10 Tips to help for those with daily anxiety and panic symptoms :)

[Sunny Days]

I just wanted to let everyone know about some things that are helping me alot:

1. Prayer. I know not everyone is religious, but I can honestly say that praying and gaining more faith has really been helping me tremendously with my anxiety. If anyone is interested in some good books about this, Joyce Meyers is a great author. The Holy Spirit wants us to cast all of our anxieties and worries onto him. By living in a constant state of fear we are not trusting our faith in him. Really, whatever is going to happen will happen, so all this time spent worrying and obsessing will not change anything. There is no power in worry.

2. "Stay in the moment" -This has helped me ALOT as well. Whenever I start to feel anxious I tell myself to stay in the present moment. My anxiety is connected to a fear of having something go wrong with my health. We all know that worrying is mostly a pointless emotion because it wont change anything. Therefore, when I start to feel something "off" inside my body and the panic feeling comes over me, I find that if I tell myself I am breathing NOW and to "stay in the moment" I can re-direct my thoughts from all the "what-ifs". What ifs are future based. If you just stay in the present moment and focus on what is going on at that moment, you wont have room in your mind for all the other nonsense. Don't let your mind wander, stay in touch with what is true- the present moment!

3. Staying hydrated. I feel this is so important! So many people are dehydrated and they don't even know it. I feel much better when I am hydrated. I have less brain fog, fewer headaches, etc.

4. COURAGE. Fear is a common emotion, but if you flow with it....and look at it in the eye rather then running from it you will come out on top! Just pumping yourself up with that little bit of courage can go a long way! Also, realize that a close relative of anxiety is excitment! If you can start to train your mind to associate that little nervous/excited feeling in your body with positive thoughts this can help your reaction to it. Remember, anxiety/panic is really an adrenaline rush. I even call it that now! An adrenaline rush is a normal body function- not all that scary really. It just feels uncomfortable at times, but learning ways to calm and relax yourself can help...as can getting that energy out! Start focusing on a task, clean the house, go for a walk, etc.

5. Diet. No MSG, Caffeine, Drugs, Chemicals....all that other garbage. You will be healthier all around without it.

6. Regular healthy exercise. -Running, Walking, Exercise Bike, Horseback Riding, Yoga, etc.

7. Proper breathing. Slow your breathing down. Try to make your exhales longer then your inhales. Always breath from the stomach by breathing in through your nose and relaxing your muscles. Drop those tense shoulders down! Don't focus too much on your breathing, just let it be natural. However, know that when we get anxious we tend to over-breathe and we usually don't even realize it. This causes feelings of dizziness, etc. So, when we do get anxious we should try to breathe just a little less/slow it down.

8. Positive Affirmations. "It's JUST anxiety/adrenaline". "You cannot panic if your calm". "Don't be bluffed by a sensation or symptom caused by a thought". "Breathe". "Don't rush to get nowhere fast".
I love this saying: "Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down." - Natalie Goldberg

9. Get out of your own mind. Stop focusing on yourself so much and get involved in the world around you. Help others!

10. Start your day out right. Wake up and say positive affirmations. Try to teach your mind to become more optimistic! I actually will type in "daily inspirational quotes" on google and I find that these help me alot when I first get to work.

I hope that some of these tips can help someone! :)

[jessed03]

In regards to No.1, and what Forwells said, I think this is a big issue in anxiety recovery, and in life. When breaking severe physical addictions like drugs, and alcohol, I always thought it was strange that they mentioned "A higher power". I thought, what does all this new age crap have to do with me quitting my addictions, how is this so called 'God' going to help my body detoxify, and recover in order to feel normal again. If he wants to help, he could put my body right.

As I went on, I realized life is incredibly lonely, and we're like a little doll, floating out in the ocean. It's important to always keep in touch with something bigger, whether that be God, or the power of the human collective, whether it be nature or a feeling of being 'at one', within 'the flow' of life.

Number 2 & 9 helped me a lot as well. The future's like a bad dream really. It doesn't exist. We see all these things happening or heading towards us, and we're powerless to do anything, because there is nothing we can grasp at. People think living in the moment means being reckless, or putting your fingers in your ears and pretending life isn't real. I always found it to be the opposite. When I became more in the moment, my thoughts and fears suddenly became very real, and I saw them clearer and could work through them easier. I also found I was far more attentive, and by doing the best I could, and paying complete attention to what was infront of me, problems just seemed to avoid me, or in retorspect, maybe they didn't, maybe they still came along, but I didn't view them as 'problems', but challenges I was undertaking.

As the the getting out of the mind, that was MASSIVE for me. I read a book about athletes who would 'zone out' and shut their mind off when playing sports and getting incredible results, and I tried it myself, and my anxiety cut into half, especially the social anxiety I was suffering. I realised 80% of my life within my mind was either re-arranging my prejudices, or deciding whether or not an experience was good or bad. Life took on a new richness when I realised I didn't have to label everything.

I really like that the physical, the mental and the spiritual are now taken into account when looking to aid recovery. Thanks for sharing the list :)