Managing Anxiety: Therapist-Approved Techniques for Your Well-being
Experiencing anxiety can feel very overwhelming. Luckily, there are effective steps you can take to ease its grip on your life. Understanding your anxiety can be challenging since it takes on many forms. People grappling with anxiety often react more intensely to distressing thoughts, feelings, and situations, and they may try to cope by avoiding their triggers. However, this avoidance behavior often only amplifies negative emotions, such as fear. The good news is, there are ways to manage anxiety on your own, no matter where you are.
Reducing anxiety is within reach, and the following therapist-endorsed tips can help:
- Limit Caffeine and Alcohol: Both caffeine and alcohol can exacerbate feelings of agitation, irritability, and nervousness. Caffeine acts as a stimulant, while alcohol functions as a depressant, and both can intensify anxiety. Reducing their consumption can make a substantial difference.
- Practice Breathwork, Including "Belly Breathing": Techniques like "belly breathing" can lower stress-related hormones, thereby reducing the nervous system's anxiety response. Engaging in deep breathing exercises is a calming practice that helps you stay grounded in the present moment.
- Reframe Negative Self-Talk: Shift your internal dialogue from negative to positive self-talk. For instance, replace "I am not capable of doing this" with "I can do this." This transformation in self-talk has been proven to decrease anxiety and boost self-esteem.
- Identify the Root of Your Anxiety: Naming your anxiety is a powerful tool. Verbalizing your feelings can look like saying, "I've noticed I feel anxious when..." Once you identify the root causes, you can take concrete steps to alleviate the associated anxiety.
- Focus on What You Can Control: With many aspects of life beyond our control, concentrating on what you can influence provides a sense of empowerment and helps reduce anxiety. Taking small, manageable steps toward this end will foster a feeling of accomplishment.
Other methods to reduce anxiety involve physical activities such as meditation and exercise. Meditation, through deep breathing exercises, calms your mind and brings you into the present moment. According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness-based stress reduction allows individuals to become observers of their own experiences, rather than feeling overwhelmed by them.
Ready to prioritize your mental health and well-being? MSC Therapy offers specialized psychotherapy services for young adult women in New York and Florida. Mollie provides compassionate, client-centered, and supportive therapy to help clients navigate anxiety, low self-esteem, disordered eating, body image concerns, OCD, relationship issues, dating, school or career stress, perfectionism, and life transitions. Services are available virtually, allowing for convenient and accessible support. Reach out now to take the first steps toward a more balanced life.