5 Ways to Deal with Anxiety

Hey everyone.




When we are faced with life-altering decisions, we somehow end up getting nervous how the choices we are making are going to end up. How one simple event can totally change our lives. As the day passes by, you don't realize that you actually fall victim of your own thoughts... haunting you, and making you question all of the things you're doing.

I got drowned by these negative thoughts. It is so hard to get over that internal battle with your mind once you fall deep into it. There will be physical manifestations that will affect your daily life, not with just the way you act, but how you think and behave, as well. Anxiety is a tough enemy if you don't find the will within yourself to combat it.

With this blog post, I want to share how I tried to fight against this internal battle. It's not an easy road, and I still do get anxiety attacks still. But I always try to go back to the methods I'll list down below to calm myself and relieve myself from negative thoughts.

Disclaimer: I'm no expert on this matter. The list below is based on my own experience and readings.

1. Talk to someone

Find someone who you can freely talk to with no bias. Being able to talk freely about your feelings will relieve the burden that you're carrying. Anxiety can come about from thinking too much, and being able to voice out your thoughts is like letting it go from your mind. Rather than piling up these in your head, let it out by being able to discuss it to someone. Find that family member. Find that friend.

For me, it was talking to a friend that I started sorting out my feelings. It was liberating because she sat throughout the whole ordeal just listening to me talk about what was going on and what I was feeling. What really moved me was when she told me that it's okay to admit to myself that I don't feel okay. I was trying too hard to pretend that I was fine, but I really wasn't. With her telling me to be honest with myself actually helped me to understand myself better, and to be more patient with myself.

2. Journaling

If you feel vulnerable opening up yourself to other people, another way to relieve yourself from anxiety is to journal your thoughts out. Journaling is like a nonverbal way of expressing your mind, and you don't get to subject yourself from anyone's opinion but your own. A lot of people would suggest to write down the things that are building up in your mind. This way, you're letting out all unnecessary thoughts that are taking too much energy out of you.

In my case, I do my journaling at the end of the day. I like to write what happened and what I felt throughout the day. Sometimes, I do get upset and I write it out. Once I have journaled my feelings, I somehow freed myself of all the negativity that's eating up my thoughts. I am now more able to focus on other positive aspects of my life, which makes me feel less anxious.

3. Meditation

Those five or ten minutes of emptying your mind, not thinking about anything but your breathing is really healthy for your mental being. It helps you to be grounded and be reminded to be present. Anxiety can source from too much thinking about what happened in the past, or what lies in the future. Meditation helps you to think of where you are at the moment and be more mindful of the present.

I do meditation every morning. I think it's a good start of the day to have a clear mind. In the middle of the meditation, it's unavoidable that I get distracted. But when my thoughts are slowly drifting away, I am kept reminded to focus more on my breathing and my surroundings. It makes me feel more present and be appreciative of what life has to offer. Sometimes, I also meditate before I go to sleep. Anxiety can keep you up all night as thoughts pop out one after the other. If I find myself having difficulty to go to sleep, I try to focus on my breathing and I'm off to dreamland before I know it.

The app I use for meditation: Simple Habit

4. Find hobbies

If you just let yourself to be sucked in by anxiety, you find it more difficult to get away from it. You need to make the most of your time by being more productive or useful. One way to do that is to rekindle your old hobbies or even find a new one. Pick up that book or paint something out. Go out for a walk or play that musical instrument. There are so many things you can occupy yourself during your free time, rather than sitting there and allowing yourself to be consumed by negative thoughts. 

Also, find hobbies that are productive and meaningful. Though bingeing on TV shows/movies, or shopping can be fun, but these activities will just give you temporary happiness. Find something that will make you feel energized and excited.

5. Be grateful

When you just have so many negative thoughts, find time to be grateful. Being grateful helps you think that no matter how life is going badly, there will be always something that's going to be good. To be alive, to have your family and friends around you, to have that amazing meal, or to have that job... sometimes we really take all of these things for granted, but they are things to be really grateful for. Once you find that gratitude mindset embedded in you, you are more appreciative of what's going on in your life, rather than dwelling on the negative things.

I have this gratitude page in my journal that I write one thing to be grateful for that day. It may be for my family and friends, spending quality time with people, or even having a good meal. Once I reflect on what I am thankful for that day, it makes me realize that no matter how rough life is, there are still so many positives.

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These are just five ways I've done to help myself alleviate the feeling of anxiety. There are so many ways that can help you deal with it. Anxiety is not easy to deal with, but remember, that we are always much stronger than our thoughts. We can always beat it if we find the will within ourselves to get through it.

Did you ever feel that you have anxiety? How did you deal with it? Let me know your thoughts as I'd like to hear your ideas. 


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3 Comments

  1. I can relate to this so much as I had anxiety bad after I had both my littles. Just everything got to me so easily but I wrote a post about what to do as well with anxiety or depression and I find it very helpful to do these tips. Talk to someone doesn’t always have to be a specialist just as long as your telling someone how you feel so you don’t bottle it all up on your own. Journaling is one of my favorite things really I journal a lot and then some of them I turn into my blog posts. Such great advice. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. These are really good tips though I still need to open up more and talk about it out loud. I write a lot but sometimes it feels like it isn't enough.

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  3. These are great tips. I don't suffer from anxiety but have a couple of friends who do. Having a sense that they can do something about it using these kinds of ideas is very empowering. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

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