When Anxiety Speaks Through the Body (and How to Listen)
We’ve all heard that anxiety is “in your head.”
But ask any neuropsychologist or any client I’ve worked with and you’ll find anxiety lives just as much in your body as it does in your thoughts. It’s a full-system experience.
From a clinical lens, anxiety activates your nervous system your heart races, muscles tense, your gut churns.
From an energetic lens, these same sensations are your soul waving a flag: “There’s something here that wants your attention.”
By definition - “An emotion characterized by apprehension and somatic symptoms of tension in which an individual anticipates impending danger, catastrophe, or misfortune.” (American Psychology Association - APA)
In last night’s group session, I saw this unfold step by step — and it perfectly mirrors the flow of my Alignment Codes framework (details on how we did that below)
A Live Example from Session
We had moved a lot of energy as a group, and I started to wrap up.
One client spoke up: “My neck pain is terrible.”
I could feel the heaviness too, but here’s the thing: energy only moves when the client’s soul is ready.
I hold a hard line on sovereignty — I don’t “push” anything. I assist when the person chooses to connect mind and heart and say, “Yes, I’m ready to release.”
So I asked her intuitive questions to help her find her own awareness and root cause, I could feel but I couldn’t shift it….yet. As she verbalized, the spot on her left side grew heavier. She said the words out loud: debilitating anxiety, constant worry.
Together we uncovered a generational pattern her mother, grandmother, even her sister all holding pain in their left shoulder.
She also described a “knife” sensation in her solar plexus and heart which she associated with the unbearable fear of something happening to her children.
Through her reclamation of that space (a practice I teach in my Energy Protection & Alignment Codes), I could finally move the energy off her left shoulder. She grabbed her shoulder and said she felt physically lighter. She even recognized that her mom, grandma and even sister ALWAYS held their left shoulder, which is how deep and generational this anxiety was. Just imagine holding onto anxiety that is not all yours - what would that mean to let it go!?! Physically, Emotionally, Spiritually?
This is the difference between just talking about anxiety and actually moving it through the body.
How Anxiety Shows Up in the Body (Neuropsychology Meets Energy)
Here are some of the most common ways physical symptoms of anxiety and their deeper meanings:
Tight chest, short breath
Neuropsychology Explanation - Sympathetic nervous system overdrive
Metaphysical / Alignment Codes Insight - Heart space closing from fear of expansion or expressing truth
Stomach churn, nausea, IBS
Neuropsychology Explanation - Gut–brain axis dysregulation
Metaphysical / Alignment Codes Insight - Solar plexus imbalance: power, control, security
Shoulder, neck, jaw tension
Neuropsychology Explanation - Muscles in “fight or flight” mode
Metaphysical / Alignment Codes Insight - Carrying family or collective burdens; unspoken truths
Racing heart, palpitations
Neuropsychology Explanation - Adrenaline surge preparing for danger
Metaphysical / Alignment Codes Insight - Heart chakra overload mainly due to overgiving, fear of rejection
Sleep problems
Neuropsychology Explanation - Amygdala stays on “high alert”
Metaphysical / Alignment Codes Insight - Subconscious fears surfacing at night; resisting surrender
Brain fog
Neuropsychology Explanation - Prefrontal cortex shuts down under chronic stress
Metaphysical / Alignment Codes Insight - Disconnection from intuition; lack of grounding
The Safety Illusion
I didn’t even come up with the chart above until after last nights session and I have had so many more “aha” moments about anxiety after. But one of the most powerful moments from last night’s session came when my client kept repeating:
“I just want safety. I just want to be in my bubble of safety.”
She thought having money, stability, or certain external circumstances would finally bring that safety. But as she reflected, she realized those things hadn’t brought the peace she was longing for.
This is the paradox of anxiety:
The nervous system thinks safety comes from control, stability, finances, or circumstances.
But the soul knows safety is an internal code one you can activate within yourself, regardless of what’s happening outside you.
From a neuropsychology perspective, the brain is wired to scan for danger. No amount of money, status, or external protection will convince it otherwise if the nervous system is dysregulated.
From an Alignment Codes perspective, true safety begins within YOU and Your Unique Heart Codes. It’s about anchoring into your body, reclaiming your space, and remembering that sovereignty lives inside you not in your bank account, your job, or anyone else’s approval. This is complete RECLAMATION OF YOUR POWER!
