4 Powerful Strategies To Stop Anxiety In Its Tracks, Fast
Don't let anxiety stop you!
getty Are you experiencing anxious thoughts? Feel like you can’t overcome anxiety? Is your sleep interrupted or are you having trouble falling asleep?
Are you stressed, nervous, or upset during the day, or just generally feel tense for no discernible reason?
If you're experiencing anxiety, you are not alone.
There are ways to calm down anxiety that you can use whenever you're feeling anxious or overwhelmed.
Here are 4 powerful strategies to stop anxiety in its tracks quickly.
1. Experience your emotions.
Sometimes when you experience anxiety, you're actually suppressing stress and emotions repeatedly throughout your days. Eventually these emotions “come out” as anxiety.
If others see you as a calm person, you may be engaging in this behavior. Internalizing your stress instead of noticing it, experiencing it, and letting it go increases your anxiety over time.
Be patient, this behavior pattern may be so automatic that you're not sure how to behave differently.
Just to clarify that in order to beat anxiety, I'm not advocating that you lash out or express your stress and anxiety in unhealthy ways. Instead, I want you to notice it's happening and pause.
If you can notice the moments where you feel stressed, ask yourself why you're stressed. Ask yourself if what you're worried about is actually happening at that moment, and feel your body. Then, you can prevent the emotional buildup.
Use slow breaths to bring calm.
2. Relax your expectations.
Most of your disappointment and anxiety comes from a feeling of lack of control. If you feel like you don’t have control over your situation, then it may cause anxiety.
The reality: You can’t control others or the outcome of a situation, you can only control your response. So, your expectations of what the results of your efforts need to be are creating the anxiety.
What if you set goals and took action while surrendering the results to a higher power? What if you were able to trust that the outcome will be for the best good of all involved, as long as you have done your part?
How would the release of the expectations that you will control the results change your anxiety levels?
When you feel anxious, check if you have done everything you can in your power and then release the outcome to your higher power.
3. Practice gratitude.
When you focus on what you're grateful for in your life, it's harder to be in an anxious state. Think about it: When you were anxious, were you able to be grateful at the same time?
The next time you begin to worry, notice the worry and acknowledge that there's a possibility that what you are worried about might happen, but it isn’t happening now.
Then shift into gratitude for what you do have, what is working in your life, and what you can control. Remember if you worry that you can't beat anxiety, that is exactly what will happen.
For instance, if you're worried about getting sick, then focus on the fact that you're healthy right now, that you have enough food, a place to live, and that you have people who you love and who love you, too.
If being grateful is not how you usually function, you're not alone. Your brain is wired to focus on what is “wrong” or not working. You have to train your brain to refocus on what is working.
Besides shifting your focus in the moment of worry, there are many ways to practice gratitude on a regular basis to start the process of rewiring your brain.
You can keep a running list of all that you are grateful for and revisit it daily, and you will see how the list grows. Another option is to participate in a traditional gratitude practice by writing three things you are grateful for every day.
Whatever gratitude strategy you choose, pick one and stick to it for 30 days.
4. Celebrate the good things.
Do you forget to celebrate your accomplishments? Or simply forget to celebrate life? Are you a person who completes a task and then moves onto the next thing?
If you answer yes to any of these questions, it's time to pause and take a moment and celebrate.
People usually have a hard time figuring out how to celebrate. You may tend to take life more seriously, so celebrating doesn’t come naturally or easily.
Is life serious all the time? Can you take time to really notice and experience joy?
If you just keep moving, how can you truly savor and experience life? Take a pause and celebrate you and your loved ones.
Some strategies to celebrate:
- A dance break
- Coloring
- A celebration pose
- Letting a friend know what you've done
- Taking a moment to be grateful
- Put aside some money toward something you want to purchase
Whatever you choose, make sure you have fun doing it.
Anxiety can feel like it overwhelms your system and throws you out of control. It can feel like you just can't beat anxiety.
Try these strategies to help support you through your anxious moments. If you have severe anxiety, don't be afraid to seek professional help, either.
Kavita Melwani a certified empowerment coach, hypnotherapist, past-life regressionist, certified money marketing and soul coach, and a Reiki master. To schedule a clarity session, visit her website.