Anxiety And Relaxation (#146)

These days everyone seems to be tied up in knots with anxiety and tension. But why? Now I am no Clinician, but it is plain to see just take a look around. We live fast-paced lives and we rarely slow down to take in the present moment. Our day-to-day lives are completely overwhelmed by things that need to get done, things we feel we need to get done, and many other outside forces. Anxiety is on the rise and we need to learn relaxation techniques.

anxiety: a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. It might cause you to sweat, feel restless and tense, and have a rapid heartbeat.

When we feel anxious about things it is our body’s way of becoming on alert to some type of danger. Back in the caveman days it probably would have been that we may have been fearful of being completely mauled by a Sabertooth Tiger or something related to our immediate safety. These days we don’t necessarily have to be on such high alert, however; our bodies perceive things differently. What’s your self-talk?

Regardless of what things are causing us to be fearful, we tense up and it can be overwhelming and it could be debilitating. We need to learn what the root cause is so that we can start the process of easing the anxiety in healthy ways. On the flip side, if we try to shock and awe our systems by trying to do a quick fix of calming the anxiety, things could backfire. We could then begin to obsess about the fact that we are feeling anxious about something. Geez, that sucks!

Here are some useful tips to get you going in the right direction. Please know that these tips are learned skills over time. Don’t expect an instant fix because it’s completely an unrealistic expectation. After all for many of us, it took a lifetime to get us here with the realization that we’ve suffered from anxiety for who knows how long. Or we are finally wanting to confront the anxiety with some coping tools. 

PRO TIP: We need to make relaxation strategies a daily practice.

–Develop and cultivate coping strategies. We need to learn the source of what’s causing us to be anxious and then we can start to figure it out over time. The trick to helping us get through anxiety is to not turn and hide but to face the fears little by little in healthy ways so that we can recognize and turn off the “danger alarm,”

–Put on the brakes and slow down. Find healthy activities to help us reduce stress and tension. Not everything is mission-critical. I promise! If we can start slowing down consciously we can then start to reduce some excessive thoughts of sense of urgency.

–Get some sleep. This one is critical and with some discipline, you can be better off than not. Make a routine, stick with the routine, and get that going. No, it’s not easy but the less sleep ya get the worse off you will be. It’s a snowball effect.

–Eat a balanced diet. I am living proof of this one and I am so grateful that I learned how to manage my food intake. There are so many things out there that are completely toxic for our bodies. Find a balance that works for you.

–Confront the conflict. Meaning we need to start addressing the root causes of our anxiety so that we can implement some relaxation exercises. Try to minimize social conflicts and learn how to be diplomatic. We need to be open. We also need to improve our communication skills. This should go a long way for many of us.

–Set up some goals for yourself. Be realistic and strive for a healthy balance. Get a new mindset. You got this!

–Stay active. Do some exercise for at least 30 minutes per day. Yes I know they say 20 minutes, but let’s raise the bar for ourselves! They say that regular exercising can be a good antidepressant. True fact!!!

–Learn time management. This one could be really tricky for many of us. I have been working on this one for many years now. The key to this one is to avoid excessive multi-tasking. Good luck to my ADHD crew!

Conclusion

Fears and stresses may never truly go away but if we learn how to respond to them on the daily, we can then minimize their long-term effects. Find out what the root causes are and go from there.

Question

How do you relax and how do you help your anxiety symptoms?