Is anxiety just negative energy trapped within the mind that needs releasing?

[yaheythere]

If you are familiar with the author Paul David, author of "At Last a Life" and website "anxietynomore", he says "Anxiety is just negative energy trapped within the mind and body, the energy needs releasing".

I have been experiencing drastic ups and downs with my anxiety for 6 months. As I feel I should be getting better (since it has been half a year) as I had been seeing a therapist, meditating, taking yoga, practicing mindfulness, etc... I am perplexed- the past 2 days have been probably the worst in 6 months. I have no idea why, it just suddenly came on extra hard lately. Difficulty sleeping thru the nite, low energy, feel like crying all the time, chest always tight, and of course- the usual relentless rumination.

Has anyone experienced this 'negative energy release' that Paul talks about? I am wondering (hoping) thats what I am experiencing lately... or.. it might just be the fact that I have bad anxiety and I am not dealing with it properly.

Also.. any opinions on weather or not our anxiety is typically a

1) result of going thru a spiritual transformation
2) result of low serotonin level
3) result of years (or lifetime) of thinking negatively

Im just losing faith fast, no idea where to go from here.

[gypsylee]

Hey there yaheythere ;)

Are you male or female?

Either way, I think anxiety is possibly all three of those things. I'm not familiar with that author or webpage.. I'm sure he has lots of other stuff to say but that description (negative energy that needs to be released) sounds a bit simplistic. I can't really argue with that but in 20+ years I've never experienced some big release of negative energy and become anxiety-free. I've done a fair bit of "spiritual" work as well and yeah it just doesn't happen like that. I ask if you're m or f because I tend to have a "dark night of the soul" every month! Eckhart Tolle even talks about that in The Power of Now actually.

Cheers,
Gypsy x

[yaheythere]

I am male. Yes, read Power of Now.

I don’t recall Tolle going much into “Dark Night of the Soul”- Unless you mean when he describes, in the beginning the book, where he was ready to die. I feel like I have had many dark nights of the soul (to some extent), I feel like I have been going thru the dark night for the past 2 days. I don’t think I can take another day of work tomorrow, contemplating calling in sick (but I know that I shouldn’t, for Id just be giving into my fear) but my job is so boring, and the 9 hr day feels like 20 hrs when anxiety is bad.

Anyways.. do you seriously tend to have a "dark night of the soul" that frequently? Does not give me much hope.. how do you feel about medication? What has helped you the most? Do you meditate?

[martin05]

The brain doesn't even store its own energy. It's totally dependent on the blood for it. So I'm not sure where this trapped ball of negative energy lives, that suddenly bursts out of the mind like a gust of wind after following Paul's program.

I think what he means is that the psyche can have unresolved conflicts and traumas which can create ongoing negative emotional responses. I don't know why he didn't just say that, though?

Anxiety and mental health problems can sometimes get worse before they get better. But that's only because our psyches put up walls to protect against the pain and confusion of these conflicts. As we take down these walls to deal with our conflicts, things can feel quite scary and intense.

If you're taking down walls and confronting painful issues, that could be why your anxiety has worsened. It isn't because of any energy detox though. :)

[fixmybrokenmind]

This is a very interesting philosophy. I definitely believe that through years of negative thinking we train the negative parts of our brain to dominate the positive sides. In my experience serotonin has also made a big difference, I think each individual experiences anxiety for their own reasons but more than likely more than just one factor.

As for the release of negative energy...I have always found kickboxing or hitting a punching bag to be incredible therapeutic. I channel my worries and anger into the bag and it really helps calm me down.

[Kirk]

A psychologist once told me that the cause of anxiety is a combination of heredity and environment.

[gypsylee]

I am male. Yes, read Power of Now.

