Do these words sound about right for you?
Does your anxiety make it hard for you to go to sleep? concentrate on your work or even be in your personal life?
Anxiety does these things, and you know, it doesn't always listen to you about what you want. It just wants to have its way all the time and this can be tiring. You can have days where you think your OK, and then it just jumps out for no reason. Does this sound like your anxiety toddler?
Well, there are things you can do to calm your anxiety down. Here are a few things to try.
Keep a diary of what you are thinking about, what emotions that come with them. Once you have a couple written down, start to look at them. Do you know what they are about? Is it something that feels real?
Now it is time to refocus your mind. Start with something easy, like breathing. Yes, breathing. There are many different techniques to breath or "mindfulness breathing" is another way to look at it. For example, breath in for a count of 4, hold for 7 and out for 8 and keep going for a couple of minutes. Practice this when you are calm, your mind and your body will learn that this is calm breathing. Next time the anxiety creeps up, start the breathing, both body and mind will then recognise calm and slow down.
Do a hobby. Painting, drawing, play music and even listening to music can help calm the mind. It's a way to letting your mind just let things roll over your head. Again, it takes a little practice, but it will come together.
Get out of the house and get some exercise. Go for a walk, get into nature where you can. Moving your body is a good way to refocus your mind for a moment.
Something else to try is grounding. There are many ways of doing grounding and they can range from just counting to hugging yourself known as self-soothing. Everyone is different so don't get frustrated with yourself if it doesn't work, there are other techniques to try. Start with something simple like concentrating on counting bricks. Yes, bricks. Because you are refocusing your mind on something else, it will forget to be anxious. Another technique is to focus on an item, a purple hippo for example. Think about the colour, shape, texture smell and other things.
These things help when you practice and get into the habit of doing them. What your doing is changing the way your mind works, and like most things it takes time. But trust yourself to do it and you will.
If you find this helpful and would like further support, get in touch today.
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