Overcoming Anxiety
A recent and popular choice of topic for me to cover was anxiety.
We can all suffer from anxiety, it is a part of our survival instinct and designed to keep us alive. However, it can also be over-active, unrealistic, tell us lies and falsely keep firing off.
This can lead us into a state of abject fear over everyday things and if left unchecked, can lead to depression and a bit of a destructive cycle.
In response, I created some helpful and easy-to-implement antidotes to help you overcome anxiety:
Antidote No. 1
Question your thoughts!
Is anyone going to die if you don't achieve X
Is what you are worrying about really likely to happen?
Catastrophic negative thoughts can take root in your mind and distort reality.
Neuroplasticity means that the more often you do this, the better and stronger you become at doing it.
Antidote No. 2
Use your breath and breathe!
I'm sure you've heard this many times before but I can't overstate the importance of breathing.
(But I've been breathing since I was born I hear you say!)
Yes, I know, but have you been breathing to support the instinctive responses of fight, flight, freeze, hide, numb, or dissociate?
The way we breathe can tell our bodies to rest and digest, or prepare for the threat.
Rest and digest breathing occurs when your belly and chest inflate on the in-breath and deflate on the out-breath - not the belly sucking in on the in-breath and inflating on the out-breath. The latter signals that you are preparing yourself for an instinctive response which then releases stress hormones and chemicals into the system.
Antidote No. 3
Use the power of nature.
In our modern world, most of us are detached from nature and our roots, spending longer and longer periods of time in man-made structures.
Anxiety can easily be relieved by spending time outdoors, in nature, grounding and connecting yourself with the world around you and the energy of nature.
Practising these daily will help you keep anxiety in check. For more helpful tips on anxiety and all other subjects surrounding mental wellness, join my free Facebook Group
