Does anxiety ever get the best of you? When you’ re expecting it to rear it’s ugly head – or worse, when you’re not. Everyone has anxiety sometimes. It’s a natural response to situations that make us feel out of control or helpless. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Photo courtesy of Andrew E Weber

If you need a few tips to help you deal with anxiety when it does pop up, keep reading. I’ve got a short list of mindful techniques that you’ll want to consider.

The Anxiety – It Was Bad

Mindfulness is a way of life for me these days, but that wasn’t always the case. In my teens and 20s my anxiety was a serious issue. Most of the time I was able to hide it from others, but inside was an entirely different story. Not only did I find it challenging to manage my emotions, but my physical health suffered consequences as well with a stomach ulcer, chronic insomnia, wide-spread body pain, food allergies and other immune system issues that lead to a host of other aliments.

The Common Thread

As I moved through my 20s I began to seek out alternative treatments that would help me manage my anxiety. What I later found was that these approaches all had one thing in common. Yep you guessed it, “mindfulness”. In order to treat the anxiety I needed to become present with my mind and body. Without mindfulness there was no way to utilize the techniques and strategies. So there you have it. The common thread.

It Doesn’t Have To Be Complicated

Managing your anxiety through mindfulness doesn’t have to be a long or complicated process. Essentially, you just need to acknowledge that your runaway brain has just taken you and your body for an unexpected ride. Bring both of them back to the moment, back together and back to the breath. As you probably already know, coming back to your breath is the easiest thing to do when you feel your anxiety start  to surface. It’s a built in solution that we sometimes forget about in the heat of the moment. But if you’re looking for a few tricks other than the breath, there are some good ones listed below.

Managing your anxiety through mindfulness doesn’t have to be a long or complicated process.

 

Here Are The Techniques

Need some mindfulness techniques to manage that dreaded anxiety? Here are 5 ways you can bring yourself back into the moment and beat those anxious feelings.

#1 ~ Gratitude My Go-To

For the past year or so my go-to mindfulness technique has been gratitude. What’s great about it, is that whenever I recognize that I’m starting to have anxious thoughts or butterflies in my belly, all I have to do is find something in my immediate environment to be grateful for in that very moment. In most cases I’m safe and have basic physical comfort. So those are easy choices to get me started. I’m sure that you can come up with plenty more that suit you as well.

#2 ~ Happy Place Happy Thoughts

It might seem cliche, but having that happy place ready and accessible can be very helpful. By identifying this place ahead of time it’s easy to access when you are in the thick of it. Once the restlessness hits you, simply stop, close your eyes and visualize that happy place. This automatically kicks your thoughts into a different mode. If you can keep the feeling going, the happy thoughts will multiply and presto, you’ve shifted out of the anxiety.

#3 ~ Do You Need To Take Action?

Admittedly, I can be a bit of a procrastinator. And if you have this same habit, even occasionally, then you know that it inevitably leads to anxiety at least on some of the time. So the question here is “do I need to take action and if so, what do I need to do?”. Your anxiety may be trying to keep you out of trouble. And once you get hip to its prompt, you’ll know that action will bring the relief you need. Sure, it’s true, procrastination can be a built in motivator. Just be sure it’s not getting the best of you in the meantime.

#4 ~ Examine the Non-Action

What do I mean by “non-action”? In plain english…you are an “avoider”. You’re not taking action because you would rather avoid a situation then deal with it. Unfortunately, that non-action can cause a whole pile of anxiety. Exactly what you don’t want. This type of anxiety might sneak up on you, but most likely you’ll be aware of it before that, especially if it’s a typical behavior for you. Instead of avoiding, strategize with someone about what action you can take, and then move forward. It might be a bit uncomfortable at first, but it’ll be worth it to tame that anxiety. Plus the more often you do it, the more opportunity you have to build your skills and “avoid” the anxiety, instead of the situation in the future.

#5 ~ Music To The Rescue

From my perspective music is a miracle. The joy that it gives us individually. How it brings people together. I could go on and on. That’s why it’s not a surprise that it’s one of my favorite ways to step out of anxiety and into the moment. When I feel that uneasiness bubbling up inside, I know that listening to a favorite tune or two will help shift me out of that feeling and into a new space. And even better if I dance around the room and get my energy flowing in a completely different way. Pick a few songs to have in your back pocket. Then the next time it happens you will be able to quickly remedy yourself.

Give these techniques a try and let us know how they worked. I would be happy to hear from you and I know that others would too.

Please bring mindfulness to others and share my message by clicking below on Facebook and LinkedIn.

I would love to see you more often. To have my blog instantly delivered to your email box sign up below. It’s just that easy!