We’ve all experienced anxiety at some point in our lives. It comes at times when we are super excited about something or scared, when we least expect it and often, unfortunately, when we are alone in a crowd.
The symptoms are different for all of us. Some of us get lightheaded, suffer chest pains, get sweaty etc., while others have severe panic attacks that can usually be controlled through prescription medication.
The bottom line is, having a bout of anxiety is no fun. In order to understand our anxiety, we first must see where it’s coming from.
Are we about to meet the in-laws for the first time? Or maybe we have to write a killer exam that will make or break our career. Or maybe it’s just driving in crazy traffic.
Whatever the case, identify the cause and then have a look at a few ways that will help you overcome your anxiety.
1. Talk to yourself.
Depending on where you are, and provided you aren’t in a crowded shopping mall, talking to yourself can help you overcome anxiety.
It is actually known to be quite therapeutic. According to Linda Sapadin Ph.D in her latest article on World of Psychology, she claims talking to yourself not only makes you smarter (as long as you are saying positive things to yourself) but can also relieve loneliness.
So how can this work for you while you are experiencing some anxiety and you just happen to be alone?
Talk yourself out of your anxiety. Reassure yourself that you are going to be just fine and nothing bad is going to happen. Remind yourself that you are ok and you have a handle on your situation. Keep it up until the anxiety passes.
2. Breathing.
You knew I was going to mention this one and as simple as it is, we still often overlook this strategy.
Breathing is something we do naturally and don’t think about at all but it is when we are in the middle of an anxiety attack that this is the best time to become aware of your breathing, control it and let it help to control you.
If you stop focusing on your anxiety attack and start focusing on your breathing you will see how easy it will be to conquer it.
3. Call a friend or family member, just call someone.
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If you aren’t into talking to yourself then the next best thing is get on the phone and call someone, anyone. Let them know you are having a bit of an anxiety issue and they can talk you through it and out of it.
Most often, having someone to talk to, for any reason, is always a great relief and a huge help. If you call a funny friend they will have you giggling in no time and poof, “anxiety be gone”!
4. If the source of your anxiety happens to be a person, discuss your issue with them.
Quite often it is a partner, co-worker or even family member that is the cause of our anxiety. Every time you know you have to talk to this person about a touchy subject or an issue, you are hit with anxiety.
This will never go away and will just continue to persist if you don’t deal with this once and for all. Some people simply aren’t that easy to talk to about certain things and when we are faced with situations like that, anxiety sets in.
This does you no good.
You must discuss this with the person and let them know how you feel. Learn how to say NO. If this isn’t possible, then speak to a friend or mentor about your problem and maybe they can help you deal with your anxiety with regards to this person. No one should ever make you feel like that. Reclaim your power.
5. Mini meditation.
This is a different twist from just doing breathing exercises. In a mini meditation you will take 3-5 minutes, or less, to visualize any sort of image that speaks calmness to you. It could be a field of flowers, a trickling stream or clouds floating by in the sky.
During your anxiety, sit down, close your eyes and do this simple, yet effective meditation and let your anxiety drift away.
6. Don’t turn a situation into a catastrophe and control the tendency to overreact.
So this might be easier said than done but in order to overcome anxiety you must start practicing how to control your worrisome thoughts.
It’s easy for our minds to race and our thoughts to end up in a million different places, none of them good, when we are worried about something. Learn to recognize this behaviour and stop it immediately.
The more horrible thoughts we have about something, the higher our anxiety level will soar. Stop them, control them and realize that it is your mind overreacting and that fear has taken over. Face that fear and send it packing. You will see how easy it will be to calm down after this.
A long term solution might be to work on yourself with the help of Guided Meditation aimed at helping you have more self belief, become assertive and outgoing, and that can also help you release your inhibitions and worries and learn how to deal with conforntation. Check out the complete GuidedMind.com Confidence Meditation Collection.
These are all simple little tips that can help you overcome your next bout of anxiety. One tip may resonate with you more than another.
Try them all and see which one works best for you. If you find your anxiety is getting more frequent, perhaps you should make an appointment with your doctor to discuss this.
How do you handle your anxiety attacks?
