Anxiety Management
What exactly do I mean when I say “anxiety”?
I’m referring to the clinical definition of having uncontrollable worries and fears that negatively impact your ability to think, sleep, interact with others, shop, have energy – basically live your life. Anxiety is a nasty monster that can strike at any time and for what feels like no reason at all. And, no one is to blame for having anxiety; however, it is our responsibility to do what we can to manage it effectively.
Lachlan Brown has a blog post on his Hack Spirit website that does a great job of explaining 10 different mindful practices anyone can do to help reduce your anxiety. These mindful activities are good for everyone and can lead to the eventual elimination of problematic anxiety. Here’s a few of his activities that I regularly promote in my clinical sessions.
1) Find goodness in every moment – even the ones you don’t like
That’s right; there is goodness in every moment. Sometimes we don’t like to admit it, but there is goodness all around us if we will stop and notice it, especially here on the coast!
2) Accept that you can’t do everything
It’s perfectly okay, and healthy, to not do everything! It’s not humanly possible for one person to do, know or be everything.
3) Stop trying to understand why people act the way they do
We trick ourselves into thinking that if we just understand a situation that we’ll be able to manage it better , so we analyze the event over and over in an attempt to understand. Unfortunately, understanding why something happened really doesn’t help us manage – there are lots of events that occur that none of us will ever be able to understand.
4) Do one thing at a time
Research is showing that humans really can only do one thing at a time if we want to do it well. (Personally, I take exception to this as I love to multi-task!) Trying to do too many things at once can end up causing anxiety, especially if you’re a perfectionist.
For Lachlan’s full article go to https://hackspirit.com/10-mindful-attitudes-rewire-brain-let-go-anxiety/?utm_source=Hack+Spirit+Email+List&utm_campaign=748f8992be-Never_marry_a_guy_who_has_these_7_habits11_13_2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54cfcfb98e-748f8992be-90362331