10 Ways to Rid Yourself of Anxiety and Panic

man worrying

Your day is not going well.  You did not sleep very well last night, if at all.  You are tired and edgy.  Irritable.

If you are prone to anxiety, have you noticed it is worse on days when you do not sleep well, are under an inordinate amount of stress, or just plain worn out?

Generally, anxiety occurs as a result of lack of sleep or too much stress.  Do you have difficulty sleeping when you are tired?  

What do you do, tell your boss you need a nap?  Lock your door and tell your kids to let you sleep?  If you are like most people, neither one of these are options.

You control your stress as much as you can, but there are some days…

You are not alone.  Consider this:

what percentage of the population has anxiety

You do not have to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder to experience anxiety.  Disorders happen over time, so to prevent this, learn to control your anxiety before it becomes a set-in-stone way of thinking.

anxiety can be controlled

In this blog, you will learn 10 ways, plus a few more, to rid yourself of anxiety and panic. 

When you first feel the anxiety coming on, recognize it, compartmentalize it with mindfulness, and then release your tension.  After practicing this daily as a routine, and more often when the need arises, you will begin to find your anxiety lessen. 

Many people swear by CBD oil for controlling their anxiety.  Taken on a daily basis, CBD oil seems to regulate mood swings.  You might want to give it a try.

Read on and learn how you can rid yourself of anxiety and panic.  But first, a word about mindfulness.

MINDFULNESS, PURE AND SIMPLE

Anxiety, panic, and worry stem from the same thinking process. The trouble usually starts with worry, and as feelings of the hopelessness of resolving the issue progress, so do the feelings of anxiety.

In serious situations, panic strikes!

People prone to anxiety can have these attacks multiple times a day. If you are someone whose day is riddled with uncontrollable stress and anxiety, I have an idea that might work for you.

No, please!  Not more about mindfulness!!

Yes, mindfulness. But what I have for you is a different approach than what you normally read about. I stumbled upon this after trying different ways to be mindful, and after a few days of doing so, I found my mind was more controlled and less anxious.

This got me to thinking about the hype we put on mindfulness. We tie it to meditation and some impossible goal that few of us can achieve. We associate a pure mind to Shaolin monks and esoterics that have complete control over their lives and meditate often. Our lives are too busy to take meditation seriously, and so we live with a cluttered stressed-out mind.

 

MINDFULNESS. WHAT IT IS.

Mindfulness is the act of being present in the moment.

But many of us cannot do that.  Not to worry!  If you cannot eat mindfully, or live your life mindfully, that is okay.  The techniques I am about to suggest will not play on your guilt.  They do not entail a lot of work and only take a moment.

To ruminate means to chew over, like a cow chews its cud. This is actually where the word comes from. A cow has a second stomach, the rumen, which contains digested grass that the chow regurgitates and chews during the day.

Our thoughts are the same, are they not? Recycled fodder!

When we worry, we ruminate, tossing the same thoughts over and over again in our heads, trying to come up with a solution to this immense problem.

Anxiety is the same. Ruminating, over and over, what is going to happen next?

STOPPING WORRY

As quick as a flash, you can change your thoughts.

This is how it works:

Are you stuck in a thought rut, having deep, dark thoughts?

(Read the full article here)

  • Stop and look around.
  • Let your thoughts alone and be what they are.
  • Pick an object to study. 
  • Examine that object thoroughly. 
ANOTHER TECHNIQUE YOU CAN USE

Rub the palm of your hand across your clothing. The palm is the most sensitive part of your body and is in direct contact with your brain. The sensation of the texture of the fabric establishes a connection between brain and body, and will quickly reset the equilibrium.

These exercises only take a minute, but you can continue as long as you want. The more often you practice this kind of mindfulness, the more you will train your brain onto pleasant thoughts and away from the dark thoughts.

worry is a misuse of imagination

WHY DOES THIS WORK?

When we are anxious and afraid, the connection between body and brain becomes weak. All attention goes to the brain to deal with the fear and our body literally goes into automatic pilot.

By rubbing your palm on your jeans, or by concentrating on the details of an object, you are signaling to both brain and body that the two are connected. You are telling the systems to work together, that they are a collective well-oiled mechanism that functions as one.

You are telling your body and brain YOU are in control – not the panic, not the dark thoughts. 

Our brains naturally gravitate to pleasure, but when we are stressed, the brain jumps into its on-call-for-danger mode. Breaking out of the ruminating thoughts gives you a chance to see the world in a more positive light, and by doing so, the anxiety will begin to abate.

Our brains are easily trainable, happy to do whatever we tell it to.

