5 Anxiety Busting Tips
“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged , it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained”
A very thought-provoking and beautiful description of the insidious nature of anxiety. Some of us are naturally more anxious than others, which could be dependent on many factors such as whom we keep for company, our levels of resilience, what we take in around us. It could be our perception of the media that we consume or our workplace or homelife and relationships.
Without being conscious of the negative thoughts that we think, our abilities to control our thoughts can often become debilitated, rendering us powerless.
Anxiety comes from our thoughts about the future and not being in control. This past 12 months has caused untold anxiety to millions due to the effects of the Pandemic, in the form of health worries, financial struggles, missing loved ones, and physical touch, among others.
What if there was a way to curb those worries and anxious thoughts? What if we look at some of the science behind our thoughts and ask ourselves if ALL of them are real, and more importantly, are they serving us?
According to the National Science Foundation:
We have around 60,000 thoughts a day!!!, of which a staggering 80% are negative.
A full 95% of our thoughts were the exact same repetitive thoughts from the day before.
In a Scientific study in 2005 at Cornell University, it was discovered that
85% of what we worry about won’t even happen.
The 15% of what did happen wasn’t as bad as 79% of people thought it would be.
So to conclude, 97% of our worries are baseless and result from unfounded pessimistic perception.
“Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of it’s worries ”
Still, despite the scientific facts, it might not be that easy to stop those anxious thoughts. We know that anxiety is very real for so many, in the UK it affects 1 in 5 women and 1 in 8 men. Younger women between the ages of 16-24 having some of the highest rates. Having recognised it as a significant problem affecting over 25 million in the UK alone, what can be done about it?
Here are 5 helpful suggestions to reduce your levels of anxiety:
Breathing
When you are having an anxious thought, or in anxious state, know that you can change your state by simply focusing on your breathing. A technique that I like to use is called the 4 - 7- 8 method. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight. Doing this 6 times will completely alter your state. Take your mind away from your anxious thoughts to peaceful or calm ones.
Change anxiety to excitement
This process is called “anxiety reappraisal,” and it boils down to telling yourself that you feel excited whenever you feel nervous. It sounds incredibly simple, but it's proven effective in a variety of studies and settings. It's also counterintuitive: When most people feel anxious, they likely tell themselves to just relax. So next time you feel anxious just repeatedly say, “I am excited, I am excited, I am excited”. It creates the same state change, faster beating of the heart, cortisol is produced and again your breathing changes. By doing this simple shift, you are effectively tricking your brain to feel better about the situation.
Focus on what you can control
Things you can control involves making choices about how to plan your day, keeping to some sort of a routine, and an awareness of your thoughts. Assess the media content (social and on television) you are consuming. Are you listening to the daily death count, or are you choosing to focus on the random acts of kindness that are all around us? Make a conscious effort to make your days as pleasant as possible. All the usual advice here would be to get outside in nature, listen to some fun music, dance in the kitchen, forfeit the serial killer series on Netflix and go for a comedy or a documentary on BBQ cooking. Whatever floats your boat.
Ask yourself in this moment, “Am I Ok?”
As mentioned earlier, 97% of what we actually worry about and have anxiety over never actually happens. Anxiety comes from future thinking, “How will I pay my bills? Will my parents be ok? What if there are no jobs?”. If you have food, water, shelter, clothing, people around you who care or love for you, you are doing better than most. You will survive and you will be ok. I heard this phrase recently, “when emotion is high, logic is low”.
Allow yourself to change your state with breathing the 4 - 7 - 8 technique and then think again, asking yourself, “what is really the issue here?”. We perform/ create when we are in a heightened emotional state. Whilst in the depths of despair in our mind, our greatest thoughts and ideas are not available to us. Be kind to yourself.
H.A.L.T
H.A.L.T stands for hungry, angry, lonely, tired. All of these feelings can profoundly affect our state, so ask yourself, “I am hungry?”, (when was the last time you ate?), is your blood sugar low, do you feel like you have no energy and can’t think straight? Are you angry ~ has someone or something angered you? How could you change the situation?
Are you lonely? When was the last time you reached out to someone? We often improve our mood by helping others. Finally, are you anxious because you are tired, had a poor night’s sleep, troublesome dreams, too hot, too cold, disturbed night? Maybe take a nap and reset.
Any of these four could be adding to your levels of anxiety. Think about each one, break it down and see if you can do something to allow yourself to feel better.
We are resilient creatures and we have been through some challenging times in our lives; for many this past year has been the most challenging ever. Being aware of our bodies, our thoughts, and how we can help and empower ourselves is the first step to creating a calm, inner space and a happy life.
If you need any more support or advice on this topic or simply want to share some of your feedback. Please feel free to get in touch and click here.
With love and gratitude,
Siân
