Ways to Relax in Tough Times
Does anyone in the room right now feel a little stressed? Stress is the key factor that leads to the development of nerves, overload, or anxiety. A short guest author post for your consideration.
As the majority of the world remains quarantined today, I am writing this while confined to my home. I don’t know what else to call it if this isn’t a period of increased tension and anxiety.
I keep my family in my house without knowing what the future holds because I care about the well-being of my neighbourhood. Being unable to control my movements and daily activities, as well as being inundated with sickness news and uncertainties.
Tips to Reduce Anxiety
1. Self-Awareness
Realizing oneself as a unique personality or entity is what is meant by self-awareness. I like to see self-awareness as a goddess or ghost that is sort of floating outside of my body and is able to view my existence from a different angle. You can maintain a more level-headed view of our circumstances when you can distance yourself from the irrational notions that constantly race through your mind. Watching oneself, so to speak, “jump into the trenches” as opposed to actually jumping into the trenches with your thoughts, is very different.
I have a fresh sense of objectivity when I visualize myself as a goddess hovering outside of my body and observing my existence. Here, objectivity is crucial. Being more objective enables us to think more clearly and extricate ourselves from a flood of unproductive feelings like anxiety, tension, and sadness.
The capacity to examine oneself and evaluate one’s ideas, emotions, and behaviour is known as self-awareness. There may or may not be alignment in these three areas of your life. We go out of harmony when we dive deeply into our worries and concerns.
The capacity to control your emotions and make decisions that are consistent with your ideals comes with self-awareness.
2. Breathe
Breathing quickly and shallowly is a common symptom of anxiety and anger. According to Dehorty, this communicates with your brain and creates a positive feedback loop that reinforces your fight-or-flight reaction. Because of this, taking several slow, deep breaths can break the cycle and promote relaxation.
To calm down, try one of the many breathing exercises available. Three-part breathing is one. You must inhale deeply and then fully exhale while paying close attention to your body when practicing three-part breathing.
3. Acknowledge Your Anxiety
Embrace the ability to express your anger or anxiety. The worry and anger you’re feeling might lessen after you give them names and give yourself permission to express them.
4. Meditate
Although I’m not an expert at meditation, I have given it a shot and have found it to be a potent stress-relieving method. Personally, I find the Headspace app to be a great tool for meditation. I enjoy having some direction from the mobile app as I’m just starting out with meditation. Though there are many free materials available as well, I’m now focusing on the commercial services that the app offers.
Additionally, there is a vast universe of meditation to explore. In the more conventional sense, I imagine meditation to involve finding a peaceful, comfortable place to sit, relaxing my body, closing my eyes, and attempting to quiet my mind of its constant chatter.
The goal of meditation is to calm the mind and bring your thoughts and awareness of the current moment. Being mindful of your thoughts as they go through your brain is more important than trying to stop them from occurring.
I’m starting to see that there are many different ways we can do this. I now make an effort to see various daily routines as chances to practice mindfulness and express gratitude. For example, I might go gardening, follow a morning or evening routine, stroll around the block, water my houseplants, stretch, paint, make crafts, or perform some yoga positions.
Try meditation to help you relax during stressful moments; there are so many other approaches besides the standard one!
5. Shift your attention
Move away from the scenario, turn your head in another direction, leave the room, or go outside.
To give you time to make smarter decisions, Dehorty advises doing this practice. “When we are stressed or angry, we focus primarily on how to survive. This is acceptable if our lives are truly in danger, but if not, we want to use our best judgment rather than our natural instincts for survival,” he continues.
6. Relax
Your entire body may seem tense when you’re anxious or irritated. Progressive muscle relaxation exercises might assist you in calming down and finding your core.
Lay on the ground and spread your arms at your sides to perform this. Make sure your hands are not fisted and your feet are not crossed. Begin by telling yourself to release your toes. As you slowly ascend your body, tell yourself to let go of each body part until you reach your head.
Conclusion
Even though dealing with anxiety can seem like an uphill struggle on some days, developing effective coping mechanisms requires learning what to avoid.
Breaking the cycle that anxiety can cause by avoiding triggers, withdrawing from people, hiding your discomfort, and abstaining from vices will be helpful.
Healthy coping techniques can be taught to you by a counsellor so that anxiety will no longer dominate your life but will instead become a symptom you deal with.
Remember that many people are experience nervousness, which is entirely normal. Gaining control over your anxiety or letting it have a detrimental impact on your life depends on learning appropriate coping mechanisms.
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).