Anxiety Interrupted By Gratitude

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Anxiety can often feel like an insurmountable wall, but what if the key to overcoming it lies in gratitude? This episode offers a personal account of how embracing gratitude, especially from a Christian perspective, can transform your mental landscape. I candidly share the trials of a particularly overwhelming week filled with disrupted sleep, eating issues, and panic attacks. Yet, through the power of prayer and the wisdom of Philippians 4:6-7, a shift towards gratitude brought profound relief and peace. We explore how the amygdala, a tiny part of our brain, responds to gratitude and why this practice can be a potent antidote to fear.

As we journey through these themes, I can't help but express immense gratitude to each of you for being part of the Well podcast community. Your support means everything, and as Thanksgiving approaches, it's the perfect time to reflect on the importance of gratitude and connection. I invite you to subscribe, share the episode with friends, and leave a review if our conversation resonated with you. Let's cherish the gift of community, the divine peace that gratitude brings, and celebrate this festive season together in warmth and thanksgiving.

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What is The Well?

Facing trauma is a challenging journey, but I share my story with the hope that it might inspire you to gather the strength to take a step toward progress. Remember, with the presence of Christ, there are no limits to what you can conquer.

Speaker 1: Hey everyone and
welcome back to the Well, I'm

your host, drew Gabrielle, and
I'm so happy that you are with

me today.

Today, we're diving into
something really close to my

heart overcoming anxiety with
gratitude, especially through a

Christian lens.

If you've been feeling
overwhelmed, anxious or like the

weight of the world is pressing
in on you, this episode is for

you.

I'll share a personal story,
some practical tips and a

scripture that has been
transformational for me, but

first let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we come before
you with open hearts, seeking

your peace that surpasses all of
our understanding.

Thank you for the gift of
gratitude, for teaching us to

see your goodness even in hard
times.

Lord, we ask that you meet each
listener where they are, calm

their anxious hearts and help
them to embrace your love and

provision.

May this conversation glorify
you and bring encouragement to

those who need it the most.

We give you all the praise and
thanksgiving In Jesus' name,

amen.

The last week was really tough
for me.

I experienced a really big
trigger in my life and, as a

result, I wasn't eating or
sleeping well and I was having

really bad anxiety attacks, not
just before bed but also while I

was sleeping.

I would wake myself up in a
panic, and it was really rough,

and I felt like I was stuck in
this survival mode and I felt

like, in the moment, I was
having a hard time pulling

myself out.

But I'm very grateful for the
village around me because they

are amazing, and I have been
doing my best to make sure I

lean on my village because I've
been so independent when it

comes to my emotions and things
of that nature.

But we have people and your
support system is gifted to you

by God for a purpose.

This week, though, something
actually shifted for me and I

started to feel like myself
again, and I also realized that

it's really hard to think
logically when your body is

reacting to anxiety physically
especially because, like, your

heart is racing, your chest is
tightening and a lot of things

feel like they are impossible to
control.

And even with, like, therapy
tools and stuff, I felt like it

was hard to focus on using those
because it just was those,

because it just was and a little
tip here, a little therapy tip

that my therapist taught me it
is better for you to use those

tools if any of you are in
therapy before you get to that

state of being mid-anxiety
attack or in this anxious state,

stressful situation because
it's a lot harder to calm the

body down once you're already in
it.

So, anyways, monday night I was
on my way to buy a birthday gift

for a friend and as I was
driving I started to feel

overwhelmed and I started to
pray.

And as I was praying, I just
began pouring out my heart to

the Lord and something really
powerful happened, and it was

when I had shifted my focus to
all of the things I was grateful

for, versus all the actually
literally feel.

The anxiety and stress from the
previous week leave my body,

and it was honestly an
experience that I've never

really experienced before.

It kind of reminded me of what
I had talked about in my

previous episode about how our
body will keep score even if our

mind has moved on.

And also, guys, just a little
disclaimer, in this episode I'm

going to be like nerding out
here.

Anybody who knows me knows I
love Jesus, but I also love the

brain, everything that has to do
with the brain.

I love the way it works.

I'm fascinated with the way it
works.

I am fascinated with trauma and
the way it impacts the brain.

I'm fascinated with learning
disabilities.

I'm fascinated with all things
the way it impacts the brain.

I'm fascinated with learning
disabilities, I'm fascinated

with all things neuroscience,
and so I'm probably going to

nerd out a little bit, because I
got a lot of facts to bring you

.

But I learned that, although the
body keeps score, our act of

gratitude and our mindset of
gratitude can actually interrupt

that scorekeeping.

And so I sat in my car and I
had a grateful heart and the

Lord actually reminded me of a
scripture in Philippians.

It's Philippians 4, verse 6
through 7, and it says do not be

anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and

supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known

to God, and the peace of God,
which surpasses all your

understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus.

Now, I have read this verse so
many times, but this time

specifically, god had
highlighted that word,

thanksgiving to me, and it's so
fitting for the current season

that we are in, especially with
the holidays and it actually

being Thanksgiving week.

I thought that that was really
cool, that the Lord had kind of

circled that in.

But anyways, I had realized that
gratitude is often overlooked

in this passage.

That gratitude is often
overlooked in this passage, and

as I was telling God about all
the things I was grateful for.

And I was meditating on the
scripture in my car, the Lord

spoke to me and he said, drew,
gratitude is a weapon against

the spirit of fear, and in every
situation you must find

something to be grateful for.

You have the ability right To
find something that you are

grateful for.

Sometimes it's hard when you
allow yourself to be anxiety

driven, but you have to find
something you're grateful for

because it's a weapon.

