Mental Health

Five Ways to Manage Anxiety

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Aug 04, 2014 02:07 PM EDT

Feeling anxious is a normal part of life. For example, people might start feeling butterflies the day or the hours before a presentation. For the majority of people, the anxiety will diminish once they start the presentation. For other people, however, the anxiety can worsen, causing people to have panic attacks. In order to avoid these attacks, here are five tips.

1. Sleep

Sleep is a vital part of life. However, oftentimes, people do not get enough of it. In order to better manage anxiety, people should strive to get a full night's rest everyday. Good sleep can make people feel calmer and less stressed. Overall, it could give people the control they need to get through anxious events.

2. Exercise

Another way to calm the body and de-stress is to exercise everyday. Exercising does not have to always be rigorous and intense. People can incorporate a few sessions of yoga per week. Yoga can help with anxiety because the practice focuses on relaxing the body and mind. More intense workouts can also help because these workouts burn more energy, which can help reduce stress levels.

3. Meditate and Breathe

Meditation is a great way to deal with anxiety. During meditation, people are taught to clear the mind of all thoughts and focus on nothing in particular. People who meditate also calm themselves by using breathing techniques, which helps with circulating oxygen more efficiently throughout the body. When practiced, meditation can help people focus less on their anxious thoughts.

4. Talk to others

One of the best ways to find relief from one's thoughts is to talk to others. Sharing one's concerns and receiving help can be highly beneficial for people suffering from anxiety. People can seek out support groups, coaches, or a close family member or friend who might share similar problems with anxiety. If sharing is difficult for people, writing down thoughts and emotions can help too.

5. Love Yourself

People must remember to be kind to and patient with themselves. People who are always frustrated with themselves can feel extra stress during important tasks. The added frustration in combination with feelings of anxiety can exacerbate the situation. In order to prevent anxiety from taking over, people must be more compassionate to themselves.

These are just five ways to help reduce anxiety, which can be a highly debilitating problem for people who cannot manage it.

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