The Anxiety Equation: Why Everything Feels Too Much Sometimes
Anxiety often shows up when something feels too big, too fast, or too unfamiliar to handle. But what’s actually happening beneath the surface?
Here’s a simple formula that can help us understand the nature of anxiety:
Anxiety = Overestimation of Threat ÷ Underestimation of Coping Capacity (and Resources)
This isn't a clinical rule—it’s a useful perspective. Often, it’s not the situation itself that causes overwhelming anxiety, but how we perceive the threat and our ability to deal with it.
The Hidden Power of Resources
We all have resources—many more than we realize. Some are internal (resilience, past experience, creativity), some are external (supportive people, safe spaces, routines), some are emotional or relational, and some are even cultural or environmental.
The problem is, in moments of anxiety, our nervous system can “switch off” access to them. It’s not that the resources disappear—it’s that we lose sight of them. That’s why part of our work together is to map these resources out, to name them, and to bring them into conscious awareness.
And awareness is not enough. We also need to embody them.
It’s one thing to know you have supportive friends or a calming breathing technique. It’s another to feel that support in your body, to practice that breath until it becomes second nature, to experience safety rather than just think about it.
This embodied experience is what makes resources truly available when stress or panic hits.
Building Resources Through Practice
In our sessions, we don’t just identify what’s already there—we also build new resources through simple but powerful practices. By repeating these tools in a safe setting, they become more natural and accessible in real-life situations. That way, when your system goes into fight-or-flight, you have something reliable to lean on.
Think of it as building a personal “resource library” that’s not only mental, but physical—something your whole body remembers.
Rebalancing the Equation
Now, what about the other side of the anxiety equation—the overestimation of threat?
This is where somatic work changes the game. Through nervous system education and practical exercises, we shift how your body interprets stress. Instead of automatically perceiving danger, your system learns to recognize safety cues, to regulate, and to reframe.
For many people, this is a huge relief: finally understanding that anxiety is not a personal weakness, but a nervous system state that can change.
Putting It All Together
Anxiety = Overestimation of Threat ÷ Underestimation of Resources
When we start to see the full picture, everything changes. We realize:
Threat isn’t always as big as it feels.
Resources are far greater than we thought.
And with practice, we can shift the balance.
This is the essence of our work together: discovering, embodying, and expanding your resources, while gently reshaping your body’s response to stress. Step by step, the equation of anxiety becomes less overwhelming—and you begin to feel more grounded, capable, and at ease.
