Don’t let anxiety take over your life: The best ways to cope with it
You start worrying about your massive task at your job, you can’t sleep, or you think all over again about a situation but don’t seem to find a solution. This might mean that you are dealing with anxiety. While it is normal to feel anxious from time to time, if the effects are prolonged to an extended period, then anxiety will become a significant problem in your life. With the considerable stress that we deal with every day, you should know that numerous people suffer from anxiety nowadays, so you are not alone in this struggle. Anxiety involves feelings of fear, worry, and apprehension, which will most likely have emotional, cognitive and physical effects, making you feel like you are out of control, as you might also experience somatic sensations such as trembling, sweating or shortness of breath.
All the symptoms mentioned above are signs of anxiety disorder, which, unfortunately, can affect anyone at multiple moments in life. However, anxiety is treatable, and it is possible to alleviate the symptoms on your own, as there are various coping mechanisms you can use. Keep on reading to find them out.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of tension, distress, and worry combined that affects your body physically with symptoms like increased blood pressure. While anyone can deal with anxiety, worry and fear, if symptoms don’t dissipate how much you try, then this might mean that you are suffering from an anxiety disorder, which will affect your ability to carry out your day-to-day activities. For example, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) occurs when an individual feels excessive worry and anxiety over an extended period of at least six months.
Besides anxiety feelings, GAD can also bring irritability, restlessness, lack of sleep, and fatigue. Anxiety doesn’t need to be triggered by a particular reason, but in most cases, it appears after a negative experience. For instance, a difficult childhood is one of the most common reasons that hides behind anxious feelings, which are marked by an event like neglect, emotional or physical abuse, being bullied or losing a parent or a loved one.
What are the best ways to cope with anxiety?
Try deep breathing
Deep breathing is one of the best ways to cope with anxiety, representing a deliberate and slow way of breathing, where you fill your lungs with oxygenated air to stabilize the blood pressure and slow the heartbeat. This method is also known as abdominal breathing, diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing, and it is a good option to try, as it distracts you from the factors that stress you, and in this way, your body relaxes.
Once you have mastered the act of deep breathing, you can also try to mix it with guided imagery and progressive muscle relaxation, which all activate the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).
Consider intentional movement
Intentional movement can also be a great way to cope with anxiety, where qigong, tai chi and yoga are the best exercises to relax your mind and body. All three combine holding posture, slow movements, deep breathing and mental concentration, which can induce relaxation and calm anxieties. In yoga, you need to follow a series of poses and hold them for a certain amount of time, often measured with breaths, while tai chi involves a series of dance-like and slow movements and postures where you are supposed to breathe slowly. Qigong combines simple posture movements involving breathing and self-massage. All these exercises have been used in Asia for thousands of years already, and studies have shown that they have anxiolytic effects.
Try cannabis
Cannabis can help reduce anxiety temporarily, but keep in mind that this option is not suitable for anyone. Although more studies need to be done to prove if cannabis truly helps with anxiety, experts say that the controlled use of cannabis can impact the well-being of people suffering from anxiety positively. Cannabis is better if you deal with stress related to life events and social anxiety, but before you start to use it, you should keep in mind that it is crucial to opt for a reputable supplier. Over the years, cannabis providers have specialized in creating the finest buds that have a pleasant scent and taste, which evolved a lot from when reggie weed was the only option you would find on the market. Instead, people can now choose plenty of other strains grown with tenderness and patience that offer a better experience to people worldwide.
The science behind cannabis has evolved so much that nowadays, you can even mix the love for gardening and cannabis with the help of a bonsai weed tree. Cannabis bonsai plants are great for those who want to have a beautiful, ornamental-looking plant but also wish to benefit from the advantages of cannabis.
See whether natural remedies work for you
When dealing with anxiety, you should also see if natural remedies work for you, so it will be a good idea to try the following:
- Take regular walks and stay active, as this can keep your mind occupied and make your brain stop focusing on the anxious feelings. If you raise your heart rate, you will also change the brain chemistry by increasing the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and the availability of serotonin.
- Limit smoking, caffeine and alcohol, which might cause depression and anxiety.
- Prioritize sleep, which is essential for a calm mind.
- Practice meditation and mindfulness to alleviate the anxious symptoms.
The bottom line
Anxiety will be present in our lives at one point or another, but that doesn’t mean that you should let it take over your life. Luckily, some proven ways can help if you are struggling with anxiety, including the ones mentioned above. Unfortunately, anxiety will affect work performance, relationships and plenty of other areas in someone’s life, so you should try some techniques to reduce the anxious feelings.
