What is anxiety? Anxiety is a natural response to stress or perceived danger. In children, it often shows up as worry, restlessness or physical sensations like a racing heart or tense muscles. At its core, anxiety reflects the body’s built-in alarm system, the nervous system, doing its job to keep a child safe. Polyvagal theory helps us understand how this system works. The nervous system moves through different states depending on how safe or threatened a child feels. Ventra