Managing Anxiety
WHAT IS ANXIETY?
Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed or worried. While stress and anxious feelings are a common response to a situation where a person feels under pressure, it usually passes once the stressful situation has passed, or the 'stressor' is removed.
Anxiety is when these anxious feelings don't subside; when they're ongoing and exist without any particular reason or cause. It's a serious condition that makes it hard to cope with daily life. We all feel anxious from time to time, but for someone experiencing anxiety, these feelings cannot easily be controlled.
MANAGE YOUR ANXIETY
DON'T LET YOUR ANXIETY MANAGE YOU
Anxiety symptoms can include constant heightened physical tension in the body and may settle in the jaw, neck, shoulders or stomach as well as a feeling of doom or dread in the pit of the stomach. The feeling of doom will always set off a mental search for what might be causing it.
If you have been anxious about changes in your life and you don't understand these feelings, it is useful to know that you can control your experience of anxiety.
BE AWARE OF YOUR MIND
It's easy to fear panic and anxiety; but the more you worry about it, the more likely it is you will become panicky or anxious. Stay in the present moment with your thinking. Aim to avoid worrying about the future.
Try this exercise for anxiety.
Close your eyes. With your mind, start going through your body, notice how your clothes feel, how your body feels, what sensations you have in your stomach etc.
With your eyes still closed, shift your awareness away from your body to everything you can hear or smell or feel through your skin.
Shift your awareness back to your body, and then back to sounds and sensations.
This exercise will teach you that you can have control of what you focus on, either internal or external.
HAVE SOME FUN!
Do you remember what it was like to do something 'just because'? Try to take some time out on a regular basis to do something that will bring you joy. It can be as simple as having an ice cream just because you feel like it or going for a walk on the beach. Remember not to take your worry with you.
TURNING OFF THE WORRY BRAIN
This is especially important for people whose brains go over and over and over problems and cannot stop. Tell the worry to go away and replace it with a peaceful thought. Give your mind a chance to rest!
