Self-Help Tips for Dealing with Anxiety

Self-Help Tips for Dealing with Anxiety

Everybody experiences anxiety from time to time in their life. Right now with the COVID 19, many of you are experiencing anxiety for the first time.  You can’t always just breathe through an anxiety attack either. Anxiety attacks people in different ways. Some have trouble breathing, their heart races, with flushed skin and chest pain. If you have frequent anxiety attacks, try these self-help tips for dealing with them.

1. Exaggerate your biggest fear - Talk to a friend about your biggest fear, whether it be giving a presentation to your class or riding a roller coaster, or COVID 19. Make it as dramatic as possible with lots of descriptive words and plenty of your raw emotions. Then when it comes time for you to do that thing that scares you, it won’t be as horrifying because you’ve already ruled out all the possible horrible things that can happen to you. After talking to your friend about this a couple times, your stories and exaggerations will start to become very silly and something you can laugh about together.

2. Distract yourself - In your scary situation, just don’t think about where you are or what you’re doing. Seems easier said than done, but with practice it’ll almost be like you aren’t even in the situation that causes your anxiety.  Get out your Bible and ask the Lord to lead you to some verses that you can reach discernment.  Perhaps you like to color...a journal Bible is a perfect place to color and study scripture. If you like to read you could join our private Christian Book Club at:  https://facebook.com/groups/fortheloveofgodbibles/

3. Exercise - Stress and anxiety both release the same hormone: adrenaline. When you exercise, you are releasing this hormone, making your anxiety levels go down.  Right now we are learning to Flag Worship in our Temple Toners group.  We are learning one step at a time and just praising the Lord along the way.  Maybe you could find something on Youtube, take a walk or join us at:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/templetoners/

4. Do not consume too much caffeine or alcohol. Both are stimulants and will only make your anxiety worse. Instead, turn to drinks like milk and water. Some general foods that are good to bring down your anxiety levels include nuts, berries, yogurts, legumes, and dark orange vegetables.  My favorite is to alway go to the nuts and fruits, but being a Vegan...I love my bean too!

5. Pray & Meditate - Calm yourself down and simply focus on your breathing; nothing else. Tune out everything going on around you and count each breath you take.  Become silent, get on knees and bow to the Lord in prayer and worship.  Let Him take away your worries.  I try to start every morning by telling the Lord hello and thanking Him for another day, I then ask for forgiveness of my sins and ask that anything that lies in the way of our communication to be broken.  I also ask for discernment in what He would have me do this day.  This way I have made the path clear so I may hear Him and focus on Him throughout the day instead of my troubles.

6. Break down the days into minutes. Instead of stressing yourself out about what you’re going to do in the next three hours, focus on the seconds and minutes you are living in right now. This will help to eliminate some worries and anxiety you may have for a certain part of your day.  Remember we are never promised tomorrow so just focus on the now and what God would want you to do.  Only God knows tomorrow so there is nothing to get anxious about...our future was predetermined before we were ever conceived in our mother's womb the Bible tells us.

7. Use visual anchors. If you feel yourself getting anxious, find something that brings a sense of calm to you and just focus on it. For example, if you find yourself stuck in traffic, you can look up at the clouds to help you feel calm.  I love having a great inspirational CD to listen to in traffic or long drives, I do love Elevation Worship for my music.  What can you think of that would help you in these situations?

8. Repeat a Scripture. Simply repeat over and over in your head a verse that brings calmness and peace within yourself. A sample verse would be, "The Lord is my light and my salvation-so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?" - Psalm 27:1 Building yourself up is often a technique people use to relieve some of their anxiety.

9. Write a love letter to yourself. This is just like what you’d do if you were repeating a chorus. Write down on a piece of paper all of the things you love about yourself. Then when you’re having an anxiety attack, read the letter. This, once again, will help relieve some anxiety.  Remember self-care is so important especially if others rely upon your strength so make sure to take care of yourself.  I have a gift for you that should help you in achieving self-care get it here: Click here for your free kit

You aren’t alone in this world. Millions of people suffer from anxiety. These tips given may not all work for you and that’s okay. There are other tips out there for you to try, as well as doctors and other professionals to talk to.

I have created a open go-to-meeting conference video call every Wednesday at 10 am MST.  Everyone is free to join us.  We pray and then fellowship by virtual song, praise, worship and conversations about current events.  If you would like to join us please meet us over in our private Facebook group for all the info and a whole lot of fellowship together at:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/youministries/

I would love for you to follow me, share my posts and leave a comment or question...it would mean the world to me!  God bless you friends!

If you have missed the other blogs in this series here are the links:

Choosing Support Group: 

 https://www.youministries.com/blog/choosingasupportgroup

Self-Help Resources:

 https://www.youministries.com/blog/onlineselfhelpresources