As most of you will know, I have suffered with panic disorder and generalised anxiety disorder for around five years now. Although in the past 2 years I have managed to control panic attacks for the most part I still suffer with lapses here and there, and for all you sufferers out there - that's ok.
In this post I'll be sharing with you 5 of my top tips for when your having a set back or maybe just a bad day. Please share your top tips in the comments below, it would be great to have some more for myself and for us to help each other out.
Breathing
This is huge. Although most of us won't realise it, when we are anxious our breaths become short and shallow. Event though this does us absolutely no harm whatsoever, it does add to that awful feeling of dread we all know too well. Take a couple of minutes to really zone in on your breathing. Take a big deep breath in through your nose, really fill your lungs. Hold for 2 seconds and then let a long breath out through you mouth. After a few minutes you'll really feel the difference.
Pressure points
In my desperation a few years back, I looked for anything that would calm my mind and rid me of those awful anxiety related physical symptoms. I stumbled upon pressure point therapy and haven't looked back. To name a few;
- earlobes - rub your earlobes for 1 minute (how this works I don't know - but it does)
- wrist - use 3 fingers to measure from the crack if your wrist, where your fingers stop use your thumb to hold pressure on this spot for 2 minutes on each side
- foot - just under the ball of your foot between your big toe and the next. Apply moderate pressure to this area and massage for 2 minutes, this really helps to find inner calm
Calms
This next one goes against everything my therapist ever told me, but it's something I though I should include because in reality it's a product that helps me massively. Calms offer a wide range of relaxing products but for me their lozenges are my favourite, especially the raspberry flavour ones. In a moment of heightened anxiety or panic. Just pop on of these in your mouth and take some deep breaths.
Moment if calm
This was something a friend brought for me when I was probably at my worst point with my anxiety. It's actually on it's last legs now so this has just reminded me to order some more. I carry this everywhere and although my therapist would snack my wrist for this, I'm a strong believer in defining your own recovery and if that means having a few clutches that help you through then so be it. Apply a drop of this to your index fingers and rub it into your earlobes, temples and wrists. It really does give you peace of mind. On a particularly bad day I will even then just take deep breaths smelling the remainder on my fingers and it will really help to calm me down. I couldn't recommend this stuff more. It's fantastic
Meditation
When I first heard the concept of meditation I was so wary. When I first tried mediation I felt like a complete idiot.
I don't know why but I had this assumption that you sit with your legs awkwardly crossed, arms floating in the air and you hum to yourself. Whatever is watched that gave me this vision was completely wrong. Meditation has helped me massively in overcoming my debilitating anxiety. All you need is 5 minutes, surely we can all find that. Now if your novice like me, I'd recommend using guided mediation to help you along. You can find some brilliant 5 minute meditations on YouTube. Just find yourself a quiet place, a toilet if you need to, just plug your earphones in and listen to everything they tell you. If you'd like to look into mediation more, there is a great app called headspace that offers daily mediation to help clear your mind of all the worries we tend to hold onto from day to day life.
So there you have my 5 things to do when your anxious. I really hope you can take something from this post and use it when anxiety throws you a curve ball. I can relate to all of you that feel like anxiety if over ruling your entire life or that something else is seriously wrong. These things will help you calm down and let your rational mind come back into force.
What are your best tips to do when your anxious?
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