Seven Ways to Manage Your Anxiety

Anxiety and worry can take over your life if you allow it to. Whether we like it or not, constant stress and worry can physically make us sick. The good news is that there are ways to help alleviate anxiety.   

The first step is to figure out exactly what you're stressing about. Is it something you can change? Is it something you have no control over? By determining the root of your anxiety, you can better understand how you can overcome it. There are plenty of situations in your life that you can change with some effort.

By determining the root of your anxieties, and developing ways to turn them into something positive, you can often overcome them. 

 Here are some tips and techniques to help you manage your anxiety:

1. Know your anxieties. Write down exactly what's causing your anxiety, then note down ways you can change the outcome. Knowing what you're up against is the key to feeling better about yourself and your current situation. 
2. Breathe. Once you've pinpointed the things you need to change, sit back and take a breath. This form of relaxation can help you calm your racing heart and give you peace of mind.

• Rapid breathing from anxiety can lead to a panic attack. Don't let it get that far. Breathe deeply and slowly as soon as you feel yourself become worried or anxious.  

3. Visualize. Perhaps one of the most effective ways to overcome anxiety is the technique of visualization. Choose a quiet space in your home, light some candles, and close your eyes.

• Imagine yourself in your ideal situation. Feel how calm you are and visualize letting go of your worries. Think about how happy you'll be once your source of stress has been diminished. Positive visualization can help you move toward the happier vision you've created in your mind. 

4. Use positive affirmations. When things get tough and you feel yourself losing control, repeat a positive statement over and over in your head. For example, if you're in need of a job, you can repeat something like: "I am a valuable and hard working individual who is worthy of a fulfilling new opportunity!"

• Reaffirming positive thoughts repeatedly can help you believe that anything is possible. The power of the mind is endless. 

5. Diet and exercise. Eating a well-balanced diet and exercising can physically help you handle stress and anxiety. The stronger the body is, the stronger the mind is. It's a fact: if you abuse your body with junk foods or drugs and alcohol, your body and mind will react in a negative way.

• Take good care of your body and it will help take care of your worries. 

6. Seek support. Talk to someone who has been in the same situation. Reaching out to friends and family or seeking professional help can do wonders to help you get rid of your anxiety.

• Once you've seen that someone else has gone through and overcome what you're experiencing, it gives you great hope that you, too, can do the same. 

7. Meditation. Calming the mind in a purposeful way can help us alleviate much of our anxiety and start to think clearer. Take 5 minutes to sit in silence, or if that is too much then listen to a guided meditation such as the one above.

Anxieties are a part of everyday life. How you choose to manage them is what makes the difference. Stop letting anxiety control you. Take the reins and let anxiety and worries know that you are the one in the driver's seat of your life.

This Weeks Creative Exercise

Anxiety Expressing Itself Exercise

This can be especially helpful when you’re feeling anxious.

Supplies: 

• Paper of any size
• Mark making materials, crayons, pastels, markers, whatever you have
• Tape or a way to secure your paper

Tape the paper to your surface. 

Close your eyes. Check in with yourself, and notice how anxiety feels in your body. Notice where in your body you feel anxiety and how you know it is anxiety.

Next, open your eyes, and pick a mark making material of your choice. 

Close your eyes again and draw a continuous squiggle without lifting the utensil from the paper. Do this as if anxiety is expressing itself on the page. Stop when the movement or expression feels complete.

If your mind tends toward judgment or control, you can use your non-dominant hand. 

Now look at the squiggle you made. Turn the paper from side to side until you see an image emerge. It might not make sense, try not to think too much about it.

Using other colors or materials, develop the image. 

Once complete journal for five minutes. 

• You might write about the process of drawing your anxiety or the image. 
• Or you might ask the image these questions: “What do you want me to know? Why are you here?”

We will release the Healing with Creativity video of this exercise later this week, subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of our great content.

Meditation like the one above is what we do in our Morning Calm class every day, we have a library full of meditations and journaling prompts that you can use each day and if you wish you can also join us for the live calls where we meditate, journal and discuss.

Have an Amazingly Creative Day,

Larissa