Starving Anxiety

Starving.

That’s what I was just shy of six years ago.

Physically starving as overnight I became allergic to the most common foods.

Spiritually starving as I yearned for God to talk to me and make me feel as I were His.

Emotionally starving as I sought others who survived their own brokenness.

My body was broken. My anxiety was through the roof. My faith was hanging by a thread.

Do you ever find yourself starving?

Every Anxious Thought

Interviewing women who struggle with anxiety, I have noticed a common trend of living with constant fears.

Many of the fears are grounded in the reality of the worst-case scenario: I will get into a car crash, I will fall off the sidewalk and be run over, my daughter will die of starvation from lack of breast milk, someone might come to this location and start shooting.

It means living with a constant certainty that something will go wrong.

Through my teen years and twenties, I was convinced that I would not live past the age of 35. I could not tell you why; I just had this premonition I would die young.

Now, at 38, I can safely tell you that this fear did not come true.

Nor did my baby die from last of breastmilk, any of the planes I rode on crash, any of the cars I rode in get into an accident, any spider that bit me kill me, or any panic attack I had send me to the hospital.

No, these things did not happen. But there is something about anxiety that can layer constant fear into every thought and every situation.

And so those of us living in this constant barrage of worst-case thinking begin to starve.

Anxiety Starves

Anxiety starves women of living.

We are robbed of being present in the moment as we fight to stave off their fears, heaviness on our chests, the inability to catch our breath, or stop tremors. It keeps us from sleeping at night and being rested for the next day. It makes us irritable, hangry, nervous, and self-isolating.

Anxiety starves us of being better moms. It debilitates our sex lives and strains our marriages. It isolates us from others who simply do not or cannot understand this drama that is “all in our head.”

So we quit.

We quit going places, trying new things, attempting to make friends.

Sometimes we start. Drinking. Self-medicating.

We become starved from living a joyful life.

God is Greater Than Anxiety

When God created the earth, and even after the Fall, He did not want us to live in a constant state of fear. In fact, Jesus tells His disciples,

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:22-26)

God created us to live lives of abundance. Jesus shares that “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 ESV).

An abundant life bears fruit. The vine is planted, tended to, and flourishes. Then there is the beauty of pollination, where the life from one vine is carried to another and allows it to flourish as well.

We cannot do this if we are always starving.

But I have good news.

God is greater than your anxious thoughts!

You Were Born to Heal

Sometimes I know that it does not feel like God is enough.

This is one of the ingenious ploys of the Enemy.

He feeds on your starvation. The more you starve, the fatter he gets, and the more room he takes in your mind and body. Think of him as a darkness that is pushing out the ability for your body to see the light.

The good news is, God is light and light will always outshine the darkness. The key is to learn how to push out the darkness so you can refilter in the light.

Anxiety is often rooted in one of four areas:

• Neurotransmitter depletion

• Stress response dysfunction

• Thyroid dysfunction

• Hypothalamus pituitary axis dysfunction

How do these occur?

It is different for every woman. Generally a combination of adverse life events, stress responses, toxicity, isolation, and physical strains lead those struggling with anxiety into dysfunctionality in at least one of these four root areas.

But God created us to heal!

He gave us tools that we can utilize every day to strengthen our minds, bodies, and spirits against the Enemy’s darkness. Then, over time, that darkness begins to dissipate and the light filters in.

Suddenly, you begin to heal.

You no longer fear being in an accident every time you get in a car or plane. You no longer fear an active shooter coming to every ceremony you attend.

You become more present. A better mom. A better wife.

You begin to realize you enjoy trying new things and going new places.

And your radiance begins to rub off on others so that they, too, get a glimpse of the light within you and begin a healing journey of their own.

How Do I Starve Anxiety?

So how do you release the grips of the Enemy and shed the anxiety for good?

By engaging in the following Restorative Practices every day:

• Agape Love Practices – saturate yourself in God’s unconditional love daily

• Plasticity Practices – retrain your brain and nervous system to manage stress more effectively

• Nutritional Practices – incorporate fasting and eat a whole foods, nutrient dense diet

• Physical Wellness Practices – get adequate sleep, increase range of motion, and move each day

These practices can directly impact each of the root causes of anxiety listed above. Daily engagement in each area, over time, will increase your energy, shake off the negative thoughts, and open your body to more readily receiving God’s light and love.

If you would like to learn more about these Restorative Practices, email me at kristie@nourishingrootsmindbodyspirit.com. I would love to talk with you.

Blessings,

Kristie

Disclaimer: Nourishing Roots: Mind, Body, Spirit Inc. and its volunteers and employees offer general non-medical nutrition and lifestyle recommendations that are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease or illness. All advice given is strictly recommended based on our education and experience with nutrition and wellness and constitutes general non-medical advice. Clients are urged to seek medical approval before embarking on any physical fitness program or nutrition or wellness plan.