Anxiety And How To Navigate It In 7 Easy Steps
Anxiety and How To Navigate it in 7 Easy Steps
Anxiety:
Anxiety can be debilitating. It can also be something we survive with, putting up with the uncomfortable feelings. It’s not like a headache you can just take something for and it’s gone. It takes practice to walk yourself through the anxious feelings and out of the anxiety itself.
It’s multilayered. Negative thoughts about yourself and your life become anxious feelings. Anxious feelings become negative thoughts about yourself. I know it can feel like a vicious cycle.
Symptoms of Anxiety:
Somatic Sensations: like sweating and trembling.
Shortness of breath.
Fatigue and physical symptoms like restlessness and muscular pain.
Difficulty focusing.
Constant worry.
Afraid to make decisions.
Avoidance
You see things as “the glass is half empty.”
learn more at the National Institute of Mental Health
When anxiety takes over the quality of your life and you feel out of control, you can do things to support yourself; you don’t have to feel hopeless.
Talk to a professional like a Behavioral health specialist, a psychiatrist or psychologist, your primary care doctor, or a life coach.
Get up and get yourself moving. I know it can feel difficult, but even if you stretch right where you are, just moving gets the dopamine producing. Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Your body produces it and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells.
Practice mindfulness. This can be as simple as breathing deeply into your abdomen and out through your nose. You can close your eyes and envision your favorite place. Imagine it in detail, feeling yourself there. Be aware of the positive and comforting emotions you feel in that place. Allow yourself to integrate into your body and into your muscles. Meditate for a few minutes each day.
Breathe. Again, just as I mentioned in midfulness, it’s important to do breathing exercise off and on all day. This acts as a massage for your central nervous system which regulates your body and in turn soothes the anxious feelings. Breathing in soothes your muscles and feeds your cells oxygen.
Watch the way you talk to yourself. Your mind hears every word you silently think to yourself, and it deems it to be fact. Your mind cannot decipher the difference between lies and truth, and negative dialogue creates more anxious feelings.
Journal. Journaling can be a very supportive way to purge yourself of your thoughts and feelings. Getting them out of you and onto paper can be very cathartic. You can journal and keep your writings, or you can write them down and throw it away afterward. It’s personal preference. Either way will help you process your anxiety and the thoughts and feelings that are driving it.
Join a support group. If you’re a career women think about joining a group for busy working women. If you’re a mom consider a local moms group. If you’re a college student struggling with balancing life join a support group at school.
I can remember being a young mother. Balancing my career and three children under age six years. I felt completely alone and confused about my feelings of overwhelm. I thought I was supposed to be superwoman. I believed that a “successful” woman would be able to slay motherhood and her career without feeling overwhelmed and anxious. I hid my feelings from everyone. I his them from those that loved me most because I didn’t want to let them down. I felt like I was letting myself down and that was hard enough to deal with.
Making changes.
I finally made changes that helped me break the cycle of anxious thoughts that had been creating the sense of overwhelm and anxiety. These changes in turn made helped me let go of feeling like a failure.
Changes that helped my anxiety:
Being honest with myself
Being honest with one person. Once I spoke truth to what I was going through, anxiety didn’t hold power over me.
Letting go of the shame around not feeling “perfect.”
Exercising every day.
Watching how I ate and drinking plenty of water.
Seeing a life coach who helped me get out of my anxious cycle.
Doing things with friends, even when it felt difficult to motivate myself.
Listening to inspiring and motivational podcasts.
I also began doing vision work
Vision work:
This is the process of seeing yourself in the future. Using I am statements to create the reality you want to live in. You will envision who you want to be, more importantly, how you want to feel. You will visualize every single detail from what you’re wearing, to where you are, and how you are feeling inside. You will visualize yourself being free of the anxiety.
I am statements are powerful and support you in speaking to yourself in a way that fosters positive thoughts.
You can watch a video on I Am statements here video
In conclusion:
Breathe
Nurture yourself
Ask for help
Share what you’re going through
Accept how you feel
Forgive yourself for how you are feeling
Get exercise
See friends
Journal
Practice mindfulness
When I began to integrate these tools everything began to change for me. It was like the black cloud that had been looming over me gave way to sunshine. The thoughts I was thinking shifted and became positive so I wasn’t becoming anxious any longer. The anxiety decreased so I wasn’t having negative thoughts about myself. The cycle broke and gave way for more joy, self-acceptance, and confidence.
If you are struggling, know that you don’t have to do this alone, and this isn’t forever.
If you would like support from me through my life coaching services, please connect with me though my website:
https://www.tanyaouhrabka.com/
You can also follow me on Instagram at @tanyaheals
You are so worthy of feeling great. You deserve it and you will feel like that once again.
Choose you, everyone else will benefit.
