Anyone who has ever dealt with anxiety under any shape knows that it’s not an easy topic to tackle. You can experience anxiety at a certain level on a daily basis, due to stressful situations or you can experience it when something crucial happens in your life, major changes, you are in danger of losing your job, you get through a divorce and so on.
However, there is a level above which anxiety is no longer a natural reaction of our body but our body rather sensing danger even when there is none. And anxiety can get to a point when it interferes with your day-to-day life and then you have to take measures to cope with it efficiently.
1. Learn breathing methods
Learning an efficient breathing method, deep diaphragmatic one allows you to calm your nervous system the moment it senses a danger and your heart starts beating faster. There are several videos online as well that teach you exactly how to breathe deeply to release anxiety.
2. Pay attention to your sleep
An important element when it comes to anxiety is getting enough sleep. If you are being sleep deprived, have insomnia or difficulties getting rewarding rest, you basically create a suitable environment for anxiety to settle in.
3. Start talking back to yourself
This was a very useful piece of advice that I found in a self-help book. What does it imply? The moment negative or unhelpful thoughts cross your mind, thoughts such as “what if I will fail” or “what if everyone will think I am crazy?” start talking back to these thoughts.
Start thinking ok, what if indeed that happens? What if you really fail? And soon you will start realizing that things are not that drastic as we tend to look at them it’s just out distorted perception that makes them so.
4. Take a break every once in a while
Dealing with anxiety is like having a mind that is connected at full power all the time, every day and sometimes at night as well. What can be done is offer it a well-deserved pause at times. Take a look at my article where I talk about the benefits that meditation has in order to get inspired about a mindful break.
5. Try to stay in touch
I know that when dealing with anxiety talking and seeing people is not exactly what you’d love to do but it does help. Talking and staying in touch with people helps relieve stress and implicitly anxiety.
6. Pay attention to your diet
For instance, coffee does not go hand in hand with anxiety. On the contrary, it can place you right on the edge of things, which is where you most likely already are. The same way behaves alcohol and various substances that affect your brain. It can have a calming and soothing effect while and shortly after you consume them but the effect is exactly the contrary on the long term.
7. Stay active
A great method of keeping your thoughts and feelings in order is to stay active. Engage in your favorite sports or just take a walk, anything that involves some sort of movement helps.
These are just some basic tips that can help you become more engaged in the present moment, of staying in touch with your body and feelings so that they don’t end up wandering on unhelpful lands.
If you dealt with anxiety and had anything that was your silver lining, don’t hesitate to share it with us so we can also start applying it!
