Can’t sleep? Can’t think? Caught up in a loop with no rhyme or reason? Anxiety is tricky, but there are ways you can improve the situation. Here are five steps to help calm those nerves on a day to day basis.
1. Back to Basics
Anxiety is a strange old beast; sometimes it’s instant, with clear triggers, other times it can be more slow and insidious. Regardless, whenever you feel that knot building in your stomach, slow down and reflect as best you can. Have you eaten today? Have you slept? When did you last talk with a friend, have a drink of water, or get out in the sunshine?
Basics can go overlooked, particularly in times of stress, so it’s important to make sure you’re those boxes and doing right by your body and mind. Anxiety is both physical and mental, and a result it can be treated on both fronts. Just ask the UK’s NHS.
2. Sleep Aids
A good nights sleep can go a long way in setting doubts to rest and preventing new ones from itching at the mind. Quality rest really is so important – endless studies have shown that getting enough sleep has a myriad of positive effects on all elements of your health. So be kind to your brain, lie down, and close those tired eyes. If anxiety is the thing preventing sleep in the first place, however, you might struggle in that regard. Cue sleep aids (like the Sleepeaze Pillow Spray)! Be they lavender scents, prescriptions from your doctor or a ten mile hike to wear you out in the afternoon, they’ll do their best to get your head on that pillow. Sometimes herbal help can be exactly what’s needed to break out of a bad loop.
3. Future Proofing
Anxiety is a kind of fear, often irrational, and one of the best ways you can deal with fear is to work through the problem logically. So find a friend and talk things out: Talk about the future, talk about your specific concerns, their likelihood and your involvement. Sometimes a problem shared really is a problem halved – and if that’s not enough, there’s always professional help.
Some folks find tarot readings calming for example. With a palm or card reading, certain outcomes can be dismissed or confirmed. At a basic level, these kinds of appointments constitute therapy, with providers grouped on and offline in places like TheCircle to make sure folks can find someone to explore these issues with.
4. Routine, Routine, Routine
Schedule is the enemy of anxiety, so write one up and stick to it! From dawn till dusk, if you can plan you’re the majority of your daily life then there’s much less to worry about when outliers come along. How specific you like to go is up to you. You could plan meals, appointments, write out lists. You could carry a diary on your phone or on paper. Ironically enough schedules can be flexible. They put you in control at the helm of each hour.
5. Pet Life
Ah, pets. Furry critters of all kinds have been shown to help folks suffering from numerous conditions over the years. A dog around the house gets you moving for example. You exercise on the daily walk, you get up to feed and let it out, then serve dinner at specific times every day. A pet is someone you can talk to, someone you can cuddle, and someone you can rely on for love.
In this way, they combine many of the anti-anxiety techniques above. They’re a friend, a calming bed companion, and a champion of routine. So what are you waiting for? Adopt a kitty! Charities like WWF are helping to save animals and provide them with news homes every day.
Anxiety management is a real possibility for everyone, and with the help of yourself, your friends and your doctor it really can begin to take a backseat in life.
