Make Peace with Anxiety
BY BETHANY HEITMAN
There’s no doubt about it, the past few years have been tough to navigate. For some, the pandemic has brought on constant health-related concerns. While others report feeling chained to their computer because of their new work-from-home setup. And with weekly changes in school and daycare protocols, parents are more stressed than ever. The result: Anxiety across America is at an all time high. The CDC reports that since 2020, 42 percent of people say they’ve experienced it.
We’d love to be able to tell you there’s a way to cure this nervousness once and for all, but we also don’t want to lie to you. The truth is, anxiety will always pop up from time to time. But you can find ways to manage it so that it doesn’t take a toll on you. In a way, it’s all about learning to accept that anxiety exists and learning to walk alongside it so that it doesn’t throw you for such a loop. These tips can help.
Photo by kevin turcios
#1 Give it Some Thought
To understand your anxiety, you’re going to need to get under the hood and really examine it. Think about when you feel the most anxious. If it’s around certain events—like having to see your family, before you travel, or when you have to give a work presentation—you’re probably dealing with something called situational anxiety. This means anxiety pops up when you have to do something that makes you uncomfortable or nervous.
General anxiety, on the other hand, is felt nearly all the time—it’s ever-present, but can peak at times or feel more manageable at other moments. This type of anxiety is usually caused by a big life event—say you’ve experienced trauma or are going through hormone fluctuations—and it can mean that your nervous system is always on edge.
And then there’s more serious, debilitating clinical anxiety. With this type, seeking professional (and even psychiatric) help may be necessary.
Simply understanding what you’re dealing with is a step in the right direction and can help you be more gentle with yourself. If you know that anxiety pops up at certain times, you can be sure to incorporate more self-care into your life during those moments. If it’s something that’s a constant drumbeat in your life, you can make more steady changes that help bring your nerves down—think daily meditation, nightly baths, or even weekly therapy sessions.
#2 Take a Deep Breath
Breathing exercises can also help deal with feelings of anxiety. The reason: Breathing affects key parts of our bodies that help regulate emotional well being—like your brain.
The goal is to focus on your breathing so that you stay in the moment. You can concentrate on the way the deep breath feels as it flows through your nose while you inhale and out your mouth during an exhale. Pay attention to the well your stomach goes in and out as you breath, too. A few minutes of this and you may just start to notice your anxiety dissipating and your heart rate coming down.
#3 Sweat it Out
Exercise not only improves your physical fitness—it’s also vital for optimal mental wellbeing. Time and again, studies have found that regular exercise can lower tension and anxiety, with benefits noticeable after as little as five minutes.
Your goal should be to stick to a regular workout routine. While you don’t need to train like an athlete (though you certainly can!), a daily walk or a short, moderate-intensity workout can have a noticeable positive impact on how you feel. By ensuring that you are sweating a little every day, you can often head off anxiety before it gets really bad.
#4 Improve Your Sleep Hygiene
Repeat after us: Sleep is essential. Research suggests that poor sleep quality may contribute to an increase in feelings of anxiety.
Try to get at least seven hours of sleep per night. To improve your sleep, try practicing basic sleep hygiene habits such as avoiding caffeine before bed, exercising during the daytime and sticking to a consistent sleep and wake time, even on weekends.
Oh, and that nightly habit of scrolling through Instagram before drifting off? Cut it out. Blue light can make it harder to get a good night’s sleep. Keep your phone in another room and go back to using an old fashioned alarm clock to get up in the morning.
#5 Eat Well
Although there’s no specific meal plan for treating anxiety, it’s best to follow a balanced diet that contains fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean sources of protein.
Avoid skipping any meals or eating lots of simple carbohydrates, as this may affect your blood sugar and cause you to feel jittery and uncomfortable.
Oh, and if you’re a regular coffee drinker, try reducing your caffeine consumption. Not only is caffeine linked to sleep issues, but large doses of caffeine appear to worsen many symptoms of anxiety.
Try to limit your intake of coffee, energy drinks and other beverages that contain a large amount of caffeine. You can also try cutting caffeine out from your life completely to see if your anxiety symptoms improve.
#6 Consider CBD
If you’re not familiar with it, cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical found naturally in cannabis plants. CBD products, which don’t contain THC (and therefore do not get you high), have become extremely popular in the last few years—and for good reason!
Early research has found that CBD oil can help relieve anxiety. In one study, people with a fear of public speaking were given CBD 90 minutes before having to talk. A majority of subjects said they felt way more at ease going in front of a crowd than they usually do.
If you’re interested in trying CBD for anxiety, consider JW’s CBD brand Get Up. All of the products are free of artificial ingredients, are gluten and vegan friendly and are made with the highest caliber of CBD.
Bethany Heitman, Contributor
P.S. Remember that no matter what you're going through right now, you don't have to do it alone! There are others like you in our community, where we interact on a daily basis, fight our demons, share our victories, and watch over each other as friends and accountability partners.
Together we are FÖRENA - a health & fitness community for women like you where we focus not only on our physical health but also mind, soul, relationships, and overall well-being. Become one of us now with FREE 1-month membership, and let us witness your growth! 🌱
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