Here's Exactly What To Do When You Are Feeling Uneasy

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One day I was feeling very weird. It felt like something very uncomfortable was sitting and growing in my chest. Sounds kind of scary.

So like I usually do in that situation, I went out for a long walk. And when it didn’t help, I Facetimed my mom —she’s a psychology professor and a seasoned therapist.

And that’s when I learned about this powerful self-help technique to deal with feeling uneasy, which I called The Cake Technique. It will take you no more than 15 minutes! Do it if you feel restless in life, and I can almost guarantee you will feel so much better immediately.

This post is all about reasons for feeling uneasy, and what to do to stop it.

Let’s get straight into it!

IN THIS POST

🤧 Inner Struggles Can Make Us Feel Sick
👽 My Experience
🍰 The Cake Technique

🤧 Inner Struggles Can Make Us Feel Sick

First of all, we have to accept the fact that any emotion we are experiencing affects our physical state. It is scientifically proven.

It is called a psychosomatic condition — a condition caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress (definition from Oxford Languages).

Apparently, poor emotional health weakens our bodies’ immune systems. If we don’t know how to deal with negative emotions, they can significantly affect our physical state.

For example, I have noticed that every time I have to work or communicate closely with toxic, manipulative people, my stomach starts hurting really bad. And overall, often when I am going through any hardships, something keeps happening to my body.

One of my fellow creatives once told me, that they get a headache when they are being pressured or criticized.

If you are a highly sensitive person (HSP)like I am, congrats! You might be more prone to experience this mental + physical connection effect. Don’t quote me on that though, that is just my own observation.

Do not get discouraged though. HSPs have SO many incredible things about them that I’m happy to be one.

👽 My Experience

So it turned out, I had a lot of emotions built up. I was anxious and full of all kinds of fears.

I was feeling uneasy because I was having what I call freelance anxiety.

I had a fear that:

my last job that week was my last job ever
my last payment was the biggest payment I would ever get
all the jobs are and will be taken by my fellow freelancers
no one would hire me because there always was a more experienced professional out there

(By the way, these fears above are exaggerated and baseless. It is catastrophizing caused by my inner critics.)

I was also feeling pretty lonely since I recently moved to a new country — my family and friends are back in my native country.

Add the pandemic.

Add my ‘often-not-fitting-in’ kind of reality.

On top of that, I was going through a creative slump + lack of motivation.

I just found myself exposed to too many challenges at once.

And all that emotional pressure that both the world and I put on myself turned into a sensation of something in my chest that I desperately wanted to get rid of.

🍰 The Cake Technique

This technique literally blew up my mind.

I expected a quick remedy. A band-aid.

I received an instant and long-lasting relief, and clearness of mind that helped me figure out my next steps.

If it is possible, do these steps in a private place, where no one can disturb you.

For a better effect, involve your body. Move your hands as if you are really doing the things you are visualizing.

Repeat as necessary.

▪️ Step 1. Locate The Feeling

Close your eyes and try to locate where the feeling is concentrated.

Is it a nagging sensation somewhere in your chest?

Is it a barely noticeable dull headache?

Is it some tension in your upper back?

If you are into spiritual stuff, you might want to explore chakras in this step.

(For me it was the heart chakra located in the center of the chest. Its’ name in Sanskrit is anahata chakra, which roughly translates to “unhurt”.

There are a lot of meditation techniques for opening the blocked chakras, but that is a whole different blog post.)

▪️ Step 2. Take It Out & Examine Carefully

First, visualize taking the sensation out of your body. Like literally grab it in your hands and pull it out.

Keep your eyes closed to help your imagination.

I remember visualizing that I put my hand into my chest through my mouth, squeezed the thing in my fist, and pulled it out.

Sounds like a horror movie huh? Good. Increases the sense of immersion. Makes it more effective.

Now, examine it. Spin it, check underneath and from above.

What does it look like?

Does it remind you of anything?

Does it have a shape?

What about the color?

Is it big or small?

Is it firm or soft, or sticky, or see-through, or studded?

How do you feel when you look at it?

▪️ Step 3. Make It Look Nice & Pretty

Now let’s see what we can do to make it look appealing. What would you do to it?

Maybe you would paint it?

Or knead it like plasticine to give it a new shape?

Shower it with flower petals?

Or put some handwriting on it?

Or put it in a nice-looking bag?

By the way, this technique actually has nothing to do with cakes. I called it that because when I first used it, guided by my mom, I ended up dipping my nasty sticky ball of mud into pink glossy paint, and sprinkling it with glitter. Like a pretty cake.

I bet I looked crazy waving my arms around with my eyes closed.