When Anxiety Strikes

Help and Hope for Managing Your Storm

Jason B. Hobbs, Dena Douglas Hobbs

• Publisher: Kregel Publications
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780825477010
• Topic: Développement personnel
• Subtopic: Amélioration personnelle

Manage or prevent anxiety using faith-based methods "Fear not." "Do not be afraid." "Peace be with you." Phrases like these appear in the Bible more often than almost any other proclamation. We long to follow these commands. Yet for many, something inside us is wary, ready for anything and everything to go wrong. In fact, a quarter of Americans struggle with anxiety disorders--and Christians are not immune.Jason and Dena Hobbs are familiar with this struggle, professionally and personally--Jason as a clinician, Dena as someone with anxiety, and both as pastors of congregations full of anxious people. They also know the shame and confusion that so often accompany these disorders, especially for people who think their faith should be strong enough to overcome these struggles. With their deep understanding, they've written When Anxiety Strikes, an eight-week guide to managing anxiety, grounded in both Scripture and research.Structured for daily reading, with integrated practices for everyday life, the book addresses seven themes: breath, body, movement, mind, change, spirit, and community. Concise stories, readings, questions, and activities guide readers to tackle the realities of living with anxiety. When Anxiety Strikes offers real solutions to find a solid landing place when the storm of fear looms.

CHAPTER 1

BREATH

DAY 1

LOSS OF BREATH

Read Ezekiel 37:1–14

Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. (v. 9)

THE PICTURE WE SEE AT the beginning of this passage from Ezekiel is bleak. All signs of life for the Israelite people are gone. There is no joy in them, no movement, no breath. All that is left is a valley of dry bones. At times, this is what it feels like to suffer from anxiety and panic. The fear with which we struggle can at its worst completely take over our life. Once vibrant people become almost unrecognizable shadows of themselves as anxiety steals moments and days from them and the ones they love.

There are certainly times when I have felt this way. Fear over one thing or another begins to limit my choices and activities. At times my world has gotten small and sad. And the breath. One of the sure signs my anxiety is flared up is that I have trouble getting what feels like a good breath. My inhales are shallow and constricted. I hold some of my exhales back for fear that breath will not return. Even though I fear my impending death, I am alive, but not fully. I am not alive in the way that God wishes for me to be.

From the midst of this anxious place, consider the miracle of Ezekiel’s vision. If you read the entire passage, you may hear the echoes of the old spiritual “Dem Bones”—one bone connected to the other. That is the vision, bone by bone, sinew by sinew. And after Ezekiel prophesies to the bones and sinews and the Israelites start to look like people again, there is still one thing missing. There is one last element that means life to a human … breath. And then Ezekiel prophesies to the breath, and the breath comes and the people rise up alive. Full life has truly returned to the people once again.

The beauty of this miracle is that breath and life can be returned to us as well. God does not wish for us to live a life of fear but instead one of fullness and joy. But how do we receive this Ezekiel-like gift of reviving breath? Our first small step in returning to fullness of life will be learning to breathe again, and the first practice we learn is that of diaphragmatic breathing. This deep belly breath triggers our parasympathetic nervous system to relax, and it reverses the effects of anxiety. It is a great tool to practice not only when you feel your anxiety rising and panic coming on, but also on a daily basis to keep your body running calmly.

We’ll be exploring the practice of breath each day this week in a slightly different way. We hope that in doing so you will be able to feel God’s healing Spirit blow into your brokenness, not to destroy but to rebuild. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. This week we’ll take steps to receive this gift of abundant life, one breath at a time.

Daily Exercise: Basic Belly Breath

Today you will learn how to use the muscle below your lungs that enables the breath, your diaphragm. Find a comfortable position sitting or lying down. Do this in a place and at a time when you can be uninterrupted for five to ten minutes. Bringing your focus to the diaphragm, the thin muscle that separates the abdomen from the chest, helps you take a deep, full breath. The contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm muscle is what helps us breathe. When you inhale, the diaphragm curves down, causing your belly to expand out. When you exhale, the diaphragm releases back up, and your belly falls.

To practice deep, diaphragmatic breathing, place your hand above your belly button and gradually tune into the breath. With your next inhalation, let your breath deepen to the point that your belly rises and presses out into your palm. Continue to take deeper and deeper inhalations so that your belly continues to puff out like an inflated balloon. On your exhalation release all the breath out, nice and slow. Allow the next inhalation to naturally fill your lungs deeply again. Practice this belly breathing for five minutes. As you breathe, allow yourself to gently receive more fullness of life with each full breath. When you are finished allow your breath to return to a natural flow. Notice if your body or mind feels any different. You can repeat this breathing exercise anytime you wish or feel the need to do so.

Reflection

Take a few minutes, maybe after using the breathing exercise for today, to think about when you have felt “fully alive.” Write a bit about that time or place.

What do you need to connect with again so that those feelings of dryness, of death, can become life and movement, filled with the breath of God?

