift that so you wake up calm and energized.

Grab your EarPods and let's dive into:

• A simple very empowering shift in your language to have more control over the situation
• How to clear the anxious energy in a way that supports your whole system
• Getting to the root of the issue so you’re thriving at the deepest level of your being

If you want a way to clear the anxious energy fast by getting out of your head and into your body (that also tones your tushy & triceps at the same time!) grab this free 5 minute workout here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/tushy

Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!

00;00;00;20 - 00;00;01;24
Speaker 1
Hello.

00;00;01;24 - 00;00;03;21
Speaker 2
And welcome to a.

00;00;03;21 - 00;00;06;22
Speaker 1
Movement of people who care so much about how they.

00;00;06;22 - 00;00;08;07
Speaker 2
Feel that they make time for.

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Speaker 1
Themselves every day. I'm the leader of this movement and the host of this podcast, and my name is Meghan Nolan. I am a wellness coach.

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Speaker 2
For purpose driven Entrepreneurs and women on a mission, and I am all about.

00;00;22;15 - 00;00;54;10
Speaker 1
Helping you to be healthy, happy and sustainably successful. So let's jump in to today's episode that will help you to do that. I don't know about you, but waking up with my stomach slipping and my heart pounding and my brain racing a million miles a minute, feeling like I'm the captain of the stress express. And even though I just woke up somehow I'm already behind because my brain is all over the place and I'm feeling so much anxiety.

00;00;54;10 - 00;01;19;23
Speaker 1
That relentless buzz of the anxiety alarm clock is not my favorite way to wake up. So I'm guessing it's probably not yours either. And that's what we're discussing today about what to do if and when you wake up feeling anxious. Because I don't know about you, but I experienced this for a long time and it was something that was really frustrating to me.

00;01;19;23 - 00;01;37;04
Speaker 1
And I felt like it was something that I had to get rid of and I wanted to get resolved. And I found it maybe because I kind of looked at it as this problem that I was dealing with. And so what happened was, is that I just accepted it as something that was just part of my world, and I just powered through.

00;01;37;06 - 00;01;57;09
Speaker 1
And so I learned that that's actually called high functioning anxiety, just basically trying to do go through the motions and ignore this feeling. But what I've come to learn and what I'm honored to share with you today is that one of the root causes of anxiety is actually a dysregulated nervous system. And in fact, that feeling of anxiety is a symptom.

00;01;57;11 - 00;02;26;15
Speaker 1
It's not necessarily a problem, although it may be a challenge. It's a symptom of a nervous system that needs tending, that is asking for some love and attention from you or me. In my case. And so that's what I wanted to share with you. If you find that sometimes you wake up with that panicky feeling of feeling worried, feeling overwhelmed, feeling like you're worried about everything that might go wrong, that has gone wrong, that could go wrong.

00;02;26;17 - 00;02;50;09
Speaker 1
And that feeling of anxiety, whether you feel that in your body or simply in your mind, it's something that we begin to look at as a nudge from your nervous system, from your body, from that part of you that is attempting to communicate with you that something is off. Right. And so it's it's a whisper, it's a nudge.

00;02;50;15 - 00;03;10;29
Speaker 1
And the universe and your nervous system will communicate with subtle whispers. And that's why we want to get tuned into them so that we can learn and begin to catch these things early on and work with them in a loving, compassionate way so that we get the we get the feather, if you will. We get the tickle of the feather rather than the whack of the two by four.

00;03;11;01 - 00;03;32;04
Speaker 1
As you know, that analogy of the way that the universe or systems communicate with us, we start with these tiny whispers and these little glimpses. Otherwise it gets can get progressively more and more challenging and more and more difficult if we we keep getting the the lesson over and over and over. We keep getting the test over and over until we learn the lesson.

00;03;32;04 - 00;03;52;22
Speaker 1
And so that's what this is, is how can we begin to pick up on these subtle symptoms and subtle signals? Okay. So the first thing that I wanted to do to discuss, rather than just jump right into what you can do, is how we can begin to shift our language around this. And that was a big shift for me because I just declared it all the time.

00;03;52;29 - 00;04;37;05
Speaker 1
I'm anxious, I'm sad, I'm anxious and sad. And what I want you to remember is that fundamentally you are not those things. You are the being that experiences those things. And so shifting your language, being from I'm anxious to I'm feeling anxious or I'm experiencing anxiety or whatever it is you happen to be experiencing in that moment. Notice the shift, because anytime we say I am, we're declaring that we're commanding that it's a request to the subconscious mind rather than I'm feeling a certain way is creates a spaciousness, it creates a separation, and it's a recognition that you you're not that, but you're experiencing that.

