How To Deal With Anxiety In 5 Simple Steps
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First and foremost, it’s important to understand the true nature of anxiety and anxiety disorders before we dive into what we can do to decrease those pesky, uncomfortable symptoms. So before diving into this post, make sure to check out this one first to get the details of why anxiety seems to plague us.
Anxiety is our body’s natural protective mechanism, so if your hope is to completely eliminate it from your life, you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle. With that being said though, there are quite a few helpful tricks we can use every day to give ourselves the best chance at an anxiety free existence. Or at the very least, one where we feel confident enough in ourselves to manage the discomfort of anxiety in a way that actually supports our well-being.
So without further ado, here are 5 therapist approved tips for dealing with your anxiety:
1) Limit Caffeine
While caffeine can be a great tool for a jolt of energy and concentrated attention, it can also lead to increased feelings of anxiety. Caffeine has the potential to lead to rapid heart rate, sweating, jitteriness, busy thoughts - all things which are also experienced while anxious. The problem is not that caffeine leads to these experiences, but how we interpret them. If we don’t realize this is what caffeine is doing to our body, we may misinterpret the signs and believe something bad has happened or will happen. We may even experience panic if we interpret those symptoms as dangerous, or if we try to calm our body down and it’s just not working. My professional advice would be to reflect on how you feel after ingesting caffeine and making adjustments from there. If you feel extra anxious after a large cup of coffee, perhaps have a smaller quantity or sub full-caf with decaf, or even half-caf, and see if you notice a difference.
2) Move Your Body Regularly
Regular exercise has many benefits - I think we all know this to some degree. One of the benefits of exercise is that movement physically releases excess cortisol that has been building up in the body from daily stressors. When we experience any type of stress, this sets off a variety of systems in the body to maintain our health and safety. The only problem here comes when we don’t deal with this stress and when we don’t remind the body that it is, in fact, safe. Disregarding this part of our physical health can lead to chronic stress, nervous system dysregulation and a host of mental health struggles. Doing something as simple as a 15 minute walk outside can have lasting benefits when it comes to stress management and decreasing daily levels of anxiety. This is a concept I discussed in depth in a previous blog post, as well as a video, so if you want to dive in further, you can check those out here and here.
3) Engage In Calming And Relaxing Activities Everyday
One of the not so well-known facts about anxiety is that our daily routine can really impact the level of anxiety we experience. We aren’t simply stuck with feeling tense and miserable everyday, we actually do have some power over our mental and emotional well-being. When we engage in calming and relaxing activities throughout our day, and regularly throughout the week, we are basically reminding our brain that we are safe. When our brain feels safe, the fear centers in our brain become less active and our nervous system becomes more regulated. Simply put, this means that we will feel less anxiety in general and when we do feel anxious, it’ll take less time for us to calm down.
Some examples of calming activities can be found here.
4) Improve Your Sleep
Getting less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep has been linked to a number of health concerns, including both anxiety and depression. If we can get those 8 hours while improving the quality of our sleep, practically every bodily function will thank you. A few ways to improve your sleep includes setting a regular bedtime and wake time, engaging in calming activities before bed, using a calming pillow spray and limiting screen time a few hours before bed. You can read more about how to improve your sleep here.
5) Try Out Some Calming Natural Remedies
There are a lot of herbal remedies, minerals and supplements out there which have been shown to naturally calm anxiety, decrease stress levels and promote deep relaxation. A few herbal remedies shown to promote a calm mind include Saffron, Valerian Root, Chamomile, Lavender, Rhodiola and Ashwagandha.
When it comes to naturally calming anxiety, you’ve probably also heard about the amazing benefits of magnesium. Magnesium is a powerful mineral which is crucial to many bodily functions. It also acts as a muscle relaxer and can be found in creams, supplements and a variety of healthy foods.
If you are wanting to incorporate a few natural remedies into your life in hopes of decreasing stress and anxiety, look out for calming (caffeine free) teas, essential oils and other aromas of the relaxing herbs mentioned above, and clean supplements like Serene Saffron or Marine Magnesium from XTendLife. Respectively, these products have been shown to “restore a sense of calmness and positive wellbeing” as well as to “promote longer sleep” . If you have been looking for an alternative to traditional psychopharmaceuticals for managing your anxiety, these supplements just might be one part of your solution. Use the code WELLNESS15 at checkout for 15% off your first purchase.
I’d love to hear which strategies you plan to try out and how they go for you! Keep me posted down in the comments.
Take care,
Katie