DAY 2

GIFT OF BREATH

Read Genesis 2:4–9

Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. (v. 7)

I LOVE THIS BEAUTIFUL PASSAGE from Genesis. In contrast to the grand, sweeping creation story in the first chapter of Genesis, Genesis 2 shows us a God who carefully and specifically creates Adam. I can imagine God sitting on the new earth, slowly shaping the first human with great love and the materials of dust, dirt, and mud! We are gritty creatures for sure. God designed us to be more than a soul floating in space or some mind on a pedestal. We are embodied creatures. Crafted from the earth itself, with fingernails to catch dirt and toenails that collect sand so that we might remember from whence we came. Bodies called “good” and blessed by God. And how does God bring this enfleshed creature to life? He breathed breath into Adam’s nostrils, and Adam exhaled.

But these bodies of ours have limits, don’t they? From dust we came and to dust we shall return. In the meantime, we have plenty of peculiarities and struggles with these clay-made vessels. My own body is unique and wonky, with ticklish feet, moles on its neck, and a shoulder that gets sore and achy when I carry too much. And then there is the heart that races when I am scared, the gut that wrenches in times of stress, and the hands that tremble. Not to mention the strange, unexplained tingling sensations that occur in random places when panic sets in. Anxiety is a disorder of the body as much as it is a struggle of the mind or spirit.

But God blesses even this anxiety-prone body. God blesses it and calls it good. Frustrating as it can be, my anxious body has taught me to slow down and attend to the gift of God’s breath and Spirit in my life. As long as I learn to live in and work with my body, these sometimes trembling hands can serve and praise their Creator. Anxiety is only part of the dirt that reminds me where I came from and then calls me back to my Creator’s lips.

Daily Exercise: Three-Part Breath Awareness

Find a comfortable sitting or lying position in a place and at a time when you will not be interrupted for a while. Let your attention drift to your breathing, and become aware of its flow. Place your hand on your belly as with the diaphragmatic breath, and allow your breathing to gradually slow and deepen. As your breath flows down to the bottom of your lungs, be aware of your belly pressing into your hand. Spend a minute or two focused on this sensation of belly breath. Next, move one hand over to your body’s side, along your lower ribs. See if you can feel your ribs rise outward into your palm when you breathe. Feel the sensation of your breath expanding into the ribs God knit together in your good creation. Now, move one hand to your collarbone. As your breaths deepen, your collarbone will rise at the top of your inhalation. The upper body and shoulders can be a place where we hold tension. Let your upper body and shoulders relax on each exhalation. Feel the sensation of your chest smoothly rising and falling with your slow, steady breaths. Finally, let your attention move to your back. If you are sitting in a chair or lying down, notice how your back presses into the support behind you when you inhale and releases when you exhale. Again, if you are holding any obvious tension in the back, softly let it release on your exhales. Take one more minute to feel the sensation of your upper body receiving God’s gift of breath: the belly, the chest, your sides, and back. Let this breath bless and heal your mind, body, and soul. Let your body return to a normal, easy inhale and exhale. Notice any differences in body, mind, or spirit since you began the exercise.

Reflection

Dena writes about her physical experience with anxiety. What symptoms let you know you are starting to feel anxious? Part of learning coping skills is recognizing the beginnings of the anxiety. Contrary to how we sometimes feel, anxiety does not happen all of a sudden. Typically there are small signs before a full panic attack occurs. Take a minute to think about and write down your small signs.

As you think about these signs, know that God blesses them, even in the areas in your life that feel broken. Part of knowing God’s grace and forgiveness in our lives is allowing grace and forgiveness into our broken places.

DAY 3

EMBRACING MOVEMENT

Read Psalm 23

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me. (v. 4 NKJV)

AT ITS VERY WORST, ANXIETY expresses itself as a fear of death. Panic attacks are such real, powerful events that the sufferer actually feels they are in danger of dying. Pain in the chest and the pounding of the heart can make us think we are having a heart attack, no matter our age or health.

When our anxiety is not expressing itself in a fear of death, there is the fear of life. If I go to that store again, will I have another panic attack? What if I get sick on our vacation—maybe we’d better just stay home. Thoughts and fears like these can make life smaller and smaller until there is little “safe” space left. Untreated panic disorder can lead to agoraphobia, which begins when the sense of panic becomes so large and the fear of having the next panic attack so strong that no place feels safe, except possibly home.

Once we become stuck at home as a result of our fear, we become just that … stuck. We are not traveling, walking, dancing, or moving in any significant way. If you have experienced this as I have, you know how it can steal your joy. As human beings, we were designed for movement. Look at your legs and roll your shoulders. This body was meant to get out and move!

In the beloved Twenty-Third Psalm, our lives with God are beautifully described with the metaphor of a shepherd with his sheep. Notice how much the sheep in this passage are moving. The shepherd leads them to green pastures, then to watering holes, along good paths, and even through dark valleys. The sheep and shepherd move through life together. This is precisely what God desires for you and me. God wants to lead us to good and beautiful places, if only we can get unstuck. Sure, valleys can sometimes be dangerous, and the danger can be frightening. Going through difficult places may feel like more than we can ha...