- It's not a bear.
It's not a tiger.
It's a refrigerator, people.
(laughs)
Hi, I'm Nedra Tawwab
and in this episode of A Little Bit Better
we will be talking about anxiety.
And anxiety is one of my favorite things to talk about
because as a therapist,
it is the most common thing that people
come into therapy for.
You know you're anxious when your hands are sweating,
your heart is racing.
Also when you're having stomach issues, headaches,
and then the length of time
you spend thinking about something.
Because some worrying is natural
but is it keeping you up at night?
Once upon a time, anxiety was very useful.
It was a skill that we needed when we hunted
to hear these sounds and to be alert in some way.
Most of us don't necessarily need that anymore
and so that level of alertness is alarming
when you're at home and you hear a noise
and you're like, (gasps) "Oh, it was my refrigerator."
One of the best things to do when you feel anxious
is to name it.
Often we will have these anxieties about different things.
We'll feel nervous, we'll have stomach aches
and usually we don't say, "I am feeling anxious."
But it's a very powerful way to manage the anxiety
because you're putting a name to the feeling
instead of denying it.
Because how do we treat, "It was just something in my head."
Now, when anxiety is your predominant feeling
and it's starting to impact your sleep
and impact whether you can be social, your relationships,
that's when it becomes problematic.
But again, acknowledge it.
And once you acknowledge it,
figure out some tools to manage it.
In terms of sleep,
the number one issue with sleep is anxiety.
Because at night time we think, think, think, think, think
and we just allow ourselves to run with those thoughts
and we have to figure out strategy to cut the brain off.
How do we do that?
We figure out a bedtime routine, just like a baby.
Using some aroma therapy like lavender,
drinking some tea before bed.
For me, I sleep with the sound machine
and I don't hear anything.
Listening to calming music for bed.
We have to have a routine
around dealing with night time anxiety.
And with other areas of anxiety,
it's important to have a few go-to techniques
when you're feeling really anxious.
If it's social anxiety, maybe giving yourself
five minutes to step away from a party.
Or if it's anxiety about people calling your phone,
maybe not answering every time they call
and calling them back when you're prepared to talk.
Breathing is so powerful
and there are so many ways to meditate,
so many ways to practice breath work.
But I think the most simple way
is just to breathe in and out and follow your breath
and pay attention to it.
So, (exhales deeply)
and do that for up to five minutes if you can,
but if you can start with 30 seconds,
that is really helpful as well.
Also writing it down, getting it out of your head.
We have the mistaken belief that if we don't say anything
about something that will make us feel better
not talking about it,
when actually talking about it, getting it out
helps you to feel better.
When you feel like the anxiety is overwhelming,
it is always very helpful to seek extra support.
We all know anxiety, so you're not alone in this.
So, in the comments,
I would love to hear you share a story of an anxious moment.
And if you have some tools about how to manage anxiety
that could be helpful for someone else,
that would be amazing.
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