3 Ways to Manage Anxiety
If you struggle with anxiety you know that no matter how many times others say “just relax and don’t worry” it isn’t that easy. Below are a few things that could help.
- Accept that you have anxiety without being critical of yourself. Many times when someone struggles with anxiety they often think negatively of themselves for feeling anxious and even judge themselves harshly. Shaming yourself will only make the anxiety worse, so try to be kind to yourself by accepting that anxiety is something you struggle with. And that you are not a bad person or weak, or to blame for it.
- Thoughts aren’t always truths. Thoughts can be so powerful that we often believe what they tell us. But we shouldn’t. For example if we are anxious about our children and think that we aren’t a good parent, that doesn’t make it true. Or if we are anxious about relationship problems and think that our relationship can’t improve, that isn’t necessarily true either. Recognizing and remembering this when we are feeling anxious can help us take a step back and not let those thoughts have more power than they should.
- Learn and practice a grounding tool that you can use when your anxiety increases. These often involve stopping and using your senses to pay attention to your environment, along with deep breathing. One of these is the 5 senses technique. Stop and look for 5 things you can see, then 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Another one may be to simply stop and notice and count everything around you that is a certain color, like green. Doing a technique like this can help pull you out of your anxiety and into the moment, as well as gives your mind something else to focus on.