So, like I said, I'm gonna nerd
out really quick because

there's a lot of science behind
anxiety and gratitude.

I don't think it's a
coincidence that anxiety and

gratitude.

I don't think it's a
coincidence that anxiety and

anxiousness is kind of paired
with gratitude and thanksgiving

in some of the scriptures in the
Bible.

I think that that is on purpose
, because there is actual

scientific explanations for how
gratitude helps with anxiety,

and so I'm going to share some
of these explanations with you.

There's a part of our brain and
I'm not going to say it because

I know I won't say it right.

I don't know how look up the
word amygdala.

I Googled how to pronounce it.

It's your best friend, Google
literally for everything.

I should have done that to
begin with.

But yes, the amygdala is what
I'm referring to in this piece

of the podcast, and this part of
the brain is what processes

fear and anxiety, and research
has shown that when we practice

gratitude, this part of the
brain is less active, which I

thought was really cool.

I feel like I thought it was
cool because it gave me like a

physical or tangible I don't
even know the right word.

It validated my experience in
the car, where I actually felt

anxiety and stress leave my body
.

Another thing I want to share is
that gratitude also will engage

positive neural networks in our
brain, which helps shift the

focus from fear-based thinking,
and there is research that backs

this up.

Okay, in 2015, there was a
study showed that people who

practiced gratitude journaling
experienced reduced anxiety and

depression over time, and
studies from UC Berkeley found

that gratitude not only reduces
stress, but it also promotes

resilience.

It's a weapon, because when we
stop dwelling on the what ifs,

we can focus on what actually is
.

We can be present right.

And so there are a few
practical gratitude practices

that I'm going to share with you
guys, because I just feel like

it's important to live a life of
gratitude, and I feel like this

is something that the Lord just
wants to highlight to his

children, because I see a lot of
it.

This is a natural human
response to certain things in

our lives that we go through,
but God has given us tools to

overcome these things, and we
have to be able to, like, do our

research and understand why he
says the things that he says in

his word, cause every single
word is there on purpose, like

you can easily read that
scripture in Philippians and

just miss the whole Thanksgiving
part, but it's like no, no, no,

no, no.

Why is it there, though there's
a reason for it being there,

and there's other scriptures in
the bible that talk about

thanksgiving paired with
overcoming anxiety.

It's important to know, too,
that gratitude is not a feeling.

It's not just a feeling, I
should say right, I can feel

gratitude, but it's also a
practice, and it's something

that should be practiced every
single day, every single day,

daily, right, by gratitude
journaling, you can write down

three things that you're
grateful for every morning you

rise or every night before you
go to bed, and you can be

detailed, right, with those
things.

It's important because when you
specify why you are grateful

for something, it does something
deeper to you, and that's just

me speaking from my own personal
experience, like a lot of the

times we're just like oh, I'm
grateful for my mom, no, no, no,

no, but why?

Why, that's where, like it, it
really hits deep and it really

heals the soul, because you
realize so much.

You know, I'm grateful for my
mom because she helped me figure

out this problem that I had and
it led me to this.

And now I'm doing this, like
you know, you have to specify

why it is that you are grateful
for the things that you are

grateful for.

The next thing is to embody
gratitude.

The body keeps score and
because our physical bodies have

a reaction to negative things
in our life, negative emotions,

then of course it's going to
have physical reactions to the

positive emotions in our life,
and so it's important to know,

like, how does gratitude feel to
me in my body?

Is it a sense of calm, is it
warmth, is it peace?

You know, and you sit with that
feeling, and it allows you to

deepen your connection with what
it is you're grateful for in

that moment.

Another thing is praying a
prayer of gratitude.

Right, you can make gratitude,
or actually you should be, as a

Christian, making gratitude a
central part of your prayers.

You thank God for what he's
done.

You thank him for who he is and
you thank him for what he is

going to do For me this year.

Specifically, I am grateful for
my sister.

My sister has been a huge
support person for me, a safe

place for me, and she was one of
the ones I was talking to the

Lord about, because I have an
incredible sister.

She's my younger sister, but I
was telling the Lord Lord, I

don't know why you made me the
older sister, because I

sometimes feel like she should
have been the older sister,

because she's so wise, she's
beautiful inside and out and

she's who she is and I admire
that and I'm grateful that she

is who she is and she stands in
who she is authentically,

because it's inspiring.

Ew, hopefully she's not
listening, joking, if she is.

I love you, nikki.

We don't get into that often,
but she knows I love her and if

you hear my dog barking, I
apologize.

I don't know why she's barking.

It's actually almost one
o'clock in the morning on

Thursday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

So I don't know what her issue
is.

But to wrap this all up, I just
want to say that Thanksgiving is

a lifestyle.

Okay, it's not just a holiday,
it's not just something we do

one time a year.

Gratitude is something that we
should and that we can practice

daily, and it's a tool that God
has given us to fight anxiety

and experience his peace, and so
I encourage you to take that

with you today.

I want you to take a moment to
reflect on that, reflect on what

you're grateful for, write it
down right.

Every single year, we probably
I know for my family we hold

hands before we eat, say our
prayer, and then we go around

and each person says something
that they're thankful for, and I

think it's time that we go a
little bit deeper.

Why are you grateful for it?

Number one and number two let's
not just make this something

that we do once a year.

Thank you all for tuning into
the Will podcast.

I hope that you enjoyed this
episode.

If you did, be sure to
subscribe, share it with a

friend or even leave a review.

Let's continue this journey
together.

Take care and happy, happy
Thanksgiving.

Bye, guys.