If your stress is keeping you from enjoying yourself or from performing daily tasks, it is time to seek actively for an efficient solution. Most people can manage their stress by learning relaxation or meditation or by taking medications. Keep reading to learn more about your different stress management options.
If you frequently suffer from bouts of anxiety that appear seemingly out of nowhere, or you feel anxious a majority of the time, you may have what is called generalized anxiety disorder. This disorder needs to be treated by an experienced doctor, or therapist before anxiety has a chance to take over your life.
Find a visual or aural anchor that makes you feel calm or relaxed. Try to choose something abundant and ever-present, such as clouds or water. When you feel anxious, look to the sky or play a soothing track of flowing water on an mp3 player. These anchors can give you a focal point when you feel anxious and head off a full-blown panic attack.
Breathe easy. When you start to feel anxious, try to concentrate on breathing correctly. Inhale through your nostrils for about two seconds, and then exhale through parted lips for four seconds. Continue this routine for a full minute. Once your breathing gets back to normal, follow it up with a couple of minutes of soothing, positive self-talk.
Take control of your emotions. The way you feel can often cause anxiety. Once you have the discipline to control your emotions, you can rid yourself of anxiety. You may have to learn to emotionally detach yourself from feelings to gain control of your emotions and eliminate anxiety for good.
Investigate using amino acids as a treatment when it comes to anxiety. Many individuals find that they are deficient in some nutrients and that their bodies don’t produce enough serotonin. Many good books, including the Mood Cure, discuss treatment plans that help you use over-the-counter supplements to reduce or eliminate your anxiety.
One of the things that you should aim for each day is at least eight hours of sleep. This helps a great deal in reducing anxiety, as it will give your body the ability to recuperate from all of the stress and tension that you put on it as the day wares on.
Don’t let yourself sit all day. If your job requires a great deal of sitting, try to use your breaks to exercise or at least walk around a bit. It is also good to stand up once in a while. When at home, keep yourself active with walks or jogging and reduce the amount of TV watching or inactive sitting. Your body needs a good balance of activity and relaxation. That being said, too much relaxation can increase anxiety.
Negative thoughts are one of the main triggers of stress as you should aim to reduce these as much as possible, whether you are at work, home or school. Always try to look at the glass half full as taking the optimistic approach can abolish all thoughts that will promote anxiety.
Find something else to focus on. Instead of thinking about whatever it is that is causing your anxiety, find something calm, peaceful and serene to focus on. It could be a good memory, a future dream or goal, or just something that you find calm and soothing. Don’t forget to take deep breaths as you do this.
Try to minimize the amount of negative words that you are using or negative comments that you are making. The more negative talk you do, the more negative thoughts and anxiety that can come creeping into your head, causing you unneeded health issues that will affect your life in some very bad ways.
Avoid people who add stress to your life. Rid yourself of negativity by hanging out with friends who have a positive outlook, rather than ones who are pessimistic or enjoy conflict. Negative people will only increase your feelings of anxiety.
Take control of anxiety by first determining what the cause is. For example, do you find yourself more stressed out at work? Try working on different projects if this is the case. Only when you are aware of the anxiety cause can you eliminate it.
Minimize anxiety by doing yoga with your friends. Yoga is a wonderful method of pushing problems out of your mind and generating productivity and focus. Yoga is physically relaxing and may help anxiety sufferers feel less edgy.
Don’t be afraid to talk to others about what you are feeling. Holding these fears inside is only going to make your situation worse. Instead, find a friend or family member who you trust or even, a registered counselor to talk to. Just a few minutes a week of good venting can do wonders for how you manage and feel.
Listen to music. However, not just any music will do. The next time you feel your anxiety levels rising, throw on your favorite CD, or playlist. Whether you enjoy the calming sounds of a classical orchestra, or rocking out to 80’s hair metal, you will feel your anxiety melt away with each song you know by heart. Before you know it, the anxiety is reduced, if not gone, and your spirits will be invigorated and renewed.
Speak with your physician and get advice about treatments. While your doctor can give sound advice and medication, you have the responsibility to communicate any issues with your treatment. Unfortunately, your doctor has many other patients and cannot be by your side every day, so you must help by tracking your symptoms so that your doctor can make any necessary adjustments.
If you’re having problems at work or school, then talk to your supervisor or teacher. Let them know what’s going on and that you’re doing the best you can, even though anxiety can be affecting your productivity. The more you open up to people the less anxious you feel in general, especially at work or school.
Stress is not something you should learn to manage if it is keeping you from living a normal life. Try the tips you just read and keep reading more about stress management. You should eventually find a method that words well for you and allows you to live a stress-free life.