In today’s world you don’t have to look far to find reasons to worry. Just turn on the news, scroll your social media feed, or check your bank balance for a quick reminder that we live in strange, uncertain times.
Thankfully, though the world is full of reasons to worry, it also has its share of remedies. While CBT for anxiety is of course the most effective method of dealing with anxiety disorders, there are plenty of natural techniques and daily routines that can help you manage your worries and feel less overwhelmed by the state of society.
These methods are completely free and easy to implement, so pick a few and start worry-proofing your life.
Stay active
You might be sick of people telling you to do more exercise. Your health and weight might even be one of the chief sources of anxiety in your life. So rather than telling you to head to the gym or take up long distance running, let me suggest that spending time outside in nature could work wonders for your anxiety levels.
Being outside in the fresh air and taking in the sights and sounds of the natural world has a calming effect on our mood and stress levels. Combine this with some gentle exercise and you’ve got a powerful formula for relaxation.
Exercises like walking, running and cycling are all about simple, repetitive motions which can be very calming. You’ll find that it’s impossible to stress out over your to-do list when you’re fully absorbed in your movement and the green vistas around you, and you’ll emerge from each session refreshed, energised and proud of the effort you put in.
Exercise can also help improve your concentration, which is great if you tend to find yourself getting caught up in worrisome trains of thought when your mind wanders.
Stay Present
Most worries are centred on the future: things which might happen, upcoming stressful events and worst case scenarios many years down the line. Keeping your attention firmly rooted in the here and now gives your worries nothing to latch on to.
There’s a simple trick to this. When you notice that your thoughts are focussing on the future- unpaid bills, worries over your health or upcoming work deadlines- simply bring yourself back to the present.
Focus your attention on something around you- a simple task at work, or something in the environment around you such as the sounds and smells of nature you can perceive.
Each time your mind wanders, just rein it back in. Over time it will get easier. You’ll find that you spend less time following your chain of thought down a rabbit hole of increasingly catastrophic what-ifs, and you’ll probably be able to get more done too.
Declutter your life
Anxiety sometimes stems not from anything specific to worry about but rather from simply having too much going on in your mind. Like a computer with too many browser tabs open, the mind starts to get a bit jittery if there’s too much to take in and process.
Often this happens when our senses are overloaded by stuff around us. If your house is a mess of clutter, unwashed dishes and half-finished projects, each one becomes something your brain identifies as needing your attention.
Spending a quick half hour doing a clear-out of your living room, work desk or any other area you spend a lot of time can help you stay focussed on getting things done and free up processing power in your mind.
Relax your body to relax your mind
Your mind and body are very closely linked. When one feels anxious and on edge, so will the others. This is why feeling anxious a lot of the time can lead to tension in your muscles, breathing in fast, shallow breaths and a racing heart.
The link between your physical and mental self also means that relaxing one will help to calm the other. It’s normally much easier to relax your body than your mind, so it’s useful to know what works for you for those moments you’re feeling on edge.
There are plenty of great strategies for physical relaxation: deep breathing, yoga or stretching, a warm bath or shower, a bit of aromatherapy using candles or incense, or just sitting in your favourite chair with a good old cup of tea.
Speaking of tea, some research suggests that chamomile is a great natural antidote to anxiety that can really help settle your nerves.
Psychologists also like to teach a technique called progressive muscle relaxation as part of most CBT anxiety courses, which helps you relax each part of your body in turn. Give it a look if you think it sounds useful.
Accept your limitations
Anxiety often springs from feeling like we need to be on top of absolutely everything. ‘I just need to tidy the house, make the kid’s lunches, prepare for tomorrow’s meeting and fix the leaky tap, and then I can relax’.
This is also why we find world events have such an impact on our mood: we see unjust or harmful things happening in the news and we feel like we should be able to fix them, but we can’t.
It isn’t easy, but the best way to overcome this kind of anxiety is to accept that we can’t fix or control everything, and instead focus on doing what we can.
In our day to day lives we might not be able to fully tick off our to-do list every night, but we can get one or two things done and make a plan for when we’ll get to the rest.
On a wider scale, an individual can’t end world hunger, stop ongoing conflicts or cure global pandemics, but they can donate to worthy causes and volunteer their time.
Choose to focus on the positive things you can accomplish, rather than the gap where unfinished work and impossible situations linger. Celebrate each little win and simply tell yourself ‘I can’t fix everything right now, and that’s ok.’ Letting go of this need for everything to be perfect in order to feel safe is a huge step forward.
If you’d like some more structured help with dealing with your anxiety, talk to one of our psychologists about the different kinds of treatment on offer.