I don’t recall Tolle going much into “Dark Night of the Soul”- Unless you mean when he describes, in the beginning the book, where he was ready to die. I feel like I have had many dark nights of the soul (to some extent), I feel like I have been going thru the dark night for the past 2 days. I don’t think I can take another day of work tomorrow, contemplating calling in sick (but I know that I shouldn’t, for Id just be giving into my fear) but my job is so boring, and the 9 hr day feels like 20 hrs when anxiety is bad.

Anyways.. do you seriously tend to have a "dark night of the soul" that frequently? Does not give me much hope.. how do you feel about medication? What has helped you the most? Do you meditate?

I actually meant PMS, which Eckhart Tolle talks about in terms of the "Pain Body" :) And yeah, I get it bad but I meant "Dark Night of the Soul" mostly tongue-in-cheek. I don't have a nervous breakdown every month.

Medication? I'm screwed without it at the moment. I have been off meds but I'm a recovered alcoholic and been through a lot in the last 3 years. So I'd have to say meds are the thing that have helped me the most. But also having a decent support network including professionals who I know well and get along with, friends and this forum (my parents aren't very good with this stuff).

I don't really meditate in the traditional sense but I do try and practice mindfulness. Lately I've been reading novels a lot, which helps. I've read somewhere that the act of reading itself calms the nervous system and lowers blood pressure (but I need well-written books that I get fully immersed in, so not just any old thing). Music is also very important to me.

All the best,
Gypsy x

[Ponder]

Very interesting perspective you share there yaheythere. Not saying it's right or wrong BUT ... I Do Like It! ... LOL @ your tongue and cheek gypsy. After googling and going by what I have read repeatedly from the Eckhart Tolle in general:


THE PAIN BODY (http://www.detoxifynow.com/et_pain_body.html) is like a container which is made to house the essence of "A (https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1AVNE_enAU680AU680&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Eckhart+tolle+what+is+the+Pain+Body)nxiety (https://www.google.com.au/search?q=anxiety+define&rlz=1C1AVNE_enAU680AU680&oq=anxiety+define&aqs=chrome..69i57j5l3j69i59j69i60.1834j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)". Think of the "Pain Body" as a Negative Energy Field that occupies your mind and body; our emotional pain! It's an invisible entity in it's own right. Like all entities it wants to survive.

This emotional pain only comes into being once we consciously identity with it and once identified, it then thrives by feeding on itself. That is to say that pain begets pain and like any self aware entity that wants to keep existing, it will seek out more of what it needs to keep living → in this case; More Pain!!!

From what I am reading of likewise spiritual teachers, this is how our minds work and is part of the human condition. To understand this process can take years - life times. Much of that realization comes more from detachment rather than thinking. Echart Tolle talks a lot about DISIDENTIFICATION and in this context makes a lot of sense (to me) when it comes freeing ourselves from this negative energy - spawn from our mind.

To keep things short I will summarize with the following:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s-t5sR4OJE

In addition to the pain body is residual pain. Residual pain is the wake that comes after years of suffering. The planet/society has it's own residual pain which has passed a tipping point. But that's another story and perhaps one we would do well not to identify with. In some ways we need to disconnect from what we know as self (superficial identifications - consumerism and imprinted ideals bla bla bal)

Take heart in knowing that most of us feel the same way yaheythere - it's also known as the human condition. The good news is that more people are coming to understand how this process works and that there are ways to overcome it. I used to medicate and am still just as much a complex case since coming off chemical solutions for lifestyle related problems.

Yes I meditate ... but have of late been derailed by way of trivial distractions. Sometimes and help others times they do not.

The residual affect has left it's mark and as a result I now pull a pension. Just as the pain body, the invisible energy field feeds on what it must; my copping strategies are more about what I put into my body. Most of my conditioning is based on Natural Consumption and Minimalist living. I also avoid subscribing to what main streamers term as an ideal living. It's pretty much the same thing as what the pain body feeds on - more negative and self destructive conditioning. The trouble is ... like everyone else, my mind thrives on creating conflict by seeking out people, places, things and conditions that keeps it feeding. An involuntary process that requires effort in as much as how meditation is not about relaxation. Knowledge in not enough ... take a bit of doing. I am always in the process of reconditioning. Often trying too hard but affirming to my subconscious to do so effortlessly. The answer is inside the effort I guess. Just put one foot in front of the other and forget about the rest ... things just fall into place. Yadda yadda ... that's my musing at this point.