00;04;37;08 - 00;05;05;21
Speaker 1
So I want you to just notice the ways that you may be declaring and claiming things, right? So we want to make sure we're only declaring and claiming the things that are actually aligned with our vision and moving us to where you want to go. So that's our starting point. The next step is when an if you wake up experiencing anxiety is to notice where you feel it in your physical body and place your hands on those areas if that's available to you.

00;05;05;21 - 00;05;22;28
Speaker 1
Right? I mean, maybe you experience anxiety and your foot might be kind of challenging if you're just laying in bed to grab your foot, but see if you can place your hands on your body where you feel it. For me, it's classically like either in my belly and my heart at the same time or right in the middle of my torso, right at the base of my ribcage.

00;05;23;00 - 00;05;45;20
Speaker 1
So place your hands on that area and begin to breathe into that space, because what we're wanting to do is take the signal from the body to begin to create regulation, because the signal of anxiety is a signal of contraction in your nervous system. So how can we first create safety? That's the first thing that we create safety, and then we can move into a regulated state.

00;05;45;20 - 00;06;12;13
Speaker 1
So one of the most powerful ways to do that is this combination of the physical touch. So your hands on your body and a steady even breath because when we're anxious, we tend to take short, shallow breaths. And so how can we begin to regulate by slowing and deepening the breath? And if it's available, you can breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, make your breath smooth and even.

00;06;12;16 - 00;06;34;14
Speaker 1
And then there's a variety of different breathing practices that you can do, but one that's really simple, that's really well researched and talked about by Dr. Andrew Will was the four seven, eight. So you inhale for four counts through your nose. Hold it. Bring your attention to where you feel the anxiety in your body, where your hands arresting.

00;06;34;14 - 00;06;56;25
Speaker 1
Hold it for seven. And then when you breathe out and you breathe out for eight, you can imagine that the breath is carrier of energies. Taking that feeling and releasing it out of you. So you inhale four, four, hold it for seven, hold into that area. And as you exhale, allow the breath by any and amount to carry with it.

00;06;56;29 - 00;07;24;18
Speaker 1
That feeling of anxiety and what you can do to layer this on even deeper is to really go into that feeling in your body and begin to even dialog with it. Oh, I see you here this morning. Anxiety. What's going on? Is there anything I can do to help you? And again, it's creating that separation because what our mind wants to do is really overly identify with that feeling.

00;07;24;20 - 00;07;46;07
Speaker 1
And that is a technique of the mind and a technique of the saboteurs, which you maybe have heard me talking about before. But the patterns of of self-conscious self-sabotage. And so when we dialog with that feeling of anxiety, it's a nurturing, it's a turning towards, it's a creation of safety for that part of you that is experiencing anxiety.

00;07;46;09 - 00;08;11;06
Speaker 1
And so when we begin to nurture that relationship and discourse and dialog with that version of you, you're creating that sense of love and connection and safety for that part of you that wants to be witness, wants to be seen, wants to be held in that moment. So using your hands on your body, using the breath, that's the first tool that I found to be really helpful.

00;08;11;08 - 00;08;31;15
Speaker 1
The second one is as soon as you're able to get up and go to your morning routine. So this implies that you have a morning routine already. So if you don't, that's something I can absolutely help you with. But go to your morning routine and do not Whatever you do, do not grab your phone to go on social media.

00;08;31;17 - 00;08;57;06
Speaker 1
No, I do not. Do you feel yourself doing it? Give yourself a little give yourself a little nudge and say no, Amagansett, no social media when we're feeling anxious in the morning. So we want to go right to your morning routine, right to get grounded. So whatever that is for you, For me, typically I start my morning routine with meditation, but when I'm feeling anxiety or experiencing anxiousness, it doesn't work because my brain is just like a bird, like a million squawking chickens.

00;08;57;06 - 00;09;32;28
Speaker 1
Cat. So if you can go to your morning routine, whatever that is for you. Remember the pillars of an amplified morning routine. Align your mind, right? So if you can do one of those practices, of journaling, of prayer, of tapping, whatever it is you may be able to do that. But if you can, if you find that the anxiety is so strong and that your mind is really grasping at you and you're feeling that spiral of anxiety and worry and overthinking, then I would say the next best thing for you to do is to move your body, get out of your head and into your body.

00;09;32;28 - 00;09;50;03
Speaker 1
Right. And your mind will say, No, no, no, we have to think about all these things. So I had a client once who would tell me, you know, she'd wake up feeling anxious and she'd just get into the bath, but she'd get into the bath and she would still be in her head. I would say that the next best thing for you to do, if this is available to you, is to get up and get moving.

