Combating Anxiety: 5 ways that worked for me.
Everyone is clearly aