Ways to Reduce Anxiety

Ways to Reduce Anxiety

We all deal with anxiety from time to time. When we’re minutes before a very important event, like giving speech to a huge crowd, taking a major test, undergoing surgical operation or skydiving, we find ourselves uncontrollably nervous----our hearts beat fast, our palms sweat excessively and our breathing becomes difficult and shallow. Don’t worry, these are normal. It’s in our human nature to feel panicky when we perceive that threat is forthcoming.

We however experience varying levels of anxiety; some have mild episodes while others have very high anxiety levels that could stop them from enjoying life to the fullest. In certain severe cases, it is recommended to see the doctor. Otherwise, you can take the following tips in controlling the anxiety you encounter daily.

Deep breathing and meditation

Breathe deeply whenever anxiety attacks, as it will help lighten the chest. As you make a good deep exhalation, imagine as if all your troubles and concerns are released from your body. The same goes with meditation. Meditating regularly for at least 15 minutes a day will help calm your muscle groups as well as aid to a good night sleep.

Reduce your coffee intake

You may be unwilling to decrease the steaming cups of coffee you take daily. Why would you give up caffeine when its stimulating kick helps you stay awake, right? Exactly. Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, thus instantly intensifying your anxiety, leaving you more depressed than before. Exchange your coffee with a good cup of tea, milk or orange juice during breaks to keep you calm and still throughout the day.

Stretch before you sleep

Make it a habit to stretch your muscles before hitting the bed. Mild stretching, even for just 5 minutes, will help relieve the stress in your muscles, thus relaxing your entire body. This is an effective way in having a good continuous sleep, especially if anxiety causes you to be insomniac.

Eat chocolate

Free yourself from your diet once in a while and grab that frozen bar of chocolate in the fridge. Occasional chocolate indulging is not bad, even science proves it. You may notice that you feel instantly cheerful on the first bite. That’s because the chocolate stimulates the production of phenylethylamine, a “happy” substance responsible for heightening the enthusiasm while suppressing depression.

 

 

 

Have a positive self-talk

Every one of us has a different approach to the same issue we encounter. You may react worriedly, violently, peacefully, naively---it all depends on how you talk to yourself. The human mind is like an empty glass. If you fill it with the negative thoughts, surely negativism will define you. If you feed the happy, hopeful and optimistic feelings into it, then you will likely feel less anxious about what the future may bring. Learn to control how you talk to yourself and allow the positive feelings in the world to flood your mind.

Be assertive

Express your inner dreams and strive to achieve them. Erase all your thoughts of being incapable and inferior because you, like anyone else, is worthy of the same place in this world. You deserve to love and be loved, to be happy and respected, as well as to reject, get hurt, fail and cry. Believe in yourself, your abilities and talents, and use them to get what you wish for.

Smile

Smile---and let the world know that you’re going to be okay despite the tension inside you. Think of the happy moments when you made a genuine wide smile in your face. Smile even if you don’t feel doing it and you’ll be surprised on how you will instantly lightened up. Consciously begin the joy in your heart, and share this to others. They will likely return a broad smile to you before they notice it.

Burned out? Then fight Stress

Ways to cope with stress

Stress is inevitable. You just can’t completely block it from attacking you daily. You always find yourself carrying some kinds of weight at the end of the day----be it from your job, family, relationship, or even the bills.

When you let stress go over you live, you tend to become irritated, nervous, scared. But don’t back off. Fight back. You have the power more than what you thought to manage the stress and thus make an enjoyable stay in this life. How? Here are the guides you can follow to keep the stress into the minimum level. 

Know its causes 

 

Figuring out the reasons behind the stress is not as simple as it seems to be. Sometimes, you need to look not on the situation itself, but rather on how you act towards its. For example, you’ve given a task with enough time to accomplish, but due to your constant delaying and prioritizing of the less urgent things, like TV watching or Facebooking, you’ll likely to become panicky when you’ve realized you’re running too far behind the task. Stress is not only rooted on the scenario you’re caught to, but also on your approaches and excuses.

Manage your time wisely

Time is truly as precious as gold. It is one of those essential things that will never come back once you wasted them. You may realize that when the time available is too narrow to finish an important task, you’ll get annoyed, panic and may eventually give up. Thus, don’t ever procrastinate---do your project, study your lessons, prepare for the business report, plan ahead of time. If someone or something is blocking your way, don’t just shrug and go with the flow; be assertive and face it. When a friend calls for a chat but you know you need to study for a big exam tomorrow, be frank and say that you just have a few minutes for talking. In this way, you’ll find yourself more focused on what you’re doing, thus accomplishing more at once. As one successful author said, “Don’t eat the marshmallow yet.”

Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Always remember that a healthy body is more prepared to handle stress than a weak and tired one. So feed yourself with the energy needed to start the day. Make it a habit to exercise regularly. Even just 15 minutes of mild exercising will help you to be revitalized for the next hours. Also, be sure to give yourself a deep continuous sleep every night. If you’re really tired with what you’re studying, better get some sleep than force yourself to study further, because your exhausted mind will naturally stop itself from loading additional information.

Take time to relax

Give yourself a break. Free yourself to the bustling life once in a while and do something you want. It’s not a luxury that you can just pass on anyway; it’s more like a need that you have to meet in order to carry on with your life. Go to the beach, take a walk at the park, chat with your friend, go to the spa, or even do stargazing. 

Express what you feel

Is there someone who’s been annoying you? Does your boss give you a seemingly impossible deadline, or a lover fail to meet you on time? Don’t bottle up your feelings since these may explode before you can help it. Secretly resenting doesn’t help improve the situation anyway.  It will just cause you to resent more and burden your heart. So share your concerns to a close friend if someone or something troubles you.