00;09;50;06 - 00;10;05;28
Speaker 1
Move your body. What does that look like for you? Maybe you want to dance. Maybe you want to put out one of your workouts. Maybe you want to grab the gift that I have for you here, the five minute tone and tighten your tushy session is something that gets you up and gets you moving. Okay, That's so, so important.

00;10;05;28 - 00;10;42;26
Speaker 1
Just to get out of your head. Get out of your head and begin to express the stress. And that's where you can just begin to allow some of that anxious energy to move through your body. That's so powerful because oftentimes I find, like once I've done that, once I've been able to kind of get things flowing and, you know, whether it's dancing or yoga or cardio or strength training or a combination of all of those things like that, I love to take my sessions and my clients to then maybe after that you've released that anxious feeling, then maybe you can go back to meditation or prayer or sitting quietly or journaling.

00;10;42;26 - 00;11;03;24
Speaker 1
Maybe you're just not ready for that just yet. Okay, so having flexibility in your morning routine is also really helpful. So oftentimes maybe you go for a run, whatever it is, right? Just get moving because the technique of the mind is to keep us in that spiral. And that is is a self-fulfilling prophecy, is that we just keep feeding it.

00;11;03;24 - 00;11;27;17
Speaker 1
We add more fuel to the fire. So allow yourself to change your state by moving your body. And that creates another layer of regulation, because then we we shift your hormonal balance. We begin to process some of that cortisol and the adrenaline and boost oxytocin, boost your endorphins, your norepinephrine, which helps you to regulate, regulate. That's so key.

00;11;27;20 - 00;11;55;11
Speaker 1
So we've put your hand on your body. You breathe. You've gone to your morning routine. If that doesn't work, then go and move your body, getting out of your head, back into your hard ground yourself. Maybe you go outside, like use your tools, right? Because when we're in that state and the mind is is grasping at us to stay in that anxious state, you forget that you have all of these two or sometimes spread and it just keeps us work in that anxiety hurricane, I call it.

00;11;55;13 - 00;12;29;25
Speaker 1
And then the other thing to really begin to get ahead of this is an evening experience. So a lot of times if we wake up with middle of the night, night anxiety or first thing in the morning anxiety, for me at least that came from not giving myself unwind time at the end of the day. Right. If you're going you're running on caffeine and cortisol and you're going and you're powering through anxiety through the day, or you just waking up feeling anxious and you're like, Oh, I got so many things to do and you're just kind of trying to go through the motions and make your way through it.

00;12;29;27 - 00;13;10;12
Speaker 1
And you're not slowing down at night, you're not unwinding. It's kind of the equivalent to taking a jet plane that's flying at 100. I think if I say, let's say 300 miles an hour, keep flying through the air and then just expecting that it can land in the gate quietly without that's not going to happen. There's all sorts of landing procedures and, you know, gears got to go up and down and all, you know, whenever all the incredible things that happen with airline travel to prepare the plane to decelerate, to begin to gradually lower and reduce the altitude, reduce the speed so that it can come into a nice, gentle landing at the gate.

00;13;10;14 - 00;13;30;06
Speaker 1
Right. And so think of yourself the same way. What are you doing throughout the day to regulate your nervous system? What are you doing at night to unwind? And please tell me that you're doing something that doesn't involve just zoning out on social media. And I know, I know. I love it, too. I mean, I don't know what happens.

00;13;30;06 - 00;13;47;11
Speaker 1
I mean, they design these things to be highly addictive, but I can go down a rabbit hole of rules for hours and I love it. You know, I go into one creator and I'm, you know, get obsessed with them and I watch so many. But we want to make sure we're doing things that do not involve a screen.

00;13;47;13 - 00;14;09;27
Speaker 1
So what can you do to unwind? Maybe that's when you have time with your furry friend who's right here. I don't know if you can hear me walking around. Have time of your for your and friends. Take a bite to sleep, your time. Yoga. Maybe you do some journaling, meditation, whatever it is to unwind, you're going to create an evening experience for yourself because that helps you to slow down the plane ride.

00;14;09;27 - 00;14;35;19
Speaker 1
If we're saying with that analogy so you can come into a nice gentle landing, which is your sleep so that you have higher quality of sleep, right? And so you're lowering your cortisol levels in the nighttime by unwinding and maybe wrapping up the day. Maybe you have some wings, maybe some gratitude practices, maybe you reflect on the day of of where you really handle things well, maybe some ways that you were sort of out of your power in certain situations.

