Five Ways to Keep Anxiety at Bay

Sleepless nights, unwanted repetitive thoughts, persistent fear, if there is anything that I deserve a PhD in it has to be for living with anxiety. Either dwelling in the past or worried about the future, I have always had a lot of troubling thoughts racing in my head. I realized I needed a healthy outlet for this irritability or I would explode one day. I had sleepless nights staring into nothingness. I created stories, non existent situations, illogical connections that left me disturbed. I knew it isn’t healthy be it for my physical, mental or emotional health. Things needed to change and adopting certain habits would definitely bring about that change. Suffering from intrusive thoughts is more common than you know. If you are anyone who’s is a similar space as me, here are a few activities you can try.

• Breathing Exercises – Irrespective of where you are , the easiest and most effective way to calm yourself at any time is by concentrating on your breathing. Slow breathing takes our mind away from fight or flight mechanism to a more relaxed state. You can do them seated or even if you are standing. Keep yourself relaxed and back straight. Breathe in slowly to a count of four, hold for a count of seven and exhale to a count of eight. You can do this setting your timer for a minute or for four cycles and experience the calmness. the 4-7-8 technique helps in reducing anxiety and controls your responses when in a foul mood. During the day, there are a number of reasons that can throw us into tense situations and this is what I go back to when I feel like pulling my hair in all directions.

• Journal Your Thoughts – Write. Express. Let it out. Get it out of your system. Merely writing down your thoughts to understand them more clearly helps a great deal in keeping your anxious mind under check. By noting it down and getting all your feelings on paper, you are confronting those emotions that have bundled up, those inhibitions you were afraid of. By making it a regular practice you can find patterns in your thought process and take control of it. You can approach an expert if need be to analyze it and help you get going on the right track. Express yourself in detail about what you are going through and take a walk once you are finished. When you come back to it, read it as if it is someone else’s life and imagine how you want to support that person. Put down those positive steps next and you’ll find yourself moving away from hopelessness. It’s simple – if you have the time to fret, you sure have the time to journal.

• Meditation – If you are anyone like me with an excess need to live in the past or future, a regular meditation practice for 10 minutes daily can can help reduce normal everyday anxiety. Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center through their study found that meditation-related anxiety relief was associated with activation of three regions of the brain involved with the executive function and the control of worrying namely anterior cingulate cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and anterior insula. During crucial phases like a job promotion, delivering a speech, waiting for any kind of results, making a life changing decision it’s usual to feel heightened heart beats, palpitations and sweaty palms. However, when there’s constant fear or worry ruminating in you head, making up stories of doom, it can get really distressing and need to be controlled. For a regular practice, make it a part of your routine. I meditate every morning and sometimes before going to bed. You can keep a designated place for meditating in your home as you train your mind to redirect your thoughts on things that are under your control. Investing in a good cushion to sit on and creating a zen zone for yourself early on has an impact in turning it into a habitual process.

• Read Books on Self Awareness – Living with anxiety, as you are aware, reduces the quality of your life. However, since it is treatable and very much doable to rid yourself off the mental pain, you might as well do what it takes to improve you well-being. By reading a lot of books, you’ll learn different techniques that can help you in combating anxiety and simple ways that others are getting benefited from. Reading helps you understand the science behind anxiety, how to deal with your emotions, facing your panic moments head-on, strategies to manage fear and overthinking. It puts you into the radar of viewing your life merely as a spectator to a person who’s in charge of their destiny.

• Aromatherapy – Aromatherapy triggers our limbic system, the part of the brain linked to emotions and memories. When we inhale a pleasant smell, it reminds us of happier times and joyful days. There is a link between scent and memory and that’s what enables us to train ourselves to associate a particular scent with feeling relaxed. Dabbing some oil on your fist and inhaling it intermittently or lighting a scented candle whenever you are nervous will lift your mood and make you feel energized. Alternatively, use an oil diffuser and see it work it magic on you. Breathing in the scent takes your mind off of the frustration or the stress you are undergoing. Lavender oil is known for its sedative properties and your trusted companion to soothe yourself.

Our body always knows what it needs. We must slow our minds and listen to the message that is being sent. By actively listening to the signals by both the body and the mind and tending to them, we can have a a fulfilling life.

Are you dealing with regular anxiety attacks? How do you deal with them?