7 Simple Tips to Ease Anxiety
Anxiety isn't something that disappears right away. It's something that requires gradual changes – changes that take time to work effectively. But anxiety is something you need to treat. Every day you live with anxiety is a day that you spend without as much happiness and contentment as you deserve.
Addressing anxiety requires long term changes, and a comprehensive treatment plan is preferable. But there are simple ways to at least ease anxiety until ultimately you're ready to commit to something better. In this article, we'll list seven simple and easy ways to ease anxiety so at least you can find some relief from your anxiety symptoms.
Don't Just Relieve Anxiety – CURE It
Yes, you can reduce anxiety in small doses. But anxiety needs a complete cure. I've developed one that works based off your anxiety symptoms. Take my free anxiety test and see tailored results specifically designed to cure your anxiety forever.
Easing vs. Curing Anxiety
It's important to note the difference between easing anxiety and curing anxiety. Easing anxiety is when you use tools and strategies to simply reduce the amount of anxiety you experience every day. Curing anxiety is when you not only reduce your overall anxiety – you prevent it from coming back.
Curing anxiety requires an understanding of what types of anxiety you're experiencing, your symptoms, and so on. That's why you need to take my free anxiety test now to get started.
But perhaps you're not ready to commit to a permanent treatment. There are still ways you can manage your anxiety every day. The following are the most common and simplest anxiety reduction strategies to implement into your daily routine.
- Exercise Regularly – Time and time again, the value of exercise on mental health is forgotten. Every single person with anxiety needs to exercise more. Movement and activity promote blood flow, improve neurotransmitter production and regulation, calm anxiety symptoms and much more. It can be as powerful as any medication, and while it's not a permanent cure on its own, you'll experience considerable relief if you exercise every day.
- Learn Relaxation Techniques – There are many relaxation strategies that are also effective at reducing stress. Most people are aware of these strategies but find them unfulfilling and stop using them. But the reality is that relaxation strategies do not work right away. They only work when you have completed them enough that they become boring and second nature. In the beginning, when you just start out, you're thinking too much about everything you need to do, and your anxiety will stay the same. Only after you've practiced them a lot will you get the relief you need. Examples of these strategies include:
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- Sleep – If you're someone that skips sleep, then you're someone that increases their anxiety symptoms. Sleep is designed specifically to help control stress – both physical and mental – so if you're not sleeping, get to bed earlier. Sleep is absolutely necessary for those with anxiety, and something you should never skip on purpose.
- Systematic Desensitization – You can also work on desensitizing yourself to your fears and worries. For example, if you have a fear of being embarrassed, go out in public dressed as something ridiculous and make weird noises. Feel embarrassed on purpose. Eventually you'll get used to the feeling of embarrassment and it won't be as stressful. You can do this for all sorts of fears and anxieties. You can even do this for many of the symptoms and triggers of panic attacks.
- Turn Things Fun – Life isn't something that should be taken too seriously. So any opportunity you have to turn something more fun you should take. For example, if your work causes you anxiety, try to find ways to make work fun, like inventing little games for yourself that you can do without impacting your work ability. Be responsible, of course, but also don't let places or people that cause you stress be something that you fear. Instead, let it be something you try to change.
- Find Healthy Distractions – Distractions are a great tool for controlling anxiety. Healthy distractions – like listening to upbeat music, watching funny shows on TV, playing baseball with friends – are all great ways to avoid anxiety. Anxiety tends to control your thoughts. Spend less time sitting back and thinking and spend more time making it hard on yourself to worry, because you're too busy doing other things.
- Create Art – Art is also a powerful tool for reducing anxiety. Art allows you to express yourself in ways that are therapeutic, while also giving you an activity to do that serves as a great distraction from your mind. Also, once you complete an art piece, you'll get the joy of accomplishment. While it may seem silly, accomplishment can be a powerful anxiety reduction tool.
It's absolutely possible to ease your anxiety, and someday you'll be able to cure it forever. Until then, the above coping tools should help you decrease the degree to which anxiety affects you, and hopefully make your life more manageable. The more manageable your anxiety is, the easier it is to cure in the future.
Finally, when you're ready to commit to a longer term treatment, there are plenty of options. Cognitive behavioral therapy is very effective, as is exposure therapy for panic symptoms.
I've helped many people cure their anxiety in the past as well. It starts by looking at your symptoms, so if you haven't yet, click here to take my anxiety test.