00;14;35;25 - 00;14;53;19
Speaker 1
How would you like to have handled that so that you can rewire that pattern for yourself, which is totally a thing that you can do? Because if we go back and we just ruminate and we fuss over a mistake that we made or Oh, I why do I say it like that? That was so stupid and have that, that again saboteur dialog around something.

00;14;53;22 - 00;15;28;06
Speaker 1
Then we just reinforce that pattern. But if you go back and you know, for example, I said something yesterday that I thought about in hindsight and I thought how would I have liked to have said that instead? That really is more encouraging and empowering. And I thought about it and I really re-envision that situation so that I can really get a sense for that, that decision that I would like to make in the future rather than beating ourself up for things which I don't know about you, but I'm really good at something I'm working on.

00;15;28;08 - 00;15;53;09
Speaker 1
So how can you use your evening experience to really nurture and regulate your nervous system so that you have a deeper sleep? You're more rested when you wake up and again you are nourishing and regulating consistently so that the symptom of anxiety doesn't pop up as much, right? So see how all of these pieces, all of these components really support each other.

00;15;53;12 - 00;16;20;21
Speaker 1
And this is the toolset that I use. So all of these tools combined, I call them the mindful strength method. And so that's really the combination of morning routines, routines, exercise, as well as sleep journaling, all of these different components, mental fitness, right? All of the saboteur dialogs that we've been speaking to and that really it's it's a holistic approach to life and to navigating all of these challenges that will happen for all humans.

00;16;20;24 - 00;16;40;27
Speaker 1
But especially as entrepreneurs, we have a lot of challenges and maybe more stress. And so what can you do to support your system at the deepest level of your nervous system so that it doesn't need to whisper these challenges to you? And I mean, some of us are more are more prone to be anxious, right? One of my top saboteurs is the hypervigilance.

00;16;41;04 - 00;17;03;25
Speaker 1
So I am very prone to that. Overanalyzing situations which can lead to anxiety. And so it's also something I know about myself. And so I know that it's a default pattern when I'm stressed out. So what can you do to lower your stress levels on an ongoing, consistent basis so that anxiety doesn't show up as much or maybe at all?

00;17;03;27 - 00;17;18;25
Speaker 1
And so what you're doing there is you're getting to the root of the issue because I don't know about you, but yeah, Band-Aids are great, but I want to get to the root of the issue. I want to resolve it at the deepest level so that your nervous system and your body doesn't have to keep giving you these signals like something's wrong.

00;17;18;25 - 00;17;35;26
Speaker 1
Hello. Something is off in here. So we want to get down to the root of it and the root of it is regulation. The root of it is fiber, and half the root of it is thriving at your mind, at the level of your mind and your body and your spirit, which is what all of this is all about.

00;17;35;26 - 00;17;56;15
Speaker 1
So I hope that was helpful. I hope that you can begin to implement some of this. And thank you for learning how to use your mind like a powerful tool and really begin to move with intention to keep your body strong and healthy so that you can show up on purpose as your purposeful powerhouse self with a healthy and vibrant and regulated nervous system.

00;17;56;18 - 00;18;20;16
Speaker 1
So until next time, take good care. Oh yeah. And I mention this, but I'll mention it again in the show notes is a five minute mini workout to tone and tighten your tushy. Yes, but it's a great one for you to use if and when you're experiencing what we've been just talking about that you want to wake up and you want to do something for your body to get out of your head and into your body that will tone and tighten your tushy at the same time.

00;18;20;22 - 00;18;35;09
Speaker 1
Yes. But it will also help you to express some of that stress and really feel powerful and strong, confident in your body. So make sure to grab that. It will be in the show notes. And if you have any questions or anything, reach out to me. I would love to connect. I would love to hear what's landing for you.

00;18;35;17 - 00;18;46;11
Speaker 1
Thanks for sharing this on your social. I appreciate that. And if anything, land and you want to leave a review, that would be amazing as well. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Take care. Bye bye.

00;18;46;13 - 00;19;12;01
Speaker 2
Thank you so much for listening. I hope you really enjoyed this episode and got a lot out of it. Please let me know what landed for you by taking a screenshot and sharing your takeaways on your Instagram stories. Make sure to tag me at I am Meghan Dolan for a shout out and future episodes and don't forget to grab all the goodies that we mentioned during the episode because you're going to love them.

00;19;12;08 - 00;19;19;16
Speaker 2
So all the links are in the show notes. So until next time, cheers to you. Living on purpose every day.