
Managing your anxiety – Quick Tips – part of Paul Carter’s Quick Tips series we look at a variety of areas and consider things that you can do to implement change straight away. Today we are looking at anxiety
Anxiety is a universal emotion that will impact all of us on a daily basis to varying degrees. For some it is a low level hum in the background for others it is an acute and overwhelming tsunami of emotions.
Below are a list of ideas that you can try to help you to manage your anxiety and not get swept away by it. Everyone is different, and so they might not all work for you, but it might be interesting to try them out and see which ones do work for you.
- Take 10 deep breaths
- Do a grounding or mindfulness exercise – count all the green things, or the circular things that you can see in the room.
- Do the 5 4 3 2 1 exercise. Look for 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste.
- Do a mundane activity that uses your hands, like washing up, ironing, gardening or cleaning a window.
- Do an activity that will take concentration, such as make an origami bird, colour a picture, do a jigsaw or any activity that will absorb you.
- Try to separate yourself from your anxiety, understand that it is just thoughts, thoughts that you don’t have to believe or engage with. You can boundary your thoughts and not engage with them and so make them bigger.
- Listen to music or watch a funny film.
- Try Marconi Union – weightless – a piece of music has been specifically engineered by sound therapists to soothe your nervous system, slow your heart rate and blood pressure and lower levels of cortisol. The research was done by Mindlab. Its carefully arranged harmonies, rhythms, and bass lines help slow a listener’s heart rate, reduce blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. You can find this piece of music for free on Youtube.
- Dance or exercise or go for a walk.
- Reduce your caffeine and alcohol intake
- Find a way to express yourself, through journalling or art or another creative outlet
- Try to approach the things that you are anxious about gradually, don’t avoid them, but take them a step at a time.
- Talk to someone, a friend or family member or a professional.
If you feel that you would like to speak to someone about difficulties you are having, you might find speaking to a therapist helpful. Paul offers Psychotherapy and counselling, EMDR and Clinical Supervision. If you are struggling with any issue and would like to make an appointment with Paul please call Paul on 07843 813 537 or fill in the form on the Contact Page, if he doesn’t answer he is probably in a session, please leave him a message and he will call you back as soon as he can. For more information about Paul please take a look at the About Paul Page, Frequently Asked Questions Page and The Counselling Services Page.
Online Resources
Headspace – mindfulness app – Headspace Body Scan