10 Highly Useful Methods to Manage Anxiety

We all know anxiety in some way, yet, so many of us experience unhealthy levels of this emotion, potentially leading to associated and long-term health implications! So what’s to do to alleviate unhealthy anxiety?

10-highly-useful-methods-to-manage-anxietyExercise

Let’s get this ‘demon’ out of the way, right off the bat! Unlike depression* (a no less important illness), anxiety states can more readily lend themselves to exercise. We often ‘feel the need to let off steam! The form of exercise chosen is completely for us to decide. It certainly doesn’t need to be about setting immediate goals to complete a marathon or iron-man(woman) event! Cardio work, such as HITT training, jogging, cycling and swimming are all useful and equally so, are yoga and pilates (hard work done slowly!). My personal favourites are yoga and walking!

 *Depression symptoms can also be significantly reduced with exercise.

 

The key to sustainable practise is to build up your chosen discipline and ENJOY IT!

 

Meditation or Mind-training

Regular readers will know that a cornerstone of my personal and professional practice is around maintaining my emotional and physical well-being via Mindfulness. It really can be life-altering! Slow things down and the world around us can quite suddenly return to a place of reality, rather than mistaken cognitive patterns formulated from less positive past experiences.

Healthy Diet

Moods and foods are known to strongly correlate with each other. If I consume healthy food and drinks more often, respecting my body, I feel better!

Rest and Relaxation (R&R)

Laugh, love, and engage in healthy hobbies or activities that make YOU happy. “Positive selfishness” may be necessary!

Animal Therapy

Being in close proximity to animals is a wonderful way to ‘ground’ ourselves and find compassion. (Preferably animals not intent on eating you!)

Counselling, Psychotherapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

These are known as Talking Therapies and can be useful when, despite own efforts, anxiety and unhelpful thoughts persist. These models are useful in the individual or group setting, where available. Many times, anxiety is present based on formative and perhaps less than optimal styles of parenting, or family situations over which we had no control, but became embedded as part of our sense of safety – and self. Trauma, emotional and or physical in those early years will also provide fertile ground for anxiety in later life.

Surround Yourself with Positive Influences

It is so easy to find ourselves engaging in the negativity of others. Growing awareness of whether this, and other behaviours nourish our sense of well-being and place in our world can help to inform just who you listen to, and engage with! Observe for those individuals who bring positivity to the table, and see how this can be available to us.

News-fasting

As with No 7, consider whether you are automatically following all the news, all of the time! So much of the ‘news’ content is negative and leads to us engaging in judgemental attitudes. It IS useful to know what is going on in the world, both locally and internationally, but 24/7?

Addictive Traits

When we are under sustained duress, as found with intrusive anxiety, it can be observed that we may look to try and offset the psychological and emotional turbulence via alcohol, drugs, gambling, infidelity or unhealthy diets.

Clearly, whilst some of these behaviours are undertaken with attempts at justification such as, “look, I’m tired, stressed and on edge, I just need to ‘treat myself”, they will only exacerbate the symptoms of imbalance. Try asking yourself, if you recognise these behaviours and ask, “What is my relationship to the behaviour?”. If I’m grabbing for a bottle of wine or a beer, is it purely recreational, or am I attempting to use ‘it’ as mechanism to ‘cope’?

Can the STRESS be Reduced?

A precursor to so many of us suffering with anxiety is when we are subjected to intense and consistent stress, loading pressures over and above any of the available resources we might have. We believe we ‘should’ cope, that we are smart and strong and …know your limits, learn to say no, and honour yourself whenever possible.

If we can choose to acknowledge what we think is ‘hurting’ us, and find acceptance for what at this time has to remain unchallenged – and take action for that which we can change, life does come back into focus – and objectivity and clarity can once again lead us to a more balanced, reasoned view – with less emotion.

In the end analysis, the oft quoted (and one of my favourite) meme’s can help us worry less in the knowledge that whatever is lending itself to worry us… “This too will come to pass.”

About the author

Bob Brotchie is a counsellor, mindset consultant and creator of "Conscious Living by Design"™. He writes for Anglia Counselling, is featured on various other websites and introduces us to many guest writers all covering topics related to mental health and wellbeing.

Bob provides bespoke counselling services to individuals and couples in the privacy and comfort of a truly welcoming environment at his Anglia Counselling company office, located near Newmarket in Suffolk, England. Bob also provides professional online counselling, for local, national, and international clients. The therapeutic models offered are bespoke to the client’s needs, especially those in receipt of 'childhood emotional neglect' (CEN), whilst integrating a mindful approach to psychotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) principles. For clients experiencing trauma and/or phobia, Bob offers EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing).

4 Comments

  1. Bob, thanks for taking the time to share these tips. Anxiety can be debilitating as I know so well, and as you say, “this too shall pass”. I will bookmark this wonderful post for those moments of needing to be reminded xx

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