Calming Your Mind: 7 Tips for Living with Generalized Anxiety

Calming Your Mind: 7 Tips for Living with Generalized Anxiety

When you are suffering from GAD, generalized anxiety disorder, you may think that you will never feel "normal" again. Or at least like your old self, before anxiety became your constant companion. But this is far from the truth. You may need to seek treatment at a reputable place like Honey Lake Clinic, but you will get better.

Calming Your Mind: 7 Tips for Living with Generalized Anxiety

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Managing your symptoms, and talking to a specialist, is the best way to start to feel better. Some individuals may need medication, but most people with GAD can live a productive and somewhat happy life with their disorder.

Here are 7 tips for living with generalized anxiety:

1. Talk with Someone

You may opt to see a therapist, or simply talk to a trusted friend, but you should share your struggles with someone. Opening up to another person allows you to first get your feelings out in the open, and second, to give someone else permission to share their own struggles.

When you talk with someone, and they share their own issues, you know you are not alone with your disorder. Finding a group of people with similar issues is ideal. With each individual taking a turn sharing their thoughts, fears, and triumphs, you will experience calm in knowing others are in the same situation. Groups are typically moderated by a qualified therapist to ensure the order and safety of everyone who attends. 

2. Get Involved in The Community

Sometimes general anxiety can lead us to feel isolated and alone. However, there are many places within your community that could use a helping hand. Food pantries, animal shelters, homeless shelters, and so many others can always use another volunteer.

When you join in a community effort to help others, you begin to realize you are in a better place than your anxiety will have you believe. Helping others gives us a sense of purpose and a calmness that will help to push your anxiety to the back of your mind or maybe out of sight altogether.

3. Breathe More

This may sound impossible, but taking more, deeper and longer breaths will help push your anxiety from your body. Concentrating on your breathing takes awareness and practice, which leaves no room for your anxiety.

Another benefit of deep, purposeful breathing is to ground yourself in reality. This will tell your anxious mind that you are right where you are supposed to be, you are safe and you are in control. It may take more than a few times to convince yourself that you are safe, but the practice is what makes this exercise so good for anxiety. 

4. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is like meditation or prayer. You are slowing down and putting your mind on what is in front of you, not what could be happening. In other words, you are putting your worries aside and focusing your mind on something important.

Mindfulness can be as simple as noticing the ground below your feet and telling yourself you are grounded. More complex mindfulness includes clearing your mind and concentrating on one simple thing. This could be with your breathing or a single sound that you hear around you. But the idea behind mindfulness is to bring your mind to the present and not think or worry about the future or relive the past.

5. Exercise Acceptance

General anxiety is a combination of family history, neurobiology, genetics, and your own life history. Accepting these conditions as the facts can help ease your anxiety. Telling yourself that you cannot help the anxiety from forming in the first place can be helpful.

You can concentrate on fixing or working around your anxiety, but trying to ignore it or becoming angry at anxiety will not be helpful. Like with other disrupting conditions, you may need to ask, "why are you here" and simply listen for an answer. You may be surprised at what anxiety has to say. Then begin to work with your anxiety to become a better, calmer person.

6. EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques

Emotional Freedom Technique includes tapping, which is basically acupuncture without the needles. This is something you can do yourself and once you have become practiced at it, you will find it easier and more effective for helping keep anxiety at bay.

Holding your anxiety, stress, and tension in your body is the reason, tapping is effective, but you can't simply tap anywhere on your body. There are several areas of the face and hands that this technique can be effective in relieving general anxiety. Using a gentle tap with two fingers is the most common method. 

Between the eyes, beneath the nose, the side of your temple and several places on the hand and under your arm are great for tapping. The motion is gentle and not at all hard. It is also another way to ground yourself in reality, which is a way to get anxiety to leave you alone.

7. Conative Behavior Therapy or CBT

This is a type of therapy that is based on the fact that your thoughts and feelings are what is causing your anxiety, not outside influences. No one or situation can cause you anxiety, it is all from what and how you think. Further, this is a combination of your core values about the world and what you were taught growing up.

This type of therapy will help those suffering from anxiety as it helps individuals to rethink what they are telling themselves. The therapy allows a person to readjust their thinking on many different items that may be bothering them. Then they are able to respond to anxiety better and feel more "even" and "normal" in their everyday life. 

If you suffer from general anxiety, know that you are not alone. And that this feeling is temporary, that you can work with your anxiety and become the person you want to be. With practice and a lot of patience with yourself, you can overcome this disorder.