Three things you can do right now to reduce your anxiety

If you have anxiety, then you know how all pervasive it can be.

From a low level background hum to churning in the pit of the stomach, shaky hands and full on panic attacks, you can experience anxiety in many different ways.

Generally, when people talk about reducing anxiety, they suggest things like meditating.

I don’t know about you, but trying to meditate actually makes me more anxious and I have tried lots of different meditation techniques over the years and none of them have helped me.

Which is why I want to share these three, easy things that you can do right now that will immediately start reducing your stress levels and easing your anxiety.

How do you feel when you open up your email inbox each day?

Are you seeing a lean, tidy and organised space or are you overwhelmed with hundreds of unread emails, from the actually important ones to the things you subscribed to but never make the time to actually read?

Being faced with email overwhelm every time you log into your inbox is stressful and anxiety producing and it is a very easy fix.

By deleting and unsubscribing from unnecessary emails you will be saving yourself from a whole lot of unconscious stress, overwhelm and anxiety.

Be ruthless. If you are not actually going to read them or you do not need the information, delete and unsubscribe.

It is time well invested because the next time you log in to your email, you will immediately feel much less stress and anxiety. It also makes it easier to keep “pruning” your inbox as new emails come in, that you no longer want to receive or read. 

Are there people that you follow on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter that create resentment, frustration or feeling less than stellar about yourself?

Are you overwhelmed with notifications from Facebook groups and pages and friends? If so, then any time you open social media, you are exposing yourself to more subliminal stress which raises anxiety levels.

Spend some time managing your social media by noticing how you feel. Unfollow pages or people, remove yourself from groups that are not giving value or creating drama. 

Unfriend people who are toxic or negative or needy. Lighten your stress level load so that you no longer feel overwhelmed, by managing your social media in a way that best suits you. This will reduce a huge load of unconscious stress that will really ease your anxiety.

One of the biggest causes of stress and anxiety is right there on your television screen every night at 6pm or on a dedicated channel where you can view it every moment of the day.

Your friendly, neighbourhood news program.

Watching the news is a cause of a whole lot of unconscious stress and anxiety because it is showing you events like war, famine, accidents, death, illness, political issues and a whole lot of other distressing, anxiety provoking events that you have no control over.

Much of the news is either distressing, upsetting, frustrating or fear producing which raises the bodies chemical fight or flight response, increasing stress and anxiety.

I stopped watching the news well over 8 years ago and it really made a huge difference to my life and stress levels. I can still find out what I need to know, and it has added greatly to my peace of mind.

Different situations in your life can also change how your body reacts to certain programs. For example, when I developed chronic illness and the adrenal fatigue that went with it, I found that I could no longer tolerate shows that I used to watch.

Prior to Hashimoto’s, I was a big fan of “The Walking Dead” and was looking forward to the new season. When I started watching though, I just couldn’t handle it. The fear factor and adrenaline reactions were so unpleasant and debilitating that I had to stop watching.

I find now that my viewing habits are very different. I like entertaining or uplifting shows, am very much enjoying watching re-runs of shows on Netflix that I loved from the past (Hello Star Trek all series and seasons) and I am a very conscious consumer of what I view.

Take the time to notice how what you are viewing is affecting your mind, body and stress levels and make some changes.

It is well worth the small amount of time invested!

Taking these 3 simple steps will greatly reduce your overall stress and anxiety levels and highlight where your true stress may be coming from. 

If you are like most people, then it’s due to past trauma, toxic or difficult relationships, faulty thinking patterns or worrying to much about what people think of you.

If you are struggling with stress, problems in your relationship, feeling unsupported or misunderstood, anxious, overwhelmed or stuck then you don’t have to do it alone!

Book your FREE 20 minute Discovery Session with me now, anywhere in the world!