Six simple ways to overcome anxiety

You can’t control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen. ~Kody Keplinger

Most people can relate to feeling a little anxious from time to time. However, if anxiety begins to affect your daily activities, it should be considered a problem that you need to address right away.

There are several different kinds of anxiety disorders and they all have slightly different symptoms and behaviours associated with them. Some types of anxiety seem to come out of nowhere and some are attached to a specific situation, trigger, event or thing.

However your anxiety symptoms play out, its safe to say that you will experience feeing worried and tense. You may also show some physical symptoms, such as increased heart rate, excessive sweating, muscle tension, and a craving for sweet, stodgy foods. Many people who suffer with anxiety syndrome also have a fear of being alone or even being out in crowded places. These symptoms are all caused by the brain sending ‘flight or fright’ messages down nerves to different areas of your body.

If you struggle with feelings of anxiety or suffer its symptoms on a regular basis, it is important to find ways to cope with it. After all many of these types of symptom can be crippling and stop you living life the way you really want to. Once you learn how to manage your symptoms, over time you will find that the anxiety will simply disappear and you will find yourself enjoying life again.

 To help you do this, we have put together a handy guide to coping with anxiety to give you some simple ideas of how to cope.

1: Take some time out

Take a step back from the issue and clear your mind. To help you relax there are lots of things you can do. These include listening to calming music, meditating, practising yoga, and getting a relaxing massage.

Set aside a few hours a week for relaxing. Fill these slots with enjoyable and relaxing activities, like attending a yoga or Pilates class, for example. Or, going for a walk or run to clear your mind.

2: Eat healthily

Don’t fall into the trap of eating unhealthy foods, take the time to make healthy, nutritious meals. Although it may seem irrelevant, what you eat has a massive impact on both your physical and mental health. So, it is vital that you eat healthy meals as much as you possibly can.

To keep your energy up, make sure that you have lots of healthy, energy-boosting snacks throughout the day. Avoid drinking alcoholic and caffeinated drinks, as these can make your anxiety worse and can even trigger panic attacks.

3: Get lots of sleep

When you are feeling worried or stressed out your body needs more sleep than normal. People who experience anxiety often do a lot of over thinking. This can make sleep difficult and wake you up at night. Anxiety keeps your mind busy as you imagine threatening scenarios and worry about what may happen next. So, make sure that you set yourself up to get get at least ten hours sleep each night as this will reduce your anxiety levels and make you feel fresh and more relaxed.

4: Exercise regularly

Exercise essentially burns away the chemicals like cortisol and norepinephrine that cause stress. At the same time, vigorous exercise releases endorphins into the system so you start to feel better naturally. To help reduce your stress symptoms, make sure that you are exercising on a daily basis, even if just for half an hour or so. Go for an early morning run, a bike ride or an evening swim – do whatever it is that makes you feel happy and more relaxed.

5: Seek professional help

The best way, to deal with anxiety, is to seek professional help. Although eating healthily and regularly exercising  will help you to manage your anxiety, speaking with a professional is also a good idea.

Ask a friend, or m ake an appointment with your doctor to see if they will recommend a good holistic therapist, counselor or form of treatment, such as cognitive therapy, for example. For anxiety therapy in Denver have a look online and do your research to find the best therapist possible. Make sure that you feel completely comfortable with your therapist and can talk openly with them before you start

6: Understand that you can’t control everything

There are things that we cannot control that will affect every aspect of our lives, and we must come to terms with that or we will constantly be frustrated. Meditate on letting go and going with the flow for awhile. Realising that you can’t control everything is a big step. Most of the time the things that trouble and torture our thinking have simply been blown out of perspective – truthfully, if you step back and get some distance, is it as bad as you think it is?

 

What do you think?
How do you cope with your stress and anxiety?  What is your favourite, or most effective method for relaxing and finding peace? Can you offer any advice on relaxation techniques and meditation? We would love to know.

As always, your interaction with our posts creates a reservoir of wisdom for all our readers to benefit from so please share your thoughts, stories and questions in the comments box below and remember to tweet, like and +1 ~ Thanks, we appreciate it.

 

Additional Resources
12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go With the Flow
[VIDEO]Self Hypnosis Anxiety Reduction
Change Your Thinking with CBT: Overcome stress, combat anxiety and improve your life