Anxiety is something we all experience from time to time. It manifests itself in feelings of panic, sweaty palms, a dry mouth, heart palpitations and any number of other uncomfortable symptoms.
It’s not a nice feeling and it does subside once the trigger is no longer there. The good news is that there are lots of tried and tested methods of coping with anxiety. And here are some of them right here:
Relieving Tips to Help Calm Anxiety
Try therapy
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) can help with anxiety. Its more than a talking therapy since it gets you to look at your thought patterns. You can then dissect them in terms of looking at probabilities and likely outcomes. It’s similar to journaling in the sense you’re writing down your worries or beliefs but with CBT you go on to actively analyse them and check them for how realistic they are. This can help with ‘catastrophising’ and prevent anxiety building up.
Supplement and eat well
Eating foods with stress-relieving properties and supplementing your diet to ensure you get a wide range of these nutrients and herbs, gives your body a better chance of coping with anxiety. Magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, ashwagandha and kava kava are often recommended by nutritionists as a way of helping relieve anxiety. Get them in oily fish, brazil nuts, and supplement form.
Practice deep breathing
The 4-7-8 breathing technique is one way to get your breathing under control. Make sure your posture is good, then rest the tip of the tongue against the roof of your mouth, behind the front teeth. Keep it there while breathing. In one breath, you’re your lips and exhale through the mouth, close the lips and inhale while counting to four. Hold the breath for seen seconds then open the lips and exhale for eight seconds. Do this for four full breaths.
Exercise regularly
If you find sitting still to do breathing exercises isn’t for you then perhaps exercise will be. To be effective, the recommended amount of exercise is at least 30 minutes, five times a week. Set fitness goals to keep yourself motivated and, if you’re jogging or walking then listen to music or download a podcast to distract yourself. Another good motivator is to find someone to exercise with you.
Volunteer in the community
Sometimes just being introduced to a new environment and people you’ve never met before and where there is no pressure to perform, can work wonders for anxiety. It can keep you mentally stimulated and improve your confidence at the same time. Gardening at allotments, working in a charity shop and helping out in a soup kitchen are all excellent ways of getting involved.
The above are popular methods of coping with anxiety. But there are plenty others, such as:
- Stop aiming for perfection and realise that doing your best is good enough
- Laugh more and try to see the positive side of situations
- Get enough sleep since your body needs extra vitamins and minerals when you’re stressed
- Talk over your anxiety with a friend or family member
- Use aromatherapy oils to help soothe you
