Marinelle Adams
If you’ve ever had the feeling of having sweaty palms when confronted with overwhelming tasks or the beating of your heart quickening during stressful circumstances, then you’ve experienced an episode of anxiety – the body’s natural stress response. While occasional worries regarding certain situations like your first day of work at your new place of employment or meeting the family of your partner for the first time are fairly normal, frequent and debilitating bouts of anxiety aren’t. Here are some tips on how you can successfully manage and cope with your anxieties.
Seek therapy
While it might sound extreme for cases that aren’t severe, it’s usually a good idea to seek therapy for your anxiety if possible. After all, insight from a professional therapist or counselor can go a long way in helping you minimize the feelings of unease and nervousness, if not mitigate them entirely. With the convenience that online sessions and digital media offer, you won’t even need to leave the confines of your home. However, make sure that you explore your options through online therapy sites and check reviews first. For instance, if you read this review, it will give you a better understanding of what it’s all about and whether or not it will fit your needs.
Exercise regularly
When it comes to managing anxiety, few strategies are as effective as exercising. Apart from keeping your body fit and strong, working out can help serve as a distraction for what you’re feeling anxious about. Beyond the mental diversion, it also changes the chemistry in your brain by getting your heart rate up, promoting the release and availability of essential neurochemicals that can combat anxiety. So make sure that you adopt a regular exercise regimen. Doing so won’t just keep you physically healthy, but it will also make you mentally tough.
Give yourself a time-out
While it may not always be possible to stay away from situations that trigger your anxiousness, you should give yourself a time-out once in a while. For example, if the pressure of your responsibilities at work is what’s causing your anxiety, take a break and do something relaxing like meditation. Get an executive assistant if you need to. Engage in enjoyable activities and spend time with loved ones. A moment away from the issue might not seem like much. However, you’ll be surprised at how effective it can be in clearing your mind and allowing you to manage your anxiety.
Focus on the positive things
It may sound obvious, but having a positive disposition is an excellent way to keep anxiety and stress at bay. There’s no denying that life is full of challenges, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed in the face of all the difficulties that it has to offer. However, by focusing more on the things that are going right instead of those that are going wrong, you’ll have an easier time keeping your anxieties at a reasonably manageable level.
Practice meditation
Many experts recommend mediation when it comes to coping with anxiety. When you get right down to it, meditation helps us become more aware of our present moments. What this means is that it helps us focus on the now instead of worrying about things that have yet to happen. While meditating can take a little bit of practice, it’s worth the time and effort when you consider its beneficial effects in combating anxiety.
Distract yourself with enjoyable activities
These days, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Between all of the responsibilities that we need to attend to both at work and at home, it’s easy to get burned out and make ourselves more susceptible to anxiety. So set aside a little bit of time for your hobbies. Enjoying a fun pastime is an excellent way to distract yourself from the things that worry you. It may even make you feel better too.
Question the pattern of your thoughts
More often than not, the negative thoughts that create anxiety are unfounded. They may be able to distort the situation’s severity but they’re generally not as bad as they appear to be. If you want to overcome these fears, you must challenge your pattern of thoughts and see if there’s any truth to them. Doing so will help you get back control over your emotions.
Avoid sugar
As tempting as it might be to reach out for a sweet treat when stressed, it’s imperative that you don’t. They can do a lot more harm than it can good, after all. In fact, it could elevate your feelings of anxiety and make things much worse than they otherwise would have. Instead, opt for healthier alternatives like fruits or protein. It will make things a lot easier.
Talk to a loved one
The worst thing that you can do when you’re having an anxiety attack is being alone. Because of this, you need to reach out to a loved one – be it a family member or a friend. Doing so will help you gain another perspective on the feelings of dread and nervousness. And having someone with whom you can run through your fears can make a difference and help you cope much better with your anxieties as a result.
Determine the triggers
To manage your feelings of anxiety, you must first determine what triggers these emotions. There may be times when the precipitations are plain and obvious, such as caffeine, smoking, or alcohol consumption. But usually, they can be less evident. For instance, work-related circumstances and financial worries can be a little challenging to figure out because you’ll need to identify which aspect of these situations is causing your anxieties. Once you do determine it, you can begin creating some distance so that the worries are kept to a minimum.
It can be hard to function when dealing with anxiety. While it may often feel like a colossal undertaking to overcome, managing it is much simpler than many belief. With these tips, you’ll help yourself reduce the impact that your anxieties may have on your daily life and in turn, live a much calmer and happy life.