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Editor’s note: This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or treat any illness. If you have any health concern, see a licensed healthcare professional in person.
Folklore has it Nasreddin was once walking alone in the night when he saw a couple of individuals approaching from a distance. At that instant, his imagination started toying with him. “These are definitely thieves!” he thought. “No, they’re not just thieves, they’re likely to be murderers or cutthroats, planning to devour all my possessions then leave me for the dead.”
Nasreddin’s heart began pounding frantically, his mouth became dry and his hands moist. He shook like a leaf on a frail twig as he waited for his fate. Contrary to his expectations, the individuals had no intention of harming him or taking his possessions. In fact, they approached him because they were concerned about his uncomfortable disposition.
Like Nasreddin, there are many who anticipate the future with scary predictions that don’t have any basis in truth. Anxiety is merely an emotional response to a perceived danger, which is often not real. Thankfully, you can combat this anxiety in different ways. This article looks at 10 most effective steps of beating anxiety.
The 10-Step Guide to Combat Anxiety
1. Identifying your triggers
You may be so entrenched in your anxiety problem you cannot even identify what causes it. For some, this issue starts right when they get up. They wake up with their hearts throbbing against their chests and their palms incredibly sweaty. But your best bet at overcoming anxiety is pinpointing its exact cause or causes.
For instance, do you dread Sunday evenings because you’re scared that in a few hours you’ll be back to work taking orders from your authoritative boss? The best way to identify the triggers that spur these episodes is to keep a journal. This way, you can record the episodes as they occur; hence, identify the triggers.
2. Breathing
Although this seems like a no-brainer, it’s a vital practice that is worth mentioning. Whenever you’re experiencing an anxiety attack, your first step should be taking deep breaths. Taking quick, shallow breaths is the one thing that spurs all other anxiety symptoms so you should avoid this at all cost. Ideally, if you get your breathing under control, you’re less likely to experience other anxiety symptoms.
If you start getting anxious, consider doing the following:
- Stop any activity you’re doing
- Focus on your breathing
- Take a deep breath in and do a quick count of 7 in your mind
- Exhale slowly and do a quick count of 11
By exhaling for a longer period, you force your body to calm down naturally.
3. Try using a different part of your brain
The third step in combatting anxiety is to use a different section of the brain. Usually, if you’re anxious, you’ll notice that you find it difficult to think clearly. To prevent this, try engaging the working or thinking section of your brain.
The best way to achieve this is by using numbers. For instance, start rating your level of anxiety between 1 and 10 with 10 referring to most terrified. Doing this immediately lowers your anxiety because it forces your mind to engage in something else other than worrying.
4. Taking control of your imagination
Anxiety comes about when you start imagining the worst possible scenario. But imagination is meant to help you project into the future; thus, allowing you to plan in advance. Regrettably, one side effect of such imagination is the aptitude to anticipate things going wrong. This can be useful in certain situations, but when you start worrying excessively, you can spoil your otherwise happy life.
Anxious individuals often misuse their imagination capabilities. They regard any upcoming incidences as catastrophes waiting to happen. Imagination is not a bad thing. However, instead of focusing on the worst of every situation, envision yourself remaining calm, collected and composed. By doing so, you recondition your mind; hence, feel calm even as the anticipated event approaches.
5. Changing your perspective
The mind is the most powerful tool each individual has. You are entitled to your own experience and the emotions that are brought about by the different experiences. Often, the way you navigate your life starts in your mind and the power you award to objects, individuals, and situations. As such, you should change your perspective on the factors that trigger your anxiety. These triggers are only as powerful as the power you yield to them.
Coping with persistent anxiety might take a while. But, changing your perspective of the fears you experience, is one step closer to gaining full control of your mind; and subsequently, your anxiety problem.
6. Start getting enough sleep
Did you know sleep deprivation is a leading cause of anxiety? That’s right, failing to get adequate sleep, which is known as sleep debt, affects your physical and mental health as well. The biggest problem arising from sleep debt is that it causes an array of issues, which all result in increased anxiety.
