High-Energy Emotions
When talking about high-energy emotions such as anxiety and excitement, there is a specific state that is experienced in your body. We can thank the activation of your sympathetic nervous system for this. That’s the system that turns all the right things on for us to be alert and take action. What these things might look and feel like are sweaty palms, high heart rate, high breathing rate, increased blood pressure, dilated pupils, and blood supply shifting to the large muscles of the body.
You may or may not have noticed that when you feel excitement, motivated, or even elated these things happen in your body. Perhaps because you are in a more “positive” space mentally, this change in body state doesn’t bother you so much. I know that is definitely the case for me. However, when your physiological state shifts like this due to anxiety, this same body state can feel very uncomfortable.
My Experience
A little detour… My first awareness of this really began at competitions. I would be standing there about to do my routine, waiting for the judges to call my name. My heart rate would be so high that I was shaking, my breath rate wasn’t helping, basically hyperventilating. I felt fearful and that felt so counterproductive to what I was trying to do.
After a lot of time spent at university understanding the body systems, I had come to realise this was normal. In fact, this was helpful. I was about to perform something extremely physically demanding so I needed to be in a sympathetic state. This understanding of the need for a high-energy state made me realise I just had to shift my mental game. I needed to view this as ideal and useful and learn how to channel it. So way back then, was when the idea for this blog post was born.
Low-Energy Emotions
Detour over. So, the opposite is true of the parasympathetic nervous system. When it is active you experience more low-energy emotions. This may include feeling peaceful, sad, calm, or fatigued. What that might look and feel like is a slower heart rate, low breathing rate, decreased blood pressure, and blood supply shifting to the vital organs of the body.
The Main Message
What I’m really trying to say here is your brain may be able to tell the difference between high-energy emotions but the state your body is in looks almost IDENTICAL. Your body cannot really tell if you are anxious or elated! The same holds true for low-energy emotions. That’s right! Your nervous system doesn’t care if you’re sad or calm. Either way, you are sitting down, resting, and recovering… AKA not ready for action.
In this post, I will provide a tool we have formulated here at EMRG to help you better understand what emotion you are feeling and what energy state you are in. From here, you can decide if this emotion is necessary and appropriate in the current moment. If the answer is no, we then provide tools for you to shift your emotion or energy state.
Check out the tree diagram below and work through it to select a tool you will use when experiencing an emotion that is not ideal for your circumstance.
I’ll share some resources that I like to use in each of these domains that may be more niche and less intuitive.
Go from High to Low
Down-regulating breathwork; do the physiological sigh for a minimum of 5 breaths when feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Try some 1:2 ratio breathing, this may mean a 3-second inhale with a 6-second exhale. The idea of both of these is the longer exhale signals to your body it is time to rest and brings your heart rate down. This may also include a meditation that is centered around the breath and body awareness like Yoga Nidra.
Lie down. Yep, it’s as simple as it sounds! Lying down flat, on a decline angle (feet higher than your head and chest) or with your legs raised, quickly lowers your heart rate and blood pressure as well as sending the blood out of your muscles and into the vital organs to signify to the body it can rest.
Both chewing gum and getting a massage tell your body it can relax. The gum helps with saliva secretions hence turning on the “rest and digest” system and the massage, well that one is obvious.
Sit and listen to calming music or sounds. Nature sounds and slow music can help to naturally calm your body as well as some specific sounds to turn on the parts of your brain responsible for relaxation and rest. Look into binaural beats; there are many free apps you can find. Relaxation and reduced anxiety are linked to the binaural beats when using alpha sound waves at 8-13Hz.
Hell, you could do these all at once… Slow breathing while lying down, chewing gum, and listening to some binaural beats or a meditation. Maybe leave out the massage or do that at another time, I feel like that might be overkill.
Go from Low to High
Up-regulating breathwork; try hyperventilation for 30 breaths or for a more guided version of this try Wim Hof. The short sharp breaths will raise your heart rate and kick your body into action mode. If it is your first time trying it consider doing it lying down as sometimes hyperventilation can cause mild dizziness.
Now this may be an obvious one but… Get up and get moving! Pump some blood out to your muscles. Wave your arms around and sing, do some jumping jacks, run on the spot, or even do a whole workout. Whatever the goal is, showing your body it better be ready to move is a great option. Try HIIT to really get the heart pumping which you can read about in my recent blog.
Similar to the last one, listen to some upbeat music; a song that you can’t resist signing along to! Even when you’re at your lowest energy, you couldn’t possibly deny yourself a sneaky foot tap. Mine at the moment is Doja Cat – Get Into it (Yuh)… which very well could change in a week.