Anxiety and the Safety Code
When anxiety rises, it often masks a deeper plea: “Am I safe to be me here?”
The tight chest says, “I don’t feel safe expressing my heart.”
The gut churning says, “I don’t feel safe in my power.”
The tense shoulders say, “I don’t feel safe letting go of the burdens I’ve carried.”
Your body is not betraying you it’s guiding you back to where safety has been outsourced, so you can reclaim it within. So often we have been taught to turn off the body’s signals and “get over it” but the truth is - The BODY will keep SPEAKING until you listen, understand and integrate!
The Alignment Codes Path Through Anxiety
1. Fire — The Trigger
Anxiety sparks first like fire in the body: a tight chest, tense shoulders, or stomach knots.
This happened with my client as we wrapped up the group session. Her neck pain flared suddenly, almost as if her body was shouting: “Wait, we’re not done yet!”
Fire is the emotional or physical alarm system. Instead of treating it as the “problem,” we honor it as the body’s way of signaling that something deeper needs attention.
2. Air — Awareness
Once Fire alerts us, Air asks: “What’s really going on here?”
With my client, I guided her through intuitive questions. As she spoke, the heaviness in her left shoulder grew — she verbalized that it was debilitating anxiety and constant worry. Air brought clarity: this wasn’t random neck pain, it was the voice of her anxiety made physical.
Air neutralizes the trigger by helping us find meaning. It separates fear from intuition, and confusion from truth.
3. Water — The Plan
Here’s the key: if you don’t pour Water into a cup, it spills everywhere.
This is what happens when anxiety leaks into every corner of life.
With awareness from Air, Water channels the energy into a plan. For my client, that meant recognizing the generational pattern — her mother, grandmother, and sister all carried pain in their left shoulders — and creating new choices around what she would hold onto and what she would release.
Water is the step where we decide: What’s the plan so this doesn’t keep flooding my system?
4. Earth — Grounded Action
A plan alone isn’t enough. Earth is where the plan gets embodied.
Sometimes this looks like practicing until the body feels safe. For someone speaking their truth for the first time, Earth might mean rehearsing so the voice steadies. For someone with anxiety, it could be grounding mental exercises, breathwork, or small actions that retrain the nervous system.
With my client, Earth was the moment she reclaimed her body by speaking directly to her mother’s energy and choosing sovereignty over her space. As she did this, I was able to move the energy off her shoulder. She felt physically lighter, finally embodying the shift.
5. Heart — Sovereignty & Love
The whole process is rooted in love and sovereignty. I never move energy for someone. I wait until they choose.
For this client, Heart was the reclamation of her space and the release of the “knife” of fear in her solar plexus and heart. The anxiety that once felt unbearable transformed into a deeper understanding of what was hers to carry — and what wasn’t.
Heart reminds us: true safety isn’t external. It’s the love, sovereignty, and grounded presence we hold inside.
Hot Tip: Building Inner Safety
One simple practice I give clients to start distinguishing between anxiety and intuition:
If this isn’t mine to worry about, I send it to my angels with love.
If the feeling fades, it was fear trying to take over.
If it persists, it’s likely an intuitive nudge asking you to take aligned action.
This is the first step in reclaiming sovereignty over your energy and your nervous system.
Why This Matters
Anxiety isn’t just a mental health issue or a spiritual “lesson.”
It’s a conversation between your physical, mental, emotional bodies and your soul. This is the work of healing anxiety in the body listening, understanding, and releasing it through the Alignment Codes.
When you listen with curiosity through your body, your memories, your emotions, and your intuition you reclaim your space, your power, and your peace.
And when you’re ready to go deeper, the Alignment Codes aren’t about “me moving energy for you.”
They’re about me helping you connect to your truth so your body and soul can release what’s not yours in the right timing, at the highest good. I just help start that mind and heart connection with the emotions. And then we move what’s ready to move!
✨ Mic-Drop: True safety isn’t found in your bank account, your relationship, or your job. It’s the energy you hold inside your body when you remember: I am sovereign, I am safe, and nothing outside of me can take that away.
With so much love,
Christin - Your Maui Energy Healer