Anxiety is such a big thing to live with, something you can’t really describe to people in way they would understand. Clients often say it is all consuming, if you’re not anxious you are waiting for it to strike and when it does, it sends an energy through your body causing the shaking, breathing difficulties, panic, a need to keep moving, a confusing stream of thoughts, self punishment, emotional highs and lows, feeling out of control and always trying to stay one step ahead of it. The problem is, it is always one step ahead of you, it causes you to worry intensely, it exhausts you unlike no other and keeps your head busy so you cannot make good decisions and it feels like your world is too small to live in.
These intense emotions are difficult to manoeuvre as are the unstoppable thoughts, there never seems to be a way out.
You may have tried a number of things to help yourself and when they haven’t worked you may have resigned yourself to the fact there is nothing you can do, however there are tools you can use to help you while you are living with anxiety.
Choose to take some time back every day. The anxiety loves to be in control of what and how often you worry and when it feels so ingrained in your daily life you invest in the time it takes up and all the symptoms it presents. To take back some control you can choose to
- meditate (there are plenty of apps you can download).
- do some deep breathing for 5 to 10 minutes for a minimum twice a day (you can do deep breathing anywhere and everywhere)
- practice mindfulness and being in the moment listening to the sounds, seeing the colours, enjoying the smells of your immediate surroundings
- reading a good book
- listen to music that makes you feel good
- do something that makes you smile and takes your thoughts on a positive journey
- maybe learn something new.
The best way to handle anxiety is to make choices to invest in the things that bring you pleasure, peace and happiness. Choosing to do things that make you happy snatches back time from the all consuming anxiety.
Anxiety becomes so vast in your life it becomes difficult to differentiate between you and the anxiety, the symptoms consume your every waking moment and you forget to be yourself.
Now is the time to distinguish between the anxiety and you as a person and reintroduce the things you like to do into your life. It is hard work but so very worth it.