I have some great tips I would like to share.  My antidotes to times when I get anxious.

If I dwell on things, I can also get anxious. I’m a creative person, and I feel for me there is a link between my anxiety and times when I feel less able to create.

This said, I don’t claim that I no longer get anxious. However, through my yoga training, self-help study and personal experience I would like to share what works for me when anxiety comes knocking at my door. I am at the very least able to lesson the effects of my anxiety and steer myself into a more calm and present place.

Tips on Anxiety:

Breathing

It may sound a bit clique, but deep breathing really does help a lot. Every time I am anxious I observe my breathing and every single time I am not breathing consciously but instead are inhaling in a shallow fight or flight way. By slowing my breathing right down after ten breathes I begin to feel my body come back into a deeper sense of calm.

Method: Sit or stand some place safe. Slow the breathing right down, so that the whole of the body is breathing lead by the diaphragm. If able to, place the hands just above the navel and try and drive the breathing from there, making sure the inhalation and exhalation are the same length. Try breathing through the nose to slow the breathing down further. If the mind is darting around with what if’s, put all of your attention on to the breathing. Do for at least ten breaths and then try and keep the breathing slow from then on. If sitting close the eyes.

Change self-talk

Usually, when I am anxious, I am putting two and two together and coming up with the worst case scenario. My self-talk is bullying instead of nurturing. I am thinking that I am not okay, that things are going to go wrong and that I am not safe. It could be due to one incident like a comment or an action of others or even by myself that has evoked a memory of a time when I was not okay. How I get around this is to switch my negative thinking to positive.

An example being is I could be telling myself that my work is not good enough and no one will like it. I could think that because things are taking longer to manifest than I had hoped. Instead, I can notice I am thinking negatively and I can instead tell myself that my work is good enough, that it reaches those who need it, and that things are happening in perfect divine time. I think of solutions instead of problems. Method: Next time self-talk is negative try switching them to positive. So I am not good enough becomes I am good enough. I don’t improve, changes to I improve daily.

Connection

Feeling a sense of connection and purpose or rather feeling a lack of it, can cause me to feel anxious. If I am struggling with my meditation or feeling that life is being a bit tough, I put my walking shoes on and get out into nature. Just been around green, animals, birds and flowers can make me feel better..this combined with deep breathing and a break away from the computer can help restore in my a deep sense of peace. Also, meeting up with loved ones, friends and doing something I love like yoga can bring joy my way.

These are just a few things I can do to step out of anxiety. I also find eating healthily and getting enough sleep really help knock anxiety off its feet. Also, never underestimate the power of a hug from someone you care about. Hugs rock!