Cold exposure; Ah, the dreaded solution. The potentially MOST effective solution. Jump in a cold shower or ice bath! That is sure to get your heart rate up and put you into the ready-for-action state. Plus the mental benefits are awesome for building resilience, perseverance, self-confidence, and self-esteem. If you don’t have the option to do this you can put your hands and face in icy cold water! I wouldn’t recommend it if I hadn’t tried it myself. It is a game-changer! I will disclose however, the noisy thoughts telling you not to do it don’t get quieter but I guess that’s why it feels so much better when you beat them!
Incantations; this is what I like to call affirmations on steroids. It’s a concept that truly helped me with my fear and anxiety about training. I had tried normal affirmations and while they were good when I was calm. However, I didn’t get to the point where I believed them. Here, you yell and shout your affirmation as if it is your undeniable truth! You clap and move your body while doing it. This way you can change your physiological state at the same time as you are exclaiming your new identity! If you get the chance to do this alone I really recommend it, it truly changed my life.
Emotional Shifts
Most of these, dissimilar to the above, are mindset tools, things to question or think about. Some are physical tools but most require you to go deeper and shift your emotion with your mind.
Let’s start with staying in High-Energy
I will use the example here of staying in a high-energy state and moving from anxiety to motivation or excitement.
As above, a great tool here is the incantations to shift your negative thoughts at this moment, keep the body moving and tell yourself who you really are in the most positive and loving way.
You can also view the task at hand that is making you anxious as a challenge. It has been shown to reap much higher success rates to view the task as a challenge. This motivates you to do well rather than scare you into submission. Another great way to shift out of anxiety is to get the body moving. ‘Give your heart rate a reason to be high’ my friend Lily explained. This helps to change your focus. Plus, if you give it a really good go and do a workout… You get the awesome release of endorphins which make you feel happy!
Find a gratitude practice that you enjoy. I really like this one called priming. This will help to really shift your mindset into the present and what you already have. The future is where anxiety lives. Once again, there’s nothing like some upbeat music to get you out of the anxiety rutt and into the serious ‘take-action’ mode. Try something inspiring that you feel resonates with you at that moment.
Now, Let’s talk about staying in Low-Energy
I will use the example here of staying in a low-energy state and moving from sadness to calm.
Something I have personally found very useful in the past when I’m feeling disheartened or sad (P.s. this one also helps to calm anxiety) is to record myself talking. Even just saying your thoughts and feelings out loud to yourself. Sometimes when they come out of your mouth they sound silly and they are easier to process. Sometimes they don’t sound so silly and still hurt, but they are much harder to control before they have been articulated. I often find that I end up giving myself advice by the end of it. This gives you a chance to materialise your thoughts. Another way to do this is journaling which lots of people love. I prefer talking but both have the same impact. After a good download, you will feel lighter and more calm.
Another method to shift your emotional state is using a practice that moves you into the desired emotion by grounding you in the present. Sadness and depression live in the past. You may want to try a mindful practice or meditation in the form of a body scan. Even a calming breathwork practice as mentioned above in the high to low section, another option might be a movement practice like yoga. Yoga asks that you focus on the breath while gently moving the body. You can find many of these in free apps on the App Store, however for a long time I used the Bloom: Meditation and Sleep app which is paid and therefore has a much more versatile range of approaches imbedded in the app. Binaural beats also linked earlier can encourage the brain to go into a calm and relaxed state.
One final mindset tool I have for you today is to change the way you talk to yourself when you are sad. Instead of asking yourself questions that start with ‘Why’ for example ‘Why is this happening to me?’, ‘Why doesn’t anyone understand’. Catch yourself in your moment of Why’s and shift to ‘How and What’. What can I learn from this?, ‘How can I use this to grow?’ What was my part in this and how can I do better next time?’. Don’t get me wrong this is hard, and it certainly does not come naturally. But it does get easier and you will get better at it with practice. Even just the awareness of this means you have started developing the skill.
Final Words
By no means is any of the above an exhaustive list and there are many methods! I hope now you can understand the concept of what is happening in your body to help you make a choice that serves you. A final note is that talking to someone you trust and a qualified mental health professional works hand in hand with any and all of these techniques. This should always be prioritised.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It is important to consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting any new approach, particularly if you have any medical conditions, injuries, or concerns. The author and publisher of this post are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences that may arise from following the information in this post without appropriate professional medical supervision.
References
All materials are linked throughout.