4 Ways I Manage Anxiety
I have always been an anxious person, from constantly pressuring myself to do everything perfectly to overthinking. However, the past few years I have learned how to manage my anxiety. I know many people have become increasingly anxious due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my anxiety has personally increased the last few weeks. Here are 4 preventative ways to manage anxiety.
These are methods that have helped me manage my anxiety, I am not a medical professional.
Journaling
Every night I write in a journal to reflect on my day. This allows me to get any negative feelings out on paper and out of my head. After doing this for over a year, I can say I have become more optimistic and less anxious! I have even noticed an improvement in my sleeping. I find journaling to be a healthier form of venting, an old tried and true for my anxiety. The most important part of this, in my opinion, is starting with the best part of your day. I find this makes me find a positive in every day, and looking back shows me that every day has a postive, no matter how small. This is a great option for people who are not comfortable talking about their anxiety but need a way to let their thoughts out. This is also a great way to wind down at the end of the day and relax before bed!
Meditation
During COVID-19, I started having a hard time focusing on the present, which meant I frequently would overthink and become extremely anxious. I decided this was a great time to develop healthier habits and downloaded the Breethe app! I started with the free trial, but immediately bought the full app. They have relaxing music, breathing exercises and daily meditations that are easy to implement in your daily routine. I personally find my anxiety peaks at night time so I use their bedtime meditations (there are over 15 meditations to choose from) to help me fall asleep faster than I ever have before. What I love about this particular app is that you can pick different meditation goals and focuses, so you can tailor the app to your needs!
Yoga
Shortly after starting meditation, I decided I wanted to implement yoga to my morning routine. You can find thousands of YouTube Yoga classes for free that work for every skill level, I personally love @yogawithkassandra! I’ve found that even just doing a quick 10-minute yoga practice in the morning helps me center myself and have a positive start to my day. Yoga not only benefits your mental health, but it is also a great light workout!
Workout
This is jumping off the yoga, but working out in some capacity is absolutely vital for me! I find that running on a treadmill after a long day can be very therapuetic and gives you time to relax your mind. I do yoga every day and try to run whenever I can, this helps me feel much calmer throughout the day! I’ve also found that working on my physical health is extremely helpful for my mental health, and vice versa.
