/ Newsletter / By

NEWSLETTER #1

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ANXIETY

Understanding anxiety…

People with these disorders have feelings of fear and uncertainty that interfere with everyday activities and last for 6 months or more. Anxiety disorders can also raise your risk for other medical problems such as heart disease, diabetes, substance abuse, and depression.

One of the most common types of anxiety disorder is social anxiety disorder, or social phobia. It affects both women and men equally. 

People with generalized anxiety disorder worry endlessly over everyday issues—like health, money, or family problems—even if they realize there’s little cause for concern. They startle easily, can’t relax, and can’t concentrate. They find it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep. They may get headaches, muscle aches, or unexplained pains. Symptoms often get worse during times of stress.

WARNING SIGNS

  • You start zoning out, even when you are not bored (this can be confusing and disorienting)
  • You notice yourself becoming impatient (especially with your loved ones)
  • You crave reassurance (to feel secure and confident)
  • You avoid making plans for the future (because you don’t know what your mental state will be like at the time)
  • You snap easily (even when the trigger is small and unimportant)
  • You leave events early (everything starts to feel overwhelming)
  • You are in ‘self-preserve mode.’ (you set up walls between you and others)
  • You experience dryness and tension in your mouth (tightness in your throat)
  • Your mind goes blank during a conversation (even when you have prepared ad nauseam)

MAKING ANXIETY WORST

  • Irregular sleep
  • Caffeine, Alcohol
  • Sugar & Processed foods
  • Messy living space
  • Skipping meals
  • Not enough exercise
  • Too much time online
  • Not enough fresh air
  • Not enough water
  • Watching the News

COPING WITH ANXIETY

  • Deep Breathing: Breathing calms your system, balances your body and thoughts
  • Name What You’re Feeling: When you label and express the feeling, it will often decrease
  • Physical Activity: This gives anxiety a healthy channel for release. 
  • Visualize Yourself as  Calm: Following Focusing on being calm helps change your state & give you an alternative to being anxious
  • Listen to your favourite music: Listening to music can quickly uplift or calm you.
  • Relax/drop shoulders: Shifting your body helps to physically reduce stress.
  • Write it Down: This removes critical thoughts from your head to paper.
  • Get some fresh air: Fresh air helps to lower anxiety and a scenery change often interrupts anxious thinking.
  • Eat well/stay hydrated: This gives your brain & body what it needs to function well.
  • Seek professional help

GROUNDING

Coping Strategy

Coping strategies to help reconnect you with the present and bring you out of an anxiety/panic attack, flashback, unwanted memory, distressing emotion, or dissociation.

They help separate you from the distress of your emotional state.

1. 5-4-3-2-1
 
  • Look around the room & name five things that you can see (make a mental note!)
  • Focus on four things that you can feel/touch (get up & touch!)
  • Name three things that you can hear (focus on the noise coming from outside of your room/house!)
  • Notice two things that you can smell around you (take a good whiff!)
  • Focus on one thing that you can taste (take a second & recognize what you taste!)
2. 4-7-8
 
  • Breathing in for 4 seconds
  • Holding the breath for 7 seconds
  • Exhaling for 8 seconds(make the whoosh! Sound)
  • You can do this as a part of your morning routine as well
3. Barefoot Walk
 
  • Release the blocked energy through thy feet
  • Focus on what your feet feel
  • Walk in-around your house or in a park
  • Early mornings are the best time to practice this
4. Emotional Freedom Technique(s)
 
  • Allow your eyes to close
  • Sequence starts at the eyebrows (tap with 2 fingers)
  • Then above your lip (tap with 2 fingers)
  • Move down to your chin (tap with 2 fingers)
  • Finally, your chest (tap with 2 fingers)
  • As you tap, say out loud or to yourself
  • “I AM SAFE IN MY BODY”
5. Stretch PSOAS Muscle
 
  • Lay down with your back flat on the floor/mat
  • Get into a hip bridge pose
  • Keep a block/bolster under the lower lumber region of your back
  • Open your arms wide
  • Keep breathing & lay in the position for a solid minute or 2

SEEK HELP, SEEK ANITYA | BOOK A SESSION NOW