How I deal With Anxiety

After posting on Instagram about my anxiety I have had questions asking me how I deal with my anxiety on a day to day basis and what I do when I have anxiety attacks. So I thought I would write a post about what works for me. What works for me may not work for others, so one piece of advice I would give is to try different things and find what works for you. Try one thing at a time and stick with it if it works.

The top three things I do every day are:

1) Journaling

2) Walking outside

3) Taking Ashwagandha tablets

I make an effect to journal every morning and every night. In the morning I sit with my cup of tea and aknowledge how I feel each day. I write my feelings and any sensations that come with that, I write my intentions for the day, how I can help myself and a 'To Do' list if I hadn't written one the night before.

Every evening I write the things I am grateful for that day and if I am feeling overwhelmed I write my 'To Do' list for the next day to off-load it before I go to sleep.

Every morning after droppping my children at school I go for a walk outside before I start work, no matter what the weather. To be fair having a dog helps me do this as I need to take him for a walk, but since getting him 7 months ago taking him for a walk is something I look forward to. Some days I wear earphones and play music, listen to a podcast and some days I don't listen to anything. Getting out in nature has been proven to help boost our happy hormone Dopamine.

Everyday I take 500mg of ashwagandha in tablet form. It is said to boost mood, memory, reduce stress and reduce anxiety. I feel this has really helped level out my mood and reduce my anxiety. I still get anxious but this makes it more managable.

These three things are non-negotiable when I'm anxious. For me personally it's not food that will help because I can never eat anything when I'm really anxious. I also can't sleep so going to bed early or having a nap doesn't work for me as I lay there with all the thoughts, which then esculates my anxiety. Other things I try, but don't kick myself if I don't or can't do them, are:

- Essential oils on my hands, wrist or in a diffuser

- No alcohol

- Rescue Remedy

- Crystals

- Exercise

Maybe some of these will help you, maybe you have already tried some of them but haven't continued with it. Start a mood tracker and see how your mood is after a period of time doing the above things.

I have come to terms with living my life with anxiety but it doesn't mean it has to rule or ruin my day to day life. I have good days and bad days, definitely, and I'm still getting to know my body but doing these things means the bad days are less. I hope this is helpful and starts to bring some positive well-being into your life.

Thank you for reading. Sending joy and calm to you all.

From

Sam