The Anxiety Came Back... And It Taught Me Something Important

When anxiety hits you like a tonne of bricks.

Recently, I felt my old anxiety hit me like a tonne of bricks.

I'd been pretty good and still enjoying my break from Uni (although studies will be starting back in a couple of weeks!). There have been lots of positive changes in my business, including a website update, and everything has been feeling pretty peaceful.

Until that dreaded anxiety came.

You know what it's like, don't you?

The crushing weight. The nervous, flitting energy. The racing heart rate.

"What is going on!?" I found myself thinking.

I even felt disappointed in myself.

Because here I am, a therapist. I should be on top of these things.

And I had been.

But when I reflected on what life had been dishing up recently, I realised something.

When Life Gets Busy, Self-Care Is Often the First Thing to Go

My daughter had been sick.

Nothing major, just a cold or virus. Enough to keep her home from school for a week and wake me up a few times throughout the night.

While I was caring for her (in between clients), it also meant that all of my usual self-care tools had quietly slipped away.

It couldn't be helped, of course.

But it made me see something.

It wasn't until the anxiety hit me that I had the realisation:

"Oh... I haven't actually felt anxious for a while."

The Changes We Make Are Often Invisible

It made me realise that the positive changes we make in our lives are often so incremental and subtle that we don't always notice them happening.

All of my self-care tools had been working beautifully in the background.

But I didn't realise just how much they were protecting my peace until I stopped using them.

And that got me thinking about how often we overlook our own growth.

We tend to notice when we're struggling.

We notice when we're overwhelmed, exhausted, anxious, or stressed.

But we don't always notice when things are quietly getting better.

Real, lasting change rarely arrives with fireworks.

More often, it happens in the background while we're busy living our lives.

The Self-Care Tools That Had Slipped Away

Before I share these, please know that I'm someone who believes that what works for one person might not work for someone else.

So give these a try if they resonate with you. But don't be discouraged if they don't.

We're all unique.

And sometimes we need to practise a tool long enough to truly know whether it's helping.

The things that had quietly slipped away were:

🌿 Going to the gym and doing a weights workout

Not just exercising at home, but physically changing my environment and working up a sweat.

🌿 Having a magnesium Epsom salt bath at night

Relaxing my muscles, calming my mind, dimmed lights, spa music on.

🌿 Allowing for transition time before, between, and after clients

Quietly reflecting, lying on the floor, stretching, lighting a candle.

🌿 Listening to a sleep hypnotherapy track each night

A stress-relief track to help enhance deep sleep.

I swear by this one.

Sometimes I forget just how effective it actually is for me.

This is my version of meditation.

Honestly, there's nothing better than meditating yourself to sleep. 😂

Maybe Your Progress Is Happening More Than You Think

As for the anxiety?

I'm back on track, and it's released its grip on me once again.

This experience reminded me how easy it is to overlook our own growth because real, lasting change happens quietly in the background.

Sometimes we only realise how far we've come when a busy week throws us off track and shows us just how much our hard work was supporting us.

Maybe your progress is happening more than you think.

Maybe the routines, boundaries, habits, and self-care practices you've been building are helping more than you realise.

And maybe you don't need to be doing better.

Maybe you're already doing better than you give yourself credit for.