The Anxiety of Life Transitions
When everything is shifting, your nervous system is taking notes.
You’re not falling apart.
But you’re not quite yourself either.
There is a great deal of uncertainty that has you perplexed.
You usually rely on friends to support your but that feels like it has been getting to be too much and is now straining those relationships.
It started slowly, so much you didn’t notice because the “big event” has struck you and “now it’s happening” all the sudden even if
it really was not.
Now suddenly this next big thing, though exciting be it your book launch, a promotion or a tragedy alike the sleepless nights have returned, the tension sinking down to your bones, the sudden on set of fatigue in your busy day, the difficulty in recalling what you were just working on now seems worse than ever.
Perhaps a relationship ended, and even though you understand what happened, the future you imagined changes suddenly, leaving you to make sense of what comes next.
Right now, for you “what comes next” really will determine the next several years of your life, and you have some choices to make.
These are NOT small things. And yet…
You need not do it alone.
The world keeps moving, and so did you.
Until the tension started finding other ways out and you noticed the irritability showing up in ways it usually wouldn’t.
The anxiety of this choice, the “pivotal moment” shows up as restlessness, or a low hum of dread even if it is a good thing, or a kind
of flatness that makes it hard to want much.
Not a breakdown. Just a growing sense that the life in front of you doesn’t quite match the one you expected.
You ask yourself, “Was I or am I really ready for this next step?” as your heart races a little.
Major transitions don’t just affect your circumstances.
They register in your body or in the somatic aspects of your awareness. Your nervous system is built for pattern recognition and
together we will explore these patterns as the are unique to you.
When the familiar structures disappear, the role, the relationship, the place, the plan, your system begins scanning for signals that
tell it what to do next. When those signals don’t come or are coming in too strongly or are too confusing the scanning doesn’t
stop.
It might just turns up the volume.
That’s not a weakness. That’s your system doing exactly what it was designed to do and under the pressure of his transition having
a space to dedicate to your well being will help you understand what to do next as this unfolds.
Transitions rarely come with clear instructions. But understanding what your nervous system is actually responding to is often
where steadiness begins to return along with the capacity to make wise choices on the path ahead.
Slow down and listen to your nervous system.
In our work together, we slow down enough to actually hear what your nervous system is communicating.
I draw on somatic awareness, mindfulness, and psychodynamic approaches (please see my blog for more understanding of my perspectives on this) to help you notice the signals your body is already sending, not as problems to override, but as information.
From there, we work to make sense of the meaning making that a tense, uncertain and out of wack nervous system has been
doing to influence your conclusions and choices, values beliefs and perspectives.
By attending to your emotional responses, your thoughts, and the signals of your nervous system as the work together in real
time, in our sessions I will guide you in begining building the kind of steadiness that lets you move through uncertainty without it
running the show. And ultimately giving your that sense of control you have been wanting.
You can find your footing again.
Transitions rarely resolve as we expect and often we can’t see “the forest for the trees,” when it comes to our own process during these times.
Anxiety will take over unbeknownst to us.
If you have found yourself experiencing increased stress during times of transition, please reach out, it might allow something
that is often stressful for many of us, feel like a time of transformation or at least not diminished capacity.
Why wait until this time takes it’s toll on you?
Reach out today for a free consultation, and let’s talk more about how I can support you.