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Are you struggling with anxiety? In this article, you will learn researched-backed practical solutions to take control of your anxious thoughts and feelings using meditation, mindfulness and other proven mental health techniques.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is often referred to as unease, concern, and nervousness. It's possible for your heart rate to rise. You could start to perspire and feel stiff and restless. It might be a normal reaction to stress. Anxiety may arise, for example, when something is happening that brings back unpleasant memories, when you are presented with a difficult situation, or before making a significant choice.
You may find that your anxiety helps you focus or gives you a boost of energy. But for people with anxiety disorders, worry is persistent and can sometimes become overwhelming.
Anxiety Disorders
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is a result of a horrific incident that you went through in the past. In these situations, It might cause you some injuries or encounter life-threatening events. You'll have difficulty breathing and taming your emotions, and you will develop bad and reckless behaviour and get startled easily.
General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Is an intense worry in general. It could be when you worry about the things and the people that matter to you or overthink about an unknown situation.
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety usually comes from the people that surround us. It could be a fear of being watched or judged by others. It is a kind of anxiety in a social setting like in a public space, with friends, or a family gathering.
Panic Disorders
This kind of anxiety has a feeling of fear, feeling of fainting, shaking, and changes in body temperature. It can be triggered by drinking so much caffeine, remembering the trauma, or withdrawal from drugs or alcohol.
Phobias
The phobias might be from genetics, imagination, specific objects, brain chemistry, or any component of certain events.
Everybody occasionally feels fear and anxiety, which are healthy emotions for a human being, and not all anxiety disorders. No worries as this is mostly treatable!
What To Do When Feeling Anxious?
Determine the cause of your triggers and accept them. You may encounter them without a warning. While some people are in difficult situations and are unsure of what to do at the moment, others can escape it with ease.
Here is a list of easy ways to calm your racing thoughts so you can manage it.
1. Get Active
By keeping active, you can boost your mood and improve your mental health. You can start slowly by going to your garden and doing planting, walking dogs, or maybe yoga. You don't have to go for a hardcore kind of activity. Take it slow, and enjoy your moment.
Follow along with these workouts to ease your anxious mind!
Yoga for Anxiety & Stress
Yoga for Anxiety & Panic Attacks
Walk at Home Workout to Ease Anxiety
Dance Exercise to Release Stress & Anxiety
I know it's kinda of scary to dig deep and identify the roots of your anxiety but by knowing about what triggers, it will be easier to address them. You can book an appointment with any mental health professional for more guided therapy or listen to podcasts that talk about anxiety and how to ease it as the first step.
Listen to these podcasts and learn from these experts, you will be more knowledgeable about anxiety
OWNING IT: The Anxiety Podcast with Caroline Foran
Calming Anxiety - Guided Mediation with Martin Hewlett
Weekly Podcast with The Anxiety Dr.
3. Try Breathing Techniques
Breathing technique is one of the effective ways to relieve anxiety. The primary Impacts of slow breathing techniques encompass both the psychological state and the activities of the autonomic and central nervous system(Zaccaro et al., 2018).
There are several breathing techniques for you to practice and let us know about them:
4-7-8 Breathing
This kind of breathing is a very well-known recommendation from experts. It will be best if you do it seated and you can relax by closing your eyes. Start by breathing while counting to four, holding it while counting to 7, and finally release it counting to 8.
Play the video below to guide you:
Alternate-Nostril Yoga Breathing
Four-Square Breathing
Lion's Breathing
4. Get Enough Sleep
Anxiety may cause a lack of sleep, and the tendency of not having enough time to sleep is it will change your mood, get easily distracted, your anxiety and depression increase, and this all will lead to poor performance.
You should start doing this if you want to sleep well;
Stay away from caffeinated drinks and food, alcohol and heavy meals before bedtime.
Maintain a consistent sleep schedule and wake up everyday, even on weekends.
Be sure that you have an ideal temperature inside your room, cozy, calm, and dark.
No smartphones, tv, computer and any electronics inside your bedroom.
5. Music Therapy
Music is a solid tool to help you on a day to day basis. It can boost your mood when you feel low, enhance your memory, energized you when you feel bored or even relax. One thing about music is it is made for everyone, regardless of the age, culture, nationalities or wherever you are right now. It is reachable and so easy to access with our modern gadgets.
Different type of Music Therapy are:
Sound Bath
A sound bath is the kind of meditation that uses vibrations. Imagine the instruments like singing bowls, tuning forks, and chimes. It is called a sound bath because of its unique practice, where you will lie down and “bathe” in the music as the instructor plays the instruments.
Sit down, Be comfortable, and Choose your tune:
Crystal Singing Bowl
Tuning Forks
Chimes
Hand-pan
Human Voice
Binaural Music
Binaurals are produced through the use of two sounds with marginally different frequencies. Even though one tone is marginally high or lower than the other, your brain still interprets them as one.
Try listen to these 5 frequency patterns:
Delta 5 - 4 Hz For Deep Sleep
Theta 4 - 7 Hz For Creativity and REM
Alpha 7 - 13 Hz For Focus and Relaxation
Beta 13 - 30 Hz For Concertation and Clarity
Gamma 30 - 50 Hz For High Focus and Alertness
Classical Music
Classical music is said to be one of the factors that can relieve anxiety because of its pleasing sound that soothes the brain that helps you relax and calm down.
Even if you think you are not a fan of classical music, you should give it a try:
Piano Orchestra
Sergei Rachmaninov piano concerto No.2 in C minor, op.18 [ II - Adagio sostenuto]
Chopin Piano Solo
Bach Cello Solo
Disney Classic Instrumental Philharmonic
It might really make you feel more tense to listen to soothing music that makes you upset. If that happens, you might want to look up alternatives online or ask Counseling Service staff members for suggestions on other music. Check out Project C Foundation services HERE.
Keep in mind that de-stressing does not always translate into sleep. It means that your body and mind are at peace, which enables you to function well in many scenarios once you've regained your composure.
Written by Ethil Besana
Edited by Virginia Helzainka
References:
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