Anxiety and uncontrollable worry is something that most people will deal with at some stage in their life. Often this can spiral into a constant hamster wheel of worry about your future, regret about the past as well as general feelings of inadequacy that impact all aspects of our life.
Our health, relationships, sleep and career can all be impacted so much that we feel that we no longer have control and that joy, happiness and peace of mind is forever out of our reach. In Australia, it’s estimated that 45 per cent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime.
In any one year, around 1 million Australian adults have depression, and over 2 million have anxiety. Although you might find these statistics alarming the good thing to know is that you’re not alone and you can find help regardless of your severity.
Below I will show you some simple, proven actions you can take to restore balance and feel calm, confident and positive once again.
1. Take Few Deep Breaths
Focusing on your breathing is a great way to reduce feelings of overwhelm and anxiety by bringing your mind back into the present moment, the present breath and sensations in the body right now.
Try this Breathing Exercise:
- When you feel tension and anxiety building simply stop, close your eyes and take a deep breath in to the count of 4
- Hold it for 4 seconds
- Then slowly breath out to the count of 4
- Repeat this as many times as necessary always kindly and gently bringing your focus back to the breath
For maximum benefits breath deeply into your stomach and feel the breath as it fills your body, then notice the point in between breaths as you slowly release.
2. Accept The Feelings For What They Are
When you learn to accept that anxiety is simply a feeling or emotional reaction that is created inside you, you start to realise that you have the power to overcome it. This does not mean you should resign yourself to feeling anxious all the time, but it allows you to have more awareness of what is going on right now.
It also helps you to avoid fighting anxious feelings or blaming yourself for being in this emotional state which only serves to worsen symptoms of anxiety. Let the feelings come and go without judgement and soon they will pass
3. Question Your Anxious Thought
When you step back and investigate the anxious thoughts in your mind you will quickly realise that most, if not all, of your worries are not based in reality.
We can often build up these elaborate stories of how everything will go wrong and that it will be the end of the world if you mess up your presentation, or fail the upcoming exam, etc.
But in reality none of the worst case scenarios you create ever come to fruition, and if they do the consequences are never as bad as you imagine.
So instead of worrying yourself to the point of exhaustion try to ask yourself these simple questions to gain some clarity on the situation:
- Are my worries based in reality?
- How likely is this to actually happen?
- Would it really be the end of the world if the worst case scenarios happened?
- How can I prepare to reduce the chances of this happening?
4. Learn To Observe The Present Moment
Step back and focus on all the feelings, thoughts, sensations and judgements that are happening in your mind and body right now.
Accept yourself with compassion and kindness and know that your thoughts are not you, they are simply a mental event that is happening now and that these thoughts will pass..
5. Engage In A Positive Activity To Clear Your Mind
Sometimes you simply need to distract your mind with something positive to help clear out the negative thoughts.
If you’re rolling back and forth in bed worrying about future or past events then get up and read a book or take 5 minutes to do a light stretch whilst focusing on the sensations in your body.
Or you could redirect your focus onto something positive such as a positive experience or a goal you are working towards. Tidying up a room or cupboard is also a fast and effective way to disengage from worrisome thoughts and feel a small sense of achievement instead.
6. Maintain Regular Exercise
According to studies, regular exercise works as well as medication for some people to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the effects can be long lasting. One vigorous exercise session can be enough to help reduce or alleviate symptoms for hours.
Maintaining a regular schedule may significantly reduce your anxiety over time as well as releasing endorphin’s into your body that help lower stress and help you to feel more positive.
7. Try Mediation and Yoga
Meditation can help reduce anxiety. It can take a while to get the hang of it, so the first few weeks can be frustrating. Try to hang in there with it.
A simple technique practiced for as few as 10 minutes per day can help you control stress, decrease anxiety, improve cardiovascular health, and achieve a greater capacity for relaxation.
You might want to hit the mat and give yoga a try. Yoga is a mind-body practice that combines physical poses, controlled breathing, and meditation or relaxation. The benefits of Yoga is that it includes a number of the tips in this article such as physical exercise, controlled breathing and can also be considered a form of mediation which all help reduce stress, lower blood pressure and lower your heart rate.
8. Seek Professional Help
If you’ve tried everything above and you’re still concerned about your mental well being then the best thing you can do is seek professional help. The long terms effects of anxiety can be crippling both on yourself and your relationships, it’s important to get help as soon as possible.
Don’t worry though, getting help doesn’t have to involve medication and harsh drugs that cause additional negative side effects on your body. Numerous natural treatments are now available to assist you in management and breaking free from Anxiety such as the ones provided by Blissiree Pty Ltd.
Why Not Try Something New?
The above tips are great at helping reduce anxiety and worry when it starts to rise in your mind and body. But if these do not work or your anxiety has started to affect your life and well-being in more serious ways, then Blissiree Pty Ltd offers a revolutionary program that has a 98% success rate** to relieve all anxiety and mental illness with a proven, drug free and fast solution.
Note that our treatment should never be viewed as a replacement for medications or other recognised treatments and/or therapies without qualified medical advice from your doctor.
Click here for more information on our unique anxiety treatment.