10 things you can do NOW to reduce Anxiety

Anxiety is the most prevalent mental health issue in the United States, affecting roughly 40 million adults every year. The rigors of life, including but not limited to relationships, social status, finances, and work/school can often leave people feeling overwhelmed. This can have a significant impact on everyday life and prevent people from feeling fulfilled. Luckily, there are many ways one can combat anxiety, including several that can be done anytime and anywhere. Read below for ten simple yet effective techniques for reducing anxiety.

Mindfulness

Anxiety typically stems from fear and worry about something that might happen in the future or a perceived threat. Mindfulness is helpful in these moments because it allows you to remain in the present moment. Each emotion that you have comes with a physiological signature in your body. This can be tightness in your chest, jaw clenching, shortness of breath and more. Once you can tune in to the information your body is giving you, you can become curious about what triggers your anxiety and why. 

Mindfulness for anxiety

  1. Use your five senses. Start by noticing one thing you can see, one thing you can hear, one thing you can touch, one thing you can taste, and one thing you can smell in your environment. Really pay attention to those sensations. This will allow you to reorient yourself to the present moment. Do this over and over again until you start to feel some of the anxiety subside.
  2. Observe your thoughts. Simply get curious about your thoughts. Really pay attention to them and notice how those thoughts are making your body feel. Do they make you feel nauseous? Do they make you feel shaky? Identifying how the thoughts make you feel can bring you back into your body.

Reality Testing

After noticing those thoughts, start testing their validity. For example, let’s say you are about to attend your first day of work at a new job and your anxiety has got you spinning. Your thoughts might look like: “what if they all hate me, what if they reject me immediately, what if I can’t do the job?” You can use reality testing to to see if those possibilities warrant the severity of your paralyzing fear and anxiety. Since people don’t know you yet, they won’t hate you. You were good enough to impress the hiring manager that gave you the job, and people typically want acceptance for themselves so they are likely to give you that same acceptance! By calling out the thoughts as untrue, you can take away the power of the thought. 

Breathing Exercises

Breathwork is one of the BEST ways to regulate your nervous system. Deep breaths will begin to calm your vagus nerve by increasing oxygen in your brain, and bringing your awareness back to your body instead of focusing on the perceived threats and worries. You can find many breath-work videos on YouTube that will guide you through a breathing exercise. You can also try “box breathing” which refers to a pattern of breath where you breath in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breath out for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and continue that way until you notice your anxiety begin to subside. This technique is great because it can be used anytime, anywhere, and requires some mental focus while counting the breaths so your brain is not capable of continuing to focus on worrying.

Outdoor Grounding

Grounding to the earth sounds very “woo woo” but there are multiple real-world studies to back up its effectiveness. The earth has an electromagnetic energy field that our ancestors were always connected to by being outside barefoot, or wearing shoes made of leather instead of shoes with rubber soles. The theory is that by going outside and putting your bare feet on the earth, you will reap many benefits for your physical and mental health including better sleep, better immune function, a reduction in inflammation, and a calming effect. For all these reasons,  grounding is a great way to combat anxiety. Not to mention, it also has the added benefit of giving you a small amount of sun exposure, which will allow you to absorb some vitamin D while you are at it. Simply take off your shoes, stand on the ground and close your eyes. Allow yourself some time to really relax. You really only need to do this for about three minutes a day and you might even notice immediate benefits. 

Talking to a Friend or Family Member

Attachment figures can often help bring us back down to earth when our anxiety is getting the best of us. When you feel yourself slipping into the grips of an anxiety attack, try calling a trusted partner, friend, or family member who will be able to support you and offer you a new perspective. Feeling validated and securely attached to another person allows people to feel more capable of going out in to the world and doing things that feel scary. It is crucial to feel like there is someone that will have your back if you need it. 

Taking a Hot Bath

This one is my personal favorites! Hot baths can help calm you and create a sense of presence. While in the bath, allow yourself permission to be fully present and dedicate that time to yourself. Give yourself the grace to let go and just focus on feeling relaxed in the moment. 

Exercise

Exercising has SO many health benefits, but did you know that it also has an unending amount of benefits for your mental health? Some psychiatrists would go as far as to say that exercise is the single most effective way to combat anxiety apart from medical interventions! Exercise works by 

1. Diverting your attention away from the stressor

2. Decreasing tension in your body

3. Increasing serotonin and other brain chemicals that help you feel calm and happy

4. Activating parts of your brain responsible for controlling how you react to real or perceived threats 

The benefits really do not stop there. Exercise can also increase your confidence and self trust, which will help you feel more safe in triggering situations. You don’t need to be a body builder to reap these benefits, even a simple walk for around 30 minutes can help ease your anxiousness. 

Getting More Sleep

Sleep has many benefits. So much so that I have written a whole article on sleep alone (coming soon). As you would imagine, lack of sleep can also impact your emotions. If you are prone to anxiety, you need your brain firing on all cylinders in order to combat your anxiousness. Scientists have discovered that sleep deprivation can activate the parts of the brain responsible for excessive worry. These parts of the brain are actually associated with anxiety disorders. By focusing on getting good quality sleep for 8-9 hours each night, you can help your brain’s emotional centers and also be more prepared to cope with any anxiousness that might arise. 

Meditation

Many people think mediation is all about turning off your brain and thinking of nothing. That is why so many people get discouraged when trying it. The truth is that mediation is all about being an observer of your own thoughts. Sometimes the racing thoughts that cause your anxiety are going a mile a minute and your anxious feelings may distract you from what your thoughts are really saying. Some of them may be completely irrational but have a deeper fear attached to them. Once you get into a relaxed, meditative state, you can begin to examine your own thoughts and start to question why they trigger you. Are they tied to a traumatic situation that you can not yet processed? Do you have certain fears that you have not been able to shake? There are so many reasons why your anxiety might feel out of control and mediation can help you slow down and start to understand yourself better. Not to mention, a consistent meditation process has been shown on brain scan to reduce activity in the default mode network (DMN) area of the brain. The DMN is also known as “the monkey mind,” and is typically responsible for the spin out that happens when you start experiencing anxiety.

Eliminating Caffeine 

This is probably everyone’s least favorite, and if you are anything like me, you are most likely in denial about the impact of caffeine on your anxiety. Caffeine creates the same physiological symptoms that your body experiences when your fear response is activated. You can begin to feel a rapid heart rate, shallow breathing, and claminess, to name a few. Since our emotions have a physiological signature in our bodies, this can signal to your brain that you are in danger, and need to be on alert. If you find yourself getting anxious for seemingly no reason, and you are an avid coffee drinker, maybe try going a few weeks without it just to see how it helps. Be prepared for some withdrawal symptoms at first, but if you experience any anxiety at all in your day to day life, dropping the caffeine can certainly help in that regard. 

In addition to the items mentioned above, discovering the triggers of your anxiety and having an open, safe environment to explore that in is one of the best things you can do to start combatting the troubling symptoms and get back to living your life to the fullest. Rest assured, no matter how hopeless the anxiety is making you feel, you have the power within you to cope with anything that comes your way, and I would be honored to help you find that strength. If you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, please don’t hesitate to submit your information or email me at brooke@evolutionaustintherapy.com to set up a free consultation.

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