Seven Ways to Fight Anxiety
Panic Away - Get Natural Relief from Anxiety and Panic Attacks
If you’ve been reading some of the other pages on my site, you know the difference between anxiety and panic attacks. I would like to tell you about seven ways you can fight anxiety.
There are more than seven ways to fight anxiety, you may know of others, or even have found some techniques to fight anxiety that work for you that are not listed here. This is a good starting point for those of you who want to really stop anxiety, and even panic attacks.
1) Change your thinking about situations that cause anxiety
Every day we encounter stressors – situations that have the potential to cause anxiety. But that’s all stressors are – “potentials.” We create the anxiety, or distress, by our own perceptions and interpretations we attach to the situation.
It’s like watching a football game. Fans on either side of the stadium. One team scores a touchdown. All the fans on one side stand up and cheer. The fans for the other side moan and groan. Same event, different interpretation.
One way to fight anxiety is to begin to notice your interpretations about what’s going on around you. Begin to take stock of your thinking, and ask yourself if what you are getting anxious about is really that important, that critical, so threatening.
Begin to notice when you have anxiety about people or events that you have little or no control over. Because the only person you have control over, really, is you. And start to take small steps toward letting go of anxiety about what you cannot control, and start to take more control over you!
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2) Practice Breathwork
Shallow breathing is an automatic physical response to anxiety. It’s almost like flicking a switch to your brain, telling it to begin the fight or flight response. Shallow breathing can also cause anxiety – it’s a bit of a chicken and egg thing, a behavior that leads to more of the same…
It sounds very simple, but another way to fight anxiety is by learning to change your breathing. This simple process can help you fight anxiety and become calm. Learning and practicing breathwork can have an immediate impact on your level of anxiety, helping you fight anxiety out of your daily life!
By learning how to control your breath, and practicing for just a few minutes a day, you can reduce anxiety, and feel calm and in control more and more.
It takes some practice to learn to control our breath, but by practicing, you can stay ahead of your anxiety, especially if there are certain situations you know make you feel anxious.
Deep breathing, where you fill your lungs with oxygen, right down to the point where your belly puffs out a little, actually flicks the switch on the “relaxation response,” turning it on. It’s the opposite of the “fight or flight” response, and it leads to calmness, lower blood pressure, improved circulation, clearer thinking, and more.
3) Take Action to Fight Anxiety
Is there something specific you are anxious about? Perhaps many things. Which ones can you actually do something about? For example, if you smoke, and are have anxiety about getting cancer, then you could stop smoking. (I know, some people smoke to relax…. But they get relaxed because as a smoker you actually take deeper breaths, bringing more oxygen into you lungs, and reversing the effects of shallow breathing)
We all know that action speaks louder than words. Fight anxiety by taking action; you are telling yourself that you mean business, that you are willing to change, willing to put effort into solving a problem or altering a situation to make it more workable for you.
4) Avoid Alcohol and Drugs
Avoid alcohol and drug abuse. It may seem that alcohol or drugs relax you. But in the long run they make anxiety worse and cause more problems.
Avoid caffeine. Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate. Caffeine may increase your sense of anxiety because it stimulates your nervous system. Also avoid over-the-counter diet pills, and cough and cold medicines that contain a decongestant.
5) Get Professional Help
Use medicine if it helps. Your doctor may give you medicine to help fight anxiety while you learn new ways to respond to the things that make you anxious. Many types of medicine are available. Your doctor will decide which medicine is right for you.
Discuss your anxiety with your doctor. She can help you make a plan to cope with anxiety. Counseling can help you learn to express your needs and wants , and help you become more aware of your thinking processes, so you can feel more in control and hold in less of your anger and anxiety.
6) Exercise More
A sixth way to fight anxiety is by engaging in physical exercise and sports; moving your body helps work off the excess energy or nervousness caused by anxiety. Physical exercise to reduce anxiety will cause your brain to release chemicals into the body that help you feel better, and flush out toxins and other chemicals that are by-products of high levels of anxiety.
Note – it’s better to exercise in the morning. You are less likely to blow it off later in the day, and you will sleep better, since you won’t have all those endorphins and adrenaline in your body later in the day.
7) How’s Your Sleep Habits?
One of my favorite ways to fight anxiety is by getting enough sleep! There are many studies showing that Americans don’t get enough sleep, and we can build up a high level of “sleep debt.” Lack of sleep can lead to severe illness, for it is during the deepest parts of sleep (REM sleep) that our body repairs and rebuilds itself. If you are not getting enough deep, regular sleep, you could be making your anxiety worse.
There are many ways to get better sleep – from medication, to breathing exercises, to meditation, to listening to specially designed sound programs to help your body and mind relax into deep sleep. Regular physical exercise, especialy earlier in the day, can promote better sleep.
Bonus!
My 6 part Mini-Course on Panic and Anxiety has lots more information about how you can naturally ease anxiety. There’ s no cost, it comes to your email box every day over 12 days, it’s simple, easy and fast. Do you really want relief for your anxiety – then sign up for this free course. Just fill in the box below.
This website cannot, and should not, stand alone as the sole medical or psychological intervention for any disorder. Any individual with a medical or psychological problem should first consult a qualified health care provider for diagnosis and professional advice. This website is intended only to provide general information and is not intended as an exhaustive source of information for the topics discussed. This website and these articles do not replace your relationship with any health care professional you are consulting with or consult with in the future.
