Feeling anxious can be a lonely, emotional state of mind.
The good news is you have the power to train your mind out of those negative thoughts and
into better, more positive thinking habits.
So in this video, I’ve put together some helpful steps you can take to reduce your
anxiety.
I’ll also discuss when you might need to seek professional medical help later on in
the video.
Walk to bench and sit- But first, let’s briefly explore what anxiety is so we can
tackle it a bit better.
You might be feeling anxious if you’re worrying a lot or you’re scared about something happening.
Sometimes, You might feel a typical fight-or-flight response as your body recognises anxiety as
a form of stress.
This means you might feel your heart beating faster or you start sweating when you’re
anxious.
But don’t worry, these are normal human feelings, and you are not alone.
So what can you do about your anxiety?
Well, by the end of this video, you will be equipped with a set of tools to help you master
your mind.
Let’s take the first step together!
If you’re feeling anxious right now, the first gentle step is to close your eyes for
a moment.
Closing your eyes stops them from wandering and allows you to refocus your mind on how
you’re feeling and how you’re breathing.
Here’s how you can refocus: To refocus your breathing, try to feel the
rise in your chest when you breathe.
Does it feel rapid or heavy?
Try to bring it under control using this technique.
Inhale one breath over a 3-step count.
Count upwards in your mind, slowly, like this: One, Two, Three.
Then exhale for another count of three.
Focus on your breath to reach a calm, slower and steadier pace.
Your heart rate should naturally go down as you refocus.
And soon you will become aware of your feelings.
Keep up the breathing control as you move on to the next step.
And that is: to refocus your feelings.
Try using this technique: imagine your feeling as a colour, such as red, blue or yellow.
Then try giving your feeling a shape - maybe a circle, a square or a triangle.
You could then give the feeling a texture - is it smooth or rough?
How about a temperature - hot or cold?
How does your feeling act?
Is it still or does it bounce or melt away?
This technique helps you pick apart how you are feeling.
It enables you to refocus because you need to concentrate on describing the feeling.
This gives you time to work through it rather than act on impulse.
Most of your feelings are temporary and will pass.
You need to give yourself the time to accept the feeling and move on from it.
This technique is excellent at buying the time to do that and shifting your focus from
anxious, negative feelings to feelings which are more in control.
In fact, the technique you have just worked through is a great stepping stone to practising
meditation.
Meditation is a great way to practise the technique you have just learnt.
Here’s a challenge for you: Make it a goal to meditate for one minute each day for 30
days.
You can set an alarm to remind you to meditate at the same time each day.
Mark your progress on a calendar and tick each day off as you go along - it’s so satisfying!
If you do this challenge, let me know how you got on in the comments!
And the best thing about meditation is that you can do it anywhere - at your desk, on
your sofa or even on the bus - squeeze it in wherever you can!
Naturally, it will become part of your self-care routine.
Remember, your mental health is just as important as your physical health - so think of meditation
as part of your mental health self-care routine.
The more you practise, the greater the benefits -and you’ll be less anxious overall as you
will get used to the regular “self-check-in” as I like to call it!
You might find that practising meditation will help you with this next technique too.
It’s a concept known as “Respond rather than react”.
This involves taking a moment to think before deciding what you’re going to do next.
When you’re anxious, your thoughts might be confused and full of fear.
This can lead to negative impulsive decision making.
Kind of like a chemical reaction, you don’t want to erupt, you want a calm, calculated
and slow response.As I mentioned before, being impulsive probably isn’t the best way to
go when you need to decide something.
Buy yourself time to think by saying a set phrase to trigger the mental breathing and
thinking techniques.
In conversation, this could be something like “That’s good to know.
If you wouldn’t mind, I just need a moment to think about that!”
This helps put you in control of your thoughts to make a decision.
Speaking of which, another anxiety-busting technique you need to practise is decision
making and problem-solving.
Dwelling or obsessing over specific thoughts not only makes you feel worse about the situation
but also wastes time and delays finding a solution to the problem.
If you find it difficult to get out of an overthinking mindset, then check out my video
on overthinking here.ow, I know it can be difficult to overcome feelings of anxiety.
It may be helpful to recognise that feelings are temporary.
They will pass over time and may have to do with specific biochemical processes that are
happening in your body at the time.
Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep, you’re hungry, or you’re still healing from an
injury.
Focus on what you can do to make progress and suppress those thoughts which are holding
you back!
Believe in yourself and practise this mantra: You will survive the discomfort!
Now I know it’s easier said than done.
You will want to reach for things that give you comfort.
Maybe a quick fix like a cigarette or an alcoholic drink.
You might even reach for a cheeky sugary treat like biscuits or a caffeine fix like coffee.
Whatever your vice, try to avoid giving in to it for comfort.
You’ve got everything you need up here.
That’s right; you can make progress by rewiring your brain.
Your body can get into bad habits, and it takes practise and effort to get new, better
habits.
Every now and again do something different.
This pushes you out of your comfort zone and helps you learn from new experiences.
AND It could be something really simple like picking a new vegetable to try or picking
a different flavoured lip balm.
Adding some variety every day can jolt you out of negative, anxious or repetitive habits.
Repetitive habits also include your social media activity and the apps that you use.
You could try minimising push notifications on your phone from apps or switching off from
social media and having a mini technology detox.
Notice when you are spending too much time doing something that could be distracting
you from things you have to get done.
This may end up making you more anxious later as you run out of time.
I’ve got some tips in a video on how to stop getting distracted.
Check it out in the description box below.
Hopefully, you found some of those techniques helpful.
But if you’re struggling with your anxiety, here are some signs that you may need to seek
professional medical help.
One sign is that you may be having continuous negative or suicidal
thoughts and they could also be stopping you from sleeping.
If you’re experiencing these thoughts, then please see your doctor or a healthcare professional
as soon as possible.
Now sometimes anxiety might be physical as well as mental.
By this, I mean intentional self-harming or intoxication with alcohol.
As I’ve said before, healthcare professionals will not judge you for your actions.
They will always do their best to help you.
All you have to do is reach out and give them a chance.