3 Simple Tips On How To Cope With Anxiety, Today!

It is normal to feel a bit anxious sometimes, but when you find yourself in a constant state of anxiety, you are causing damage to both your physical and mental health. Our bodies weren't meant to be in a constant state of heightened alertness. Think of your body like a battery. Batteries can operate a flashlight when they are turned on, providing the extra juice, but when it is turned off they use little power at all. If someone left the flashlight on all of the time, the battery would run down quickly. The same holds true for our bodies. Staying anxious all of the time drains our physical and mental resources. Anxiety is debilitating and quickly drains quality from your life. Times you should be playful and having fun are wasted as you sit there worrying about tomorrow's presentation at work. Times you should be in the moment as your child reads you his favorite book, your mind is drifting to your checkbook and the bills you have to pay.

Tips On How To Cope With Anxiety

These 3 simple tips on how to cope with anxiety today are here to free you from the chains of feeling anxious all of the time, giving you your life back so you can start living again:

Tip #1 - Reduce The Load

Sometimes we feel we have so many things to be worried about, they all start to feel equally important and challenging. However, this is rarely the case. You can immediately reduce the stress by taking time to think about the fears that continue to dance around in your mind. Write down everything you are worried about and categorize them as things you can solve and items out of your control. Once completed, your job is to let go of the things that cannot be controlled - they are out of your hands. Think of these things as villains, here to rob you of precious time in your life. Make a promise to yourself that only worries which you can proactively tackle will be your only focus. So your job is to be consciously aware when your mind begins racing, starting today. If it is a worry you are powerless over, you will put it on your "out of my control" list. At the same time, you will feel organized and positive over the little things you can do something about. If you've needed a little extra income for expenses next month, you and your family can organize that garage sale you've been wanting to have for years - having fun while problem solving. In sum, you are reducing the load by letting go of worries you cannot change and taking action over worries within your power to change - which will reduce anxiety and feelings of powerlessness, while bringing a great sense of accomplishment, too.

Tip #2 - Breathing, To Be In The Now

If our anxieties are like a wildfire burning out of control, relaxation is the water used to douse the flames. The best way to take back the mind when it seems to be racing with anxious thoughts is through breathing. It may sound too simple, but it actually works. When anxious, you've simply let your mind runaway with thoughts and it is time to rope them back in. You merely need to close your eyes, breathe in saying "one" (in your head or out loud) and exhale saying "two." The focus and concentration involved will slow down your breathing and get you in a relaxed place every time. Your mind will come back to you, completely in the moment, instead of running away from you.

Tip #3 - Visualizing Balance

Once you've reduced your list of anxieties to only the manageable concerns, in addition to learning how to control those racing thoughts, your last step is learning how to stay in balance so you don't keep reliving the same anxious cycles. You can use any scene that you like, but we will use the example of a teeter-totter for this tip. Children love to stand in the center of a teeter-totter to see if they can keep it in perfect balance. This will be your goal, too. Visualize one side of the ride as the "past" and the other as the "future." Your job is to stay in the center, completely in the moment. If you lean too far one way or the other, you will fall and get hurt. It is the same inside of your mind. Wasting time dwelling on the past or worrying about the future will throw you out of balance. Anxious individuals often spend too much time worrying about things that could potentially happen, but haven't happened yet. It is time to let life happen naturally, and relieve yourself of the burden of trying to control the future. These 3 simple tips will help you to begin working on reducing anxiety today. The key to being less anxious is by taking control back of your mind, acknowledging only those items you can do something about to improve your life, and self soothing yourself when racing thoughts appear. Begin to see yourself as the driver of your mind, instead of a powerless passenger, and you will be on the road to life fulfillment.