Ways to cope with anxiety

You ever get that feeling of your heart beating faster or perhaps, your palms get sweaty during a stressful situation? That’s what we call anxiety.

Everyone has different triggers, so it is important to identifying them to cope with anxiety attacks. A few common triggers could be: your first day at a job, an interview, presenting in front of a group of people etc.

Identifying your triggers can take some time and self-reflection as many people do not realise they have anxiety or they simply try to hide it. In the meantime, there are things you can do to try to help calm or quiet your anxiety.

Question your thought process

It's a lot easier for us as humans to focus more on negative thoughts. However, when trying to think positive thoughts our mind tells us no, it's like a tennis match between you and your mind, you feed it positive thoughts and the mind doesn't like it as it isn't deemed to be true, so it hits back with negative thoughts since we as humans feel more comfort and see more truth when thinking negative. 

​One way is to challenge your fears, ask if they’re true, and see where you can take back control.

Breathing and Meditation

Breathing is a big part in being able to control your anxiety. Taking some time out to focus on your breathing will help you cope with anxiety. 

Try breathing in for 4 counts and breathing out for 4 counts for 5 minutes total. By evening out your breath, you’ll slow your heart rate, which should help calm you down.

It's essential you learn how to quiet the mind. While this takes some practice to do successfully, mindful meditation, when done regularly, can eventually help you train your brain to dismiss anxious thoughts when they arise. You can read more about this in my post here.

Walking

Going for a walk is sometimes the best way to stop anxious thoughts. Taking some time to focus on your body and not your mind may help relieve your anxiety. 

There is growing evidence that combining activities such as walking or cycling with nature boosts well-being.

Write down your thoughts

Using a pen and paper to write down what’s making you anxious gets it out of your head and can make it less daunting.

It is seen as a relaxation method to calming your thoughts. This trick will also help you realise what is triggering your anxiety and will help you in recognising them in the future.

Anxiety may always be a part of your life, but it shouldn’t overtake your day-to-day. Even the most extreme anxiety disorders can be treated so that the symptoms aren’t overwhelming.

Once you find what treatment works best for you, life should be a lot more enjoyable and a lot less daunting.