On paper, anxiety is nothing but a feeling of worry mixed in with nervousness and unease, usually about an upcoming something or other that has an uncertain outcome attached to it. In reality, your heart pounds like the pistons on a train, your palms sweat, your forehead turns dank and glimmer, and your brain becomes shrouded in fog, like clouds gathering around a mountain peak.
Anxiety can build too, based on fears that aren’t real or dangers that aren’t there, and that is a horrible thing to have to live with, especially when it is the little things that can tip us over the edge. 10 missed calls, an overloaded email inbox, getting flustered because you can’t find the car keys or your travel card needs topping up; all of these can trigger a meltdown.
Luckily, there are some little things we can do to help prevent this kind of anxiety from creeping into our day-to-day lives. All it takes is a few changes, a few little changes, these little changes:
Sleep Like A Baby
We’re not sure where that phrase comes from because a lot of the best parenting blogs, the truthful ones, often talk about how their babies don’t sleep through. The point is, inconsistent sleep harms our physical, mental and emotional well-being. That’s why it is so important to sleep well. Which can be done by going to be a little earlier than normal, and not setting your alarm on weekends no matter how busy your schedule is. You deserve good slumber.
Eat Like A Queen
When we suffer an episode of anxiety or appetites tend to change a bit; we either stop eating or we crave junk food. That’s why eating right is so important. Vitamin B’s and Omega 3s, that is what is suggested. But anything that you know to be healthy will do the trick. It could be a full on meal for a dinner party with fish, brown rice and broccoli, but it could equally be snacking on a bowl of fruit; blueberries, strawberries, banana, apple; anything and everything. These have been proved to have a positive impact.
Excellent Endorphins
When stress builds up it is important to find ways to quickly release this stress, much like opening a valve, and that is where endorphins come in. These are chemicals in the brain that help us find happiness, that encourage creativity and clearer thinking, and the easiest way to release them is through healthy activities. This could be stretching in the morning, going for a light jog or doing some yoga. But it could equally be catching up with friends over a coffee. These things are all known to release endorphins, and you will feel much better for doing so.
Visualize The Future
One of our favorite tricks when quashing anxiety is to create a vision board. We’ve already established that anxiety is worrying about something that has an uncertain future. Unfortunately, that kind of sums up life, which is where a vision board comes in. Have somewhere that you can set concrete goals you have set yourself, somewhere that breaks down the noise in your head and gives you something to revert back to, something that will help you stay the course. It could be an actual pin board, or it could be a Pinterest board. Whatever it is, have somewhere that makes sense of your thoughts.