People struggle with communicating without their devices which makes it very hard to reach out without being identified to this of that ... is very hard when looking to make contact like that; so I do my best online to learn what I can and make friends but here at home behind my desk ... I turn more to nature. It is hard to look into to a sunset or watch is rising whilst having a hardened heart. Nature helps to ease the pain. It helps me to stop feeding that negative energy field. That pain body can not relate to anything other than itself ... least of all not peace, love, joy and beauty. Sadly the context of those terms have been worn out as much as everything else we have also abused.

I think "giving ourselves over" (living in sync) to nature is a great way of purifying ... detoxing ... releasing that negative energy as described in the process above. It's one thing to look at a sunrise/set but another to really feel it. Perhaps we would all do better to start feeling more of what is, rather than thinking about past or future. Like the end of the above video say's ... The Pain Body can't exist in the here and now, the present, which is why so many of us have a hard time living in it.

Edit → At the end of the day though, I will say this much ... "I am responsible for what I say, think, and feel!" To me that reminds me of just how powerful I really am - Negative energy wan't us to feel powerless. As long as I acknowledge just how much control I really do have ... well let's just say that mindset if a very powerful antidote to negative mindsets. It also bears saying that the way I come to such a view is not quite the same as a mainstream clinician would typically have others see. Although some of them are getting there ... rehashing but then sadly it all falls apart with the marketing.

I really don't know ... I am just learning like yourself and often in as much pain (is just part and parcel of being human) but this kind of relaying does help. Thx.

Keep positing ... great stuff.

[gypsylee]

My tongue is often in my cheek, Ponder ;) Hard to convey in text sometimes though.

Anyway, I read The Power of Now a few years ago so it's a bit hazy, but I distinctly remember him talking about how the Pain Body is activated strongly in women when they are pre-menstrual ie. the week before their period. That's why it's always good for men to know when their wife/girlfriend is PMSing (so they don't get killed! LOL).

[Ponder]

LOL ... I remember that too. That was him showing a bit of tongue and cheek. He also came up with a lot more scenarios that equally shared the burden of needless suffering.

I appreciate the tongue and cheek however I am so tired of the whole gender mentality no matter what side one stands. The pain is equally shared and is as detrimental no matter what gender a person is. ThePain Body cannot be genderized (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/genderized)although many try. ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz If anyone wishes to claim they are suffering more, I am sure they will suffer all the more.

Personally I think dealing with the drama that comes between sexes is more draining than anything nature has to throw at us ... the drama between each cycle is bad enough. Everyone want to be a victim. I'd rather live on a planet with no sex at all. (I still yearn every now and then ... but for me is more a passing phase that leads to no end) The latter takes a back seat when it comes to spiritual enlightenment and also quickly wanes once one discovers just how short life really is. Alas ... people will get caught up in such dramas that continues to divide and create more conflict; which after all is exactly what the pain body wants.

[BrilliantSide]

I don't think there is any one thing that completely releases anxiety from your life.

Epiphany moments sometimes happen, but that doesn't mean that you will be stress free. You are going to have good days and bad days. You are going to have good months and bad months.

The purposes of mindfulness, yoga, CBT, etc... is to make those bad times a lot shorter, and to better able to manage them.

I practice meditation on a daily basis, I work out, and I'm heavily involved in mental health since my job is as a medical hypnotist. Even I have bad days sometimes, or bad weeks.

Is my life now controlled by anxiety, OCD, or depression anymore? No. I would say a lot of the long term work I've done has prevented those things from controlling my life. However, they are beasts still in my psyche that can grow if I feed them.