Overcoming Anxiety - Ten Top Tips
1.
If a negative thought pops into your mind, like "I can't do this (thing)..
..
" Reframe and rephrase it into a positive thought by adding "YET" to the end - this helps you to move forward from the current situation, allowing you to believe that things can change for the better.
When you get really good at this, you can add another sentence "but I will...
" or "but I'm getting better at it" 2.
Remember all the positive things that have happened in your day Anxiety is often fed by going over negative past experiences, which skews our perception of the world.
By focussing your attention on things that have gone right, the negative aspects shrink back into their proper perspective.
Start with small, easy things that have gone right like "I brushed my teeth" and work up to "I changed the world!" gradually.
3.
Word association Think of words which are kind and calming and create your own mantra to allow your mind to refocus - formulate your own favourites, but some examples are listed below;
The power of 5! If you feel an anxiety surge take 5 long slow breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Count your breaths and then imagine that your whole body is like an hourglass and your anxiety is the sand - count backwards from 5 to one imagining that sand trickling away from your body and disappearing through your toes.
Repeat the 5 breaths and the hour glass until you feel the anxiety subside.
5.
Build a bubble Imagine you have a lovely bubble around you which allows only nice things to touch you - anything unhelpful or unpleasant can just bounce off and the more you practice forming your bubble, the stronger it gets and the safer you feel.
You can also change it's size, colour and shape to make your environment feel safe and comfortable - the more you practice, the easier it gets.
6.
Morph it! Anxiety often feels like a tight heavy knot in the stomach.
You can imagine it like a thick heavy, knotted, wet rope and then gradually imagine it changing - perhaps into thinner rope, then into string, then into wool, then into lambs wool, then into cotton wool, and then into loose balls of fluff, and then into mist - and when it becomes mist, it can just dissolve away.
7.
Burn it off Studies have shown that anxiety can relieved by regular physical activity.
So find something you love to do; dance, walk, swim, run or just play - release those endorphins and feel better all round.
8.
Be your own best friend We are often less tolerant of ourselves than we are of others.
If a friend tells us they are feeling low, we give those help, support and encouragement, and although we often tell ourselves that we are "being stupid" for "worrying about nothing".
So give yourself a break and treat yourself in the same way as you'd treat your best friend - try starting by telling yourself all the things you like about you to the mirror! 9.
Turn off that TV! The advent of 24 hour news bulletins provide us with repetition about the problems in the world and can reinforce negative thoughts we may have about the dangers in the world around us.
Research has shown that reducing your exposure to media news may significantly reduce levels of anxiety and improve your overall sense of well being - so listen or watch the news no more than once each day, and step outside to observe how normal and unthreatening the real world is most of the time.
10.
Eating away anxiety The Mental Health Foundation have linked anxiety to a lack of folic acid and magnesium in the diet - both can be found in dark green leafy vegetables (Granny was right!) see http://www.
mentalhealth.
org.
uk/feedingminds/ for more details.
If a negative thought pops into your mind, like "I can't do this (thing)..
..
" Reframe and rephrase it into a positive thought by adding "YET" to the end - this helps you to move forward from the current situation, allowing you to believe that things can change for the better.
When you get really good at this, you can add another sentence "but I will...
" or "but I'm getting better at it" 2.
Remember all the positive things that have happened in your day Anxiety is often fed by going over negative past experiences, which skews our perception of the world.
By focussing your attention on things that have gone right, the negative aspects shrink back into their proper perspective.
Start with small, easy things that have gone right like "I brushed my teeth" and work up to "I changed the world!" gradually.
3.
Word association Think of words which are kind and calming and create your own mantra to allow your mind to refocus - formulate your own favourites, but some examples are listed below;
- Clear, Calm, Confident and Controlled
- Relax, Release, Rejuvenate
- All is well, Calm can return
The power of 5! If you feel an anxiety surge take 5 long slow breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Count your breaths and then imagine that your whole body is like an hourglass and your anxiety is the sand - count backwards from 5 to one imagining that sand trickling away from your body and disappearing through your toes.
Repeat the 5 breaths and the hour glass until you feel the anxiety subside.
5.
Build a bubble Imagine you have a lovely bubble around you which allows only nice things to touch you - anything unhelpful or unpleasant can just bounce off and the more you practice forming your bubble, the stronger it gets and the safer you feel.
You can also change it's size, colour and shape to make your environment feel safe and comfortable - the more you practice, the easier it gets.
6.
Morph it! Anxiety often feels like a tight heavy knot in the stomach.
You can imagine it like a thick heavy, knotted, wet rope and then gradually imagine it changing - perhaps into thinner rope, then into string, then into wool, then into lambs wool, then into cotton wool, and then into loose balls of fluff, and then into mist - and when it becomes mist, it can just dissolve away.
7.
Burn it off Studies have shown that anxiety can relieved by regular physical activity.
So find something you love to do; dance, walk, swim, run or just play - release those endorphins and feel better all round.
8.
Be your own best friend We are often less tolerant of ourselves than we are of others.
If a friend tells us they are feeling low, we give those help, support and encouragement, and although we often tell ourselves that we are "being stupid" for "worrying about nothing".
So give yourself a break and treat yourself in the same way as you'd treat your best friend - try starting by telling yourself all the things you like about you to the mirror! 9.
Turn off that TV! The advent of 24 hour news bulletins provide us with repetition about the problems in the world and can reinforce negative thoughts we may have about the dangers in the world around us.
Research has shown that reducing your exposure to media news may significantly reduce levels of anxiety and improve your overall sense of well being - so listen or watch the news no more than once each day, and step outside to observe how normal and unthreatening the real world is most of the time.
10.
Eating away anxiety The Mental Health Foundation have linked anxiety to a lack of folic acid and magnesium in the diet - both can be found in dark green leafy vegetables (Granny was right!) see http://www.
mentalhealth.
org.
uk/feedingminds/ for more details.
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