10 Tips to Eliminate Excessive Anxiety (1/2)
1. Blame the problem on the brain. This is not to blame all the anxiety problems on your brain, but you need to know that anxiety may come from the neurophysiological structure, and bad thinking habits are one of the reasons for creating additional anxiety. For example, excessive or lack of a certain chemical substance in the brain, or excessive activity in certain areas of the brain, may cause anxiety in your body. Think of excessive anxiety as a natural consequence of chemical changes in the brain rather than your personal weaknesses, this idea is helpful in relieving anxiety.
Practical Steps
Tell yourself “Don’t worry, it’s my brain that enters an anxious environment.”
2. Hold hands or embrace with who care about you. When you are highly anxious, you will find it’s difficult to calm down. At this time, handle and hug can effectively reduce the stress response. Once you feel your emotions are alleviated, you can try other techniques to divert your attention.
Practical Steps
Holding hands or embrace with someone until you are calm. If you don’t have a companion around you, you can give yourself a massage or take a deep breath.
3. Use your invisible “support circle.” If no one around you can give you comfort, just think of the people who support you and the things happened before that you have received support. Recalling our family and friends can give us a sense of security, which reduces our stress.
Practical steps
Write down the person who is important to yourself on the card, put the card into the wallet. When you feel pressure, take out the card and read it. Whether in the office or at home, put some photos of people you value.
4. Breath with your abdomen. Learn the abdominal breathing method and use it as a relaxation technique. Deep breathing can send an “all good” signal to the brain. Relax your body with deep breathing and your brain will relax too. You don’t need to set aside time to practice as you do meditation, taking deep breathing as a daily breathing method.
Practical steps
When you start feeling anxious, start taking a deep breath with your abdomen. This breathing method can initiate a relaxation reaction.
5. Relax or exercise yourself. Meditation and yoga are common ways of self-relaxation, there are also loud singing, reading, chatting and knitting sweaters, etc. Even washing dishes can eliminate anxiety. For people who are energetic but physically stressed, exercise is more effective than self-relaxation. 20 minutes of exercise can reduce anxiety and improve resilience. Aerobic exercise can consume chemicals that make you nervous, such as adrenaline. Even walking around can offset the side effects of sedentary.
Practical steps
Choose activities that relax your mind and body to alleviate your anxiety, or just go out for 20 minutes every day.