After my first blog post last week I had quite a few women reach out to me to tell me how they are struggling or have struggled with anxiety. First of all can I just say how beautifully brave you are to reach out and tell someone how you are feeling, you are not alone and your feelings are relevant.
Now I’m not a mental health professional but I am my own expert on dealing with my anxiety and thought it would be lovely to share with you a few tips on how I deal with anxiety and got mine under control.
When I was at my worse I could barely function, I just went through the motions. As a Mum and a wife I always put everyone else first and that brings me nicely to my first tip…
- Put yourself first. I’m not saying that you should forget all your responsibilities but just prioritize. For a little while its ok to do the minimum to free up time to look after yourself. Do whatever makes you feel good! I like to go for a really nice coffee or take a bath with a face mask. Really small things but the they have one thing in common, time and space just for you.
- Ask for and accept help. It is absolutely ok not to be ok!! talk to someone, anyone. Tell your loved ones you need help. Then accept it!!! let your Mum pick the kids up from school or your partner make the tea to allow you to do number one on the list and whatever you do DONT FEEL GUILTY!!!
- Exercise. For me its yoga (obviously). I’ve written about the whys previously so go and check out My Yoga Journey. Whether its walking the dog, going for a run or taking a HIIT class, whatever! Move, just move trust me you will feel like yourself again in those moments. I found a great website called Anxiety UK that has lots more info on this go and take a look.
- Meditate/Breathe. Take a moment each day to breathe. I take 10 minutes every morning to get up before the kids and just sit in peace and breathe. At first finding the motivation to do this was hard and to be honest sometimes it still is but I do it, I show up for myself each day. Find a quiet comfortable space sit down with a nice long spine and start to take long, deep inhales and even longer exhales, nice and slow. If you can close your eyes go ahead but if you are feeling particularly anxious maybe just keep your gaze soft instead. That’s it find that space for you in that moment. Eventually you will come to find your inner best friend, listen to that voice it loves you.
- Brain Dump. This doesn’t sound very glamorous does it! However this is one thing that helps me the most. Each morning after I meditate/breathe I write down whatever is on my mind, you know those little thoughts that pop up constantly reminding you to do stuff, go places, blah, blah, blah!! Those thoughts that continually keep popping up just feed the anxious mind. So I just write them down, usually just in list form eg, plan classes, washing, vets, ring the phone company! Honestly you’ll feel better for just doing that. I then sit quietly for a moment again and envision 3 small goals or intentions that I can actually make happen that day, 3 things that will make me happy. Then I write those down too. This sounds a lot but honest it doesn’t need to be a full on diary entry just scribble it down.
I really, really hope this helps you. It took me a long, long time to figure out what works for me and these are the ones that really stuck and have become a part of my everyday routine.
I’m no saint we all have good and bad days but I got through the worst days and so can you!!
The trick is to admit to yourself when you are feeling crap and know that its all temporary. implement things that work and be kind to yourself.
love,
Em xx
STUBBS YOGA & HOLISTICS 