My Process for Eliminating Anxiety with Guitar, Breathwork, and Simple Meditation

I lived with anxiety since childhood — until I broke free. Discover how guitar, breathwork, and simple meditation helped me eliminate anxiety and finally feel calm, free, and alive again.

It’s somewhat baffling to think back on how I lived with anxiety since I was a child. Now, I don’t. The part that astonishes me the most is my changed perception. We live in a society where not everyone wants you to get better. I’m not blaming or judging; I’m just noticing.

By the way, if you’ve seen the movie Truman Show, and you experience anxiety regularly without knowing why, you might feel like Truman.

When I broke through and had my awakening, I felt so free and light. By broke through, I mean I escaped a cycle that trapped me for years. That cycle caused more anxiety, even though I was tricked into thinking it helped. If you resonate with this, give me a shout-out in the comments or a like right now. Get excited, because I’m about to show you how you can break through too if you’re ready.

Understanding Your Anxiety

I won’t share the specifics of my personal source of anxiety here. That answer could slow you down in uncovering your own source. You cannot solve your problem by copying someone else’s journey. You are different and have unique circumstances that led you here. Your problems are yours, and mine are mine. While we might share similar issues, we must solve our problems in our own ways to break free permanently.

However, I can offer you some nuggets of hope that might guide you in discovering your own source of anxiety. I’m about to provide a process that will help you tolerate the discomfort needed to hang in there until you DO break through. Remember, you are not my clone, so I must be careful not to share too many specifics about my experiences. Too much detail can slow your progress.

I’m diving into deeper concepts here—think Alan Watts, The Matrix, Carl Jung, Shadow Work, Gabor Maté, Gary Zukav, James Clear, The Alchemist, and The Way of the Peaceful Warrior. These are just a few resources I used along my journey. If you want to break through, you have to go deep because that’s where the source of your anxiety exists.

The Importance of Self-Reflection

Unfortunately, the idea and value of self-reflection have been buried and ignored. This is not only because it’s uncomfortable to sit with but also because we were taught from a young age to suppress it, hide it, and just deal with it. We now have the "luxury" of infinite distractions. How is that working for us? This reminds me of the biblical passage about how many people point out the splinter in others while ignoring the beam in their own eye.

I’m going to keep this deep train rolling because I’ve never seen so many people struggling with anxiety and trauma. I’ve worked with students for over 20 years, and this is a peak awareness moment in my career for anxiety and mental health. So many people are currently struggling—both adults and kids. We need a hero again. We need hope. We need something to believe in.

Why Are So Many People Struggling?

You want to know WHY so many people are struggling right now? Because we are waking up. We are becoming aware that something isn’t quite right with our daily expectations of what we should do with our time. We sense that we don’t fit in here—not because something is wrong with us, but because the game is flawed. We are tired of pretending to believe in the myth we’ve been taught.

Again, think Truman Show.

You don’t have to go to extremes to make a public statement about breaking through. By break through, I mean solving your anxiety problem once and for all and finally being “free.”

In fact, I wouldn’t tell anyone at this point. I would just do it. Do it secretly so that the masses don’t have a chance to turn on you and talk you out of it.

When you start to experience something new within, people will try to talk you out of it. “Hey, are you okay?” is what someone near and dear to me recently asked. I could sense her discomfort around my calm happiness. Instead of reflecting on herself, she targeted me with a direct question at a very weird moment.

The Reality of Perception

So, that’s a lot to chew on, isn’t it? That’s why you need to come back often and check in. As soon as you step away from this computer or phone and go “out there,” you’ll begin to see things differently. You’ll wonder what reality is true? The one in your head or the one you see in your local community.

You’ll start to question why so many people pretend. It might feel safer for now to also “pretend.” Play along with them, but keep your new secret hope in the back of your mind. Protect it like the most valuable treasure you’ve ever seen. Those who don’t know how to uncover their own treasure will try to take yours.

That’s also why I’m not sharing the exact source of my anxiety. You can do the math, watch my videos, or read my blogs to see that I come from a background of trauma and addiction. The details might entertain or provide temporary relief, but ultimately you have to discover your own treasure.

Discovering Your Treasure

That treasure is found by asking yourself, “What is the source of my anxiety?” Here’s a clue: it isn’t another person or event from the past or future.

Here’s how I broke through:

1. I knew something wasn’t right about living with anxiety my whole life. There are so many beautiful creations in life to see. Why would I be created with anxiety? I must be misunderstanding something. So, I DECIDED to take new action.

   
   

2. I started to sit with my anxiety in small doses. I sat quietly in a comfortable position for as long as I could. More specifically, I began with about 1-2 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, sometimes up to 15 minutes. Insights about the source of my anxiety started showing up randomly in my head.

   
   

3. TRY THIS THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: Say the word “THOUGHT” in your mind. Now say, “I just thought this thought.” See? That was you telling yourself what to think. If a random thought pops into your head and guides you toward your next step, or a past memory jumps into your mind and leads you to a new insight about your anxiety, you are on your way to breaking through. The “random” thoughts that feel good, spark curiosity, or provide hope are the insights I’m referring to. Don’t be surprised if you start seeing synchronicities or coincidences.

   
   

4. I then picked up my guitar and did some basic note picking or strumming. I paired my breathing with the picking or strumming pattern until I achieved a state of calm and rhythm. Usually, this took about 3-5 minutes, sometimes up to 10.

   
   

5. Over time, I connected notes to other notes, chords to other chords, and started creating songs to express the turmoil I was experiencing inside. In other words, I got it out, I let it out, I uncovered some pain, and I released it.

   
   

6. Repeat some or part of this process daily as needed.

   
   

That’s my process.

I feel free.

I am calm again.

I have purpose.

I have a choice.

I have no anxiety.

Thanks for tuning in.

Like, subscribe, comment, and check out my links in the description if you want to go deeper.

Peace