For one, sleep deprivation makes your body incapable of handling the usual stresses of the day. If you don’t rest enough, the stress accumulates and this can make you anxious about trivial things.
7. Meditating
Put simply; meditation means learning how to be attentive. So, when applied properly, meditation is one of the best kept-secrets to combatting anxiety. Meditating not only helps to minimize your worries but it also helps you achieve a feeling of balance, composure, and focus. More specifically, treating anxiety requires you to practice a form of meditation known as mindfulness-based meditation. It entails separating yourself from anxious feelings and thoughts, recognizing any factors that spur tension in your body, familiarizing yourself with your thinking patterns and learning how to cope with negative emotions.
Here are the steps to take to meditate successfully:
- Start by sitting in a chair then place your feet flat on the surface
- Focus on your breathing pattern and don’t try to change the way you inhale and exhale; just observe how your body moves as you breathe
- Resist any temptations you get to shift your focus to other things or situations
- If an anxious thought crosses your mind, acknowledge it but bring yourself back to focus on your breathing.
- Carry on with your quiet observation for a minimum of ten minutes
- Once this period elapses, open your eyes and pay attention to how you feel
8. Talking it out
If you usually get anxious, chances are you also feel alone. Many are the times when you just want to burrow yourself into a corner and assume the rest of the world is non-existent. Anxious worriers like isolating themselves because the idea of being around crowds only aggravates their anxiety. But this needs not be the case. For one, you should embrace the fact that your anxiety is founded on your feelings of inadequacy. The truth is, there are a ton of people who can lend a listening ear if you’re open to them. This could be a colleague, a close friend or a family member.
Most of the time, expressing your feelings to another individual helps you to stay calm. In fact, you should also consider seeking medical help from a therapist, a wellness coach or even your physician.
9. Modifying your diet
“Healthy eating”- the two most common words in the medical field. Although this phrase is thrown around a lot, it makes a significant difference when it comes to managing and treating anxiety. If you get anxious a lot, you should eat more of vegetables and less of burgers and other junk food. Diet does not have a direct impact on your anxiety but it can aggravate anxiety symptoms. The foods that you should avoid are:
- Fried foods– ideally, your body has a hard time digesting fried foods. What’s more, these foods offer little nutritional value to your body. So, if your body has a hard time processing the food you ingest, this makes it all the more difficult to reduce anxiety.
- Coffee– too much coffee serves as an anxiety stimulant. It may not spur anxiety in most people, but higher the number of times you consume it, the more likely you are to experience anxiety.
- Refined sugars– the sugar present in fruits is great for your health. However, the white sugar that you add to desserts and other foods is unhealthy.
Now that you know the foods you should avoid, what products can you replace them with? One specific product that is scientifically proven to help with combatting anxiety is CBD oil, and it’s extracted from cannabis plants. In one animal study, it was found that CBD enhanced the regeneration of neurons in the hippocampus, which in turn, treat anxiety and depression problems. However, dosing CBD for anxiety requires the supervision of a physician. A medical expert will recommend the right cannabis strains that can help treat your anxiety.
10. Creating a vision board
If the future scares you, you should make changes to your current life to secure a better tomorrow. At times, you only need to set clear goals, and you will have taken the edge off your unknown future, and subsequently, your anxiety issue.
Spare at least an hour to create these goals. You can focus on the activities that interest you the most. If you’re not all that crafty, you can use Pinterest’s e-vision board. When coming up with your goals, consider only those ideas that are genuine, realistic, inspirational and necessary.
Wrap Up
In an ideal world, no individual would wish to become anxious. But you’re human; hence, you’re bound to worry about certain issues. So when start feeling nervous, there are a couple of steps you can take. Start by pinpointing the triggers that spur your anxiety attacks. Next, practice breathing slowly whenever this anxiety attack strikes. Other ways that really help to combat persistent anxiety include meditating, talking it out, resting enough and changing your perception of things.
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Photo: Getty Images