High levels of anxiety are prevalent in our society, but by finding out what could be causing our anxiety and addressing it, we can undergo a real change for the better. Things like personality traits, stress, money, grief, or marital problems, etc can play a large role in creating anxious feelings. But there are other less obvious things that can also contribute to our levels of anxiety. These include high sugar consumption, mobile phone usage, and EMF exposure, processed food, lack of exercise, and nutritional deficiencies. So we have put together our very own top 5 anxiety tips to help anyone dealing with anxiety.
Many things in life are out of our control. But by focusing on what we can control, we can lower the effects of stress and anxiety in our lives.
Our practical top 5 anxiety tips
1. Nutrition
Detect and eliminate nutritional deficiencies—in our age of takeaways and processed foods, more people than ever are suffering from nutritional deficiencies. if your body has optimum levels of specific nutrients, it will be much easier to ward off both diseases and stress. Many nutrients help with brain functioning, equipping our nervous and endocrine systems with what they need to support us mentally and emotionally. Eliminating deficiencies involves cutting out sugars and processed foods, and replacing them with fruits and vegetables. It can be hard at first, so build things up slowly. E.g. have your burger and fries, but cut out the Coca Cola and make a salad.
Taking vitamin and mineral supplements is another thing that contributes to optimised bodily nutrition. B, C, and D vitamins, as well as magnesium, are common deficiencies. Vitamin D deficiencies are particularly widespread in cold countries like those in the UK—and this can lead to all kinds of issues, including fatigue. In short, building up our body’s nutrition levels benefits our physical health, but also our mental health.
2. Aromatherapy
Certain natural scents are known to calm the brain and induce feelings of relaxation. Smells like lavender and peppermint help us to breathe deeply, which in turn slows our heart rate when we’re anxious. Aromatherapy is believed to activate certain regions of the brain, as our olfactory bulb transmits messages to the limbic system in the brain. It triggers areas to do with memory and emotion, therefore exerting an effect on our nervous system. It’s also true that certain smells remind us of good times/places, triggering calming memories. If so, using these scents could be helpful in lowering our feelings of anxiety and taking our minds somewhere else.
3. Question your thoughts
When our thoughts are negative or anxious, it can be really hard to stop them. Often though, our anxious brain generates illogical thoughts that can worry us unnecessarily. So questioning our thoughts and countering our anxious statements can change our interpretation of the situation. E.g. ask: ‘is what I’m thinking really true?’ After breaking the anxious thought pattern, we may realise things weren’t as bad as our brain made out. Speaking with others about our anxieties is also important. They can help question our thoughts because they’re looking at them from a non-anxious brain’s point of view.
Writing our anxious thoughts down can also help us to change them. After writing down the anxious thought(s) and re-reading them, try to change the thought. Write a counter-statement. E.g. the negative could be: “ I didn’t get enough done today because I woke up late, I’m such a failure.’ So the counter-thought could be: “I let my body rest this morning, and even still I got the important things done today. The rest isn’t urgent, I can do them another day.”
5. Make an anxiety kit
Anxiety kits can be a box or bag filled with little things that can help lower your anxiety and refocus your mind. E.g. your box might have an essential oil that calms you, a photograph of a happy memory, notes from loved ones etc. Some people even include things to hold like smooth stones or pebbles. Creating a playlist of songs that calm you or make you feel good is also helpful. Essentially, anything that distracts the senses and takes your mind away from your anxious thoughts could be included in your kit.
There are many more than these top 5 anxiety tips that are beneficial for anyone who suffers from it. Things such as deep breathing, meditation, and exercise are also very important. Incorporating a massage, such as shiatsu massage, can really help to induce tranquility and lower stress. Read our article 6 things to help with anxiety to learn some simpler anxiety tips.
