Five Ways to Manage Anxiety
Anxiety often feels like a relentless enemy, but it's crucial to pinpoint its source. Is it work-related stress, social pressures, or personal doubts? By recognizing the villain triggering your anxiety, you gain power over it. I know for me, I get really wound up by too many responsibilities, a drive for perfectionism, and wanting to be everything to everyone.
As a mom, therapist, professor and wife, I have many roles. These roles mean so much to me, and I never want to let anyone down. That’s when self-doubt, overwhelm and anxiety creep into my life. It steals my sleep, my peace, and even my ability to think clearly about my next steps.
When I get this way, I have to have a plan to combat stress and anxiety. Here are five steps to conquer the Anxiety gremlin!
Awareness: It’s easy to move so quickly that you don’t even realize that anxiety is taking over your life. When I get me busiest is when I start to lost sight of how much anxiety is taking a toll. For me understanding my triggers important for fixing the problem. You have to “name it to tame it,” so to speak. My shoulders get tense, my breathing is shallow, I eat on the run, and make careless errors. I start to forget things and feel the need to engage in less healthy choices (eating poorly and exercising less).
Make a Plan: Once you notice that you are in the throws of anxiety, implement some strategies to cope. Ask for support. Are their practical things you can ask for help with from family and friends? Do you need social time, help with chores, help from an employees on a project? Or is it something deeper like needing therapy to sort through patterns that have been keeping you stuck? It’s courageous to ask for help. Do you need a doctor’s visit to
Self Care: Carve out even a few minutes for exercise, meditation, a visit to the local park for some nature and sunshine, read a book or watch trash TV. Anything that makes you genuinely feel refreshed and cared for by yourself.
Routines: Are there routines in your life? Do they need tweaking? Do you need help with your routine? What’s changed that might need a new system to give yourself more time?
Personal Inventory: Are you being too hard on yourself or perfectionistic? Are you looking for a short cut or are you engaging in unhealthy coping strategies that are actually making your life harder? Be real with yourself, are you drinking too much, eating too much, spending too much money, or engaging in a pattern that isn’t serving you? No judgment, and we’ve all been there, but can you replace even one behavior that isn’t serving you with one that is?
Having self-compassion is challenging, but by being kind to yourself, seeking help when you need it, giving yourself a break when you need it, and checking in with yourself to see what you need can lead to healthier changes that will improve your well-being and give you the strength to kick anxiety’s ass!
Love,
Bonnie