10 Steps to relax tension

Tension is the thing that makes us anxious.  Our bodies become tight, our minds start to race and we are off to the races! (racing mind, racing heart rate).

The best way to break the anxiety/panic cycle is to learn to relax tension before the feelings and the natural progression of panic spins out of control.  Here are ten steps to take the next time you feel uptightness coming on.

1.  Notice your uptight body.  Are you drawn up tight like a rubber band?  Are your shoulders up to your ears?  Is your neck stiff and tense?  Do a body scan.  Where are you tight? Think the opposite. Down Easy. 

2.  Take a minute.  What do you do when you stand in line?  Do you fidget and get upset because people are not moving fast enough?  Perhaps you make comments and are rude to the teller because she took so long (no fault of hers, of course).  Take these small moments in time and concentrate on relaxing.  Be mindful of your surroundings, be mindful of what is happening inside of you.  Rather than fidget and squirm, take the moment to enjoy the calm.  The line will not go any faster whether you fuss or stay calm.

3.  Breathe.  This advice is about as worn out as is the advice of practicing mindfulness.  Worn out or not, the best advice when you are upset is to breath.  Slowly and deeply.  Concentrate on the breath in and out.  Counting gives your mind something to focus on. 

Breathing is fundamental to life.  Then why do you hold your breath when you are upset?  Concentrate on your breathing – a good thing to do when you are irritable about standing in line!

breathing to relax

These next five steps are good to be done together in order.  Relaxing with steps 1 to 3 is a good way to get ready for the next five steps.

4.  Pretend you are a leaf.  Sit quietly in a comfortable chair.  Rest your head against the back of the chair and stretch out your feet.  Raise your hands, and then drop them into your lap – let them lie there loosely, like a fallen leaf.

5.  Visualize.  See a peaceful and calm scene in your mind.  Smell the smells, hear the sounds.  Whether it be a mountain top, the ocean beach, or flower-filled meadow, be there and enjoy.

6.  Peace.  Feel the peace of the place, feel it permeate into your spirit.  Say to yourself, “this peaceful place is changing my tension to relaxation.”

7.  Drain.  Consciously and deliberately drain your mind and body of tension and negative thoughts.  See them leaving your body and let them go…

8.  Words.  Words have a healing effect.  Use affirmations that include the words peace, serenity, tranquility, harmony, quietness, restfulness, love, joy, happiness.

In addition to doing these eight steps when panic strikes, practice the next two steps daily.  Learn to stay in touch with your emotions so you can gain better control.

9.  Quiet.  Take at least a 10-minute break every day to be alone.  Read something uplifting, say a prayer, use the time to meditate.  We all need alone time, so give yourself permission to take 10 minutes out of your day to connect with who you are.

10.  Repeat.  Throughout the day, repeat your affirmations.  At least once a day, and other times when anxiety starts, find five things to be grateful for.  When you are upset by money, be grateful it is there for you. When you are upset at your job, be grateful you have a job.  When upset about someone you love, be glad they are in your life.

You get the idea.  There are many things throughout the day to be grateful for, whatever your circumstances.  Take the time to find them.

try cbd oil for your anxiety

Rather than hit the Xanax bottle, or the beer or whiskey bottle, to ease your jumbled nerves, try a tincture of CBD oil.

Scientists are not sure exactly why CBD oil works to calm anxiety, but it does.  Could it be that the neuroprotective factors of the cannabinoids are actually protecting and repairing your nerves?

It is not just the nervous system that is affected by anxiety.  And the nervous system does not always cause anxiety.  

The next time, before your anxiety begins to rise off the charts, take a moment to figure out what is causing it.

    • Has it been a while since you have eaten?
    • Do you have a medical condition that could cause you to feel anxious and irritable? 
    • Are you taking medications that list anxiety as a side effect? 
    • Are you overstimulated and completely worn out?

The more you follow a routine, the easier it will be to calm you anxiety and panic attacks before they start. It is a matter of training your brain and body not to respond in such a manner. Your mind is programmed to be upset with certain triggers.  Now you have to de-program it.

When you feel the gathering storm of your anxiety, try this:

what to do when anxious feelings arise

 

GIVE MINDFULNESS A TRY!

Mindfulness does not examine thoughts or behaviors, it does not delve into the cause of your issues.  It does the opposite.

This moment of mindfulness gives your brain a vacation, a much-needed break from working out a problem that seemingly cannot be solved.

Admit it.  Worry does not solve anything!

The answers only come with a clear head.

By calming your brain, you automatically calm your body.

Try it. With practice, you will notice your anxiety is easier to control.

Mindfulness, pure and simple.

 

 

 

 

 

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