Managing Anxiety: The Fear Journal
Last week I started doing something interesting; keeping a fear journal.
In a recent cycle of extreme anxiety that was causing me to wake up with my jaw clenched, I came across Anna Runkle (aka The Crappy Childhood Fairy) and her Daily Practice.*
The idea is that all your anxiety, anger, or discomfort is really centered around one thing - fear. This is especially true if your anxieties are generally rooted in trauma.
Writing all my fears has helped me to unload, as well as assess the rationality of each, so I can continue my day with a renewed sense of inner calm.
This is how to do it:
- Set aside at least 10 minutes with your pen and a piece of paper or your journal.
- Start every sentence with 'I fear'; even if the feeling of fear may not be what you think you're feeling at the surface.
For example:
I fear that being tired all the time is leading me to underperform at work. I fear that this cycle of anxiety will never end. I fear that when my partner left this morning without saying 'goodbye' (which irritated me at the time), it's because they no longer love me. I fear that the contractor I hired does not respect me, which is why the deadlines keep being missed. I fear that if the project fails, my colleagues and company will not trust me anymore. - Write as much or as little as your need.
- When you are done, give yourself permission to let go by writing something like the below. Feel free to personalize; the key thing is simply to release your fears:
I now release these fears and worries. I seek guidance and clarity on what I should focus my energies on for the rest of the day.
You don't have to keep the fears you've written down; Anna even suggests writing on scrap paper and ripping it up when you're done. The point is to get your fears of your system, not to ruminate.
*I have found Anna's advice for overcoming CPTSD extremely valuable in general. If you are looking for some guidance, I would suggest taking a look at her YouTube channel. (CPTSD is slightly different from PTSD and caused by prolonged exposure to trauma. You can find more out about this here).