Living with anxiety is awful! At times it feels like you’re going to die. Life can feel heavy, overwhelming, exhausting and unfair. You can be riddled with various physical and neurological effects, and as much as you want to look at things in a positive light, you feel negative and unwell.
I want you to know if you suffer in this way you are you not alone. In the United States 1 in 6 adults, and 1 in 3 kids deal with anxiety symptoms. This statistics is alarming! It shows how many people are suffering and how broken the system is. Unfortunately anxious feelings and stressful situations are not going to simply disappear. The good news, there are steps we can take to change the way our brains function and create new neural pathways to set us up for success!
How do you do this? Let’s take a look at 10 ways to stop anxious feelings naturally!
1. Practice Meditation
Meditation is one of the most evidence-based ways to increase mindfulness and support overall mental well-being. Researchers from Harvard have shown that regular meditation may alter gene expression, which in turn has the potential for positively benefiting your ability to overcome various physical and mental challenges. The best way to utilize meditation is to start your day off with five minutes of intense focus on breathing, and nothing more. That’s right, put your phone and computer down and take 5 minutes to relax. Meditation doesn’t have to take long and it’s not about having a completely silent mind. The goal is to help yourself become keenly aware of when your mind wanders, so that you can immediately refocus.
You can do this at any point in the day.
2. Use a Mantra or Affirmations
There is a part of the brain that generally uses much of its resources to focus on self-judgment and reflection: the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Research has shown that repeating a calming word or phrase may actually inhibit activity in the PCC, which in turn may help you re-center and refocus your thoughts. When the mind moves towards negativity, try repeating a favorite reassuring phrase five times to redirect cognitive resources. Some of my favorite ones for feelings of anxiousness are:
- I am exactly where I need to be.
- All is well.
- I love and approve of myself.
- I am in charge.
- I trust the process of life.
- I forgive myself for not being perfect.
- Life happens for me. Not to me.
3. Write Things Down
Multiple clinical trials have shown that physically writing something down (not typing) forces the brain to alter its cognitive processing. The studies conclude that because writing something down takes time and requires increased focus, it forces your brain to work, improving your comprehension and retention abilities. Take a few minutes to write down your thoughts on a piece of paper and remarkably, they will appear less chaotic.
4. Be Present
Anxiety often comes from living in the past, or fearing the future. To feel more calm in your day to day it’s important that you focus on what is happening right here and right now. Your control of the past has come and gone, and the future has yet to happen, so use your mind to focus only on what is occurring in the present. If you find your mind wandering into anxiousness about past events or what might happen in the future, take a second and deeply examine what is happening around you in that moment and what you can control.
5. Do Something
Movement is medicine and it’s not different when one is feeling anxious. It can be so easy to get “stuck” in a negativity cycle (remember our brain is hardwired for that) when you aren’t concentrating on anything else. Break the cycle!! Get up, go for a walk, put on your favorite music, dance, or do some light stretching. Any action that immediately turns your attention away from negative thoughts gives you an opportunity to regain control and redirect your thought patterns to something constructive and positive.
6. Put Down the Sugar & Alcohol
Research has shown that high levels of sugar intake may increase anxiety and make it harder to redirect because of how the body physiologically responds. Research shows that the quick spike in blood sugar caused by dietary sugar or alcohol intake can make one feel uneasy, essentially mimicking how one feels when experiencing a panic attack. It may also induce a cascade of hormone reactions. When you are overtaken with negative thoughts, try pouring yourself a glass of water instead of grabbing a candy bar or glass of wine.
7. Speak Out Loud
Anxious feelings often have no basis in reality and that may become evidently clear when they are stated out loud. Immediately stop what you are doing, look yourself in the mirror, and talk through those negative thoughts. Even better if you have a trusted friend you can talk with who can point out the logical fallacies in your self-views.
8. Laugh
A good laugh has similar effects on the brain as exercise. Laughter inhibits the release of stress hormones such as cortisol, induces the secretion of dopamine, and (as research has shown) this physiological phenomenon even occurs when the laughter is faked. That’s right! Fake laughing can help you feel better too. Laughter truly is the best medicine.
9. Move Your Body
I know we already talked about movement but it’s so helpful for your overall mental health and managing anxious feelings we are talking about it again!! Regular exercise is one the best things you can do to support mental health long term, but it also works acutely. Like laughing, vigorous exercise activates the endocrine system to mute stress hormones and amplify those “feel good” hormones, and huffing and puffing can be the perfect distraction from negative thoughts. Either aerobic or strength training will do. Remember, the best exercise is the one you will do.
10. Therapy Through Aroma
One of the most researched properties of essential oils is their ability to influence emotions. Due to how the olfactory system interacts with the limbic system, specific potent aromas have the ability to promote feelings of calm and relaxation. doTERRAs Adaptiv™ Calming Blend was developed specifically for this purpose; however, responses to aromas are highly distinctive so go with what you know and like. Put a few drops of your favorite essential oil into your diffuser to promote a calm and centered mindset.