Feeling Anxious

Feeling anxious is something we can all feel. It can often feel understandable and appropriate when we are worried about something in the future, or how an event in the past affects our present and future. Anxiety can be a useful concept to experience as it can help us to prepare for whatever we are facing but sometimes we just feel anxious, and we are not sure of the reasons why nor how to manage it. We know it affects how we all think, feel and behave so it is useful to try and understand it.

During this mental health awareness week, our thoughts are around anxiety and what we can do to help us manage it.

Here are a few wee tips which might help us all.

Breathing

Practice this simple breathing technique for a few minutes each day.

• Get into a comfortable seated position.
• Close your eyes and inhale slowly through your nose. Follow this inhalation with a deep exhalation, out through the nose.
• Continue to breathe deeply and fully, in and out of your nose. Allow your breath to be a guide to the present.
• Get in touch with your breathing and understand you can control this.

Grounding

Put your feet flat on the floor and feel your feet in contact with the firm floor. Using all your senses, take in your surroundings. What can you see? What can you hear? Take a few moments to listen to the noises around you. Do you hear birds? Dogs barking? Machinery or traffic? If you hear people talking, what are they saying? Pay attention to your breathing. Try to distract your anxious thoughts with the reality of what is around you.

Exercise

Exercise is a powerful stress reducer. It can improve your mood and help you stay healthy. Try to get outdoors and breathe in fresh air and walk around the block as a starter.

Relaxing

Having a warm bath with bubbles, lighting a fragrant candle, reading your favourite magazine or book. Consider watching a favourite movie.  Perhaps consider visualisation techniques or meditation to help with relaxation.

Learning how to manage anxious thoughts.

Speaking some of our anxious thoughts out loud can help us get things into perspective. We can do this with friends and family members, or even a therapist. Writing them down in a daily journal is another way of stopping them from whirling around in our heads. Purposely parking some of our thoughts and being mindful of other things that we can be thankful for – a sunny day, the spring blossoms, hearing the birds singing can all be missed unless we purposely are mindful about them. Try to keep socialising.