The $100,000 Question

Picture this:

7 years of struggling with anxiety and I'm sitting in my therapist's office in Hawaii, shaking.

Not the caffeine jitters kind of shaking... The kind where I had to sit on my hands to hide how badly they were trembling.

"I'm doing everything I can," I told her, voice cracking.

And I really was:

• Meditation and journaling? Check.

• Weekly therapy sessions? Check.

• Every mindset technique from Tony Robbins to Buddhism? Triple check.

But that suffocating cloud of anxiety? Still followed me everywhere like a shadow.

What I'm about to share not only transformed my life but has since helped over 500 of my clients break free from anxiety's grip.

It all started when my therapist asked the question that changed everything:

"Brian, WHERE do you feel the anxiety?"

I started rambling about racing thoughts and negative self-talk... She stopped me with a raised hand.

"No. Not what you THINK. What do you FEEL? In your body, right now?"

That hit me like a brick wall.

The cement block in my shoulders... The golf ball-sized knot writhing in my stomach... None of these were thoughts. They were physical sensations. Living in my body.

Here's what blew my mind:

For YEARS I'd been throwing mind solutions at a BODY problem.

Most people think anxiety lives in their thoughts. That if they could just "think positive" or "stay present," everything would magically get better.

But here's the truth that transformed my life and practice:

Your body physically stores every single stressful experience you've had.

Every panic attack... Every emotional wound... Every trauma response... It's all locked in your nervous system like a prison…

Creating what Harvard researchers call "homeostatic overload."

Think of it like a water glass that's been slowly filling up for years. Each stressful event adds another drop... Until even tiny triggers make you overflow with emotion.

This explains why:

• Your anxiety returns minutes after meditating

• Tension creeps back hours after massages

• Sleep eludes you despite mental and physical exhaustion

Your first step toward freedom? Take 30 seconds right now to notice:

Where do you feel your breath most strongly? What's the strongest sensation in your body right now? Are their any emotions coinciding with your physical experience?

Don't try to change anything. Just notice.

Quick client win: Cathy, a client who signed up for my last course, did this exercise daily for a week. I just got a message from her: "I am already feeling the benefits in terms of feeling better and healthier. I'm finding it much easier to start tasks I would have previously put off."

I'm curious:

When anxiety hits YOU, where do you feel it in your body? 

Hit reply and let me know. I read every message personally.

To your healing,

Brian Maierhofer (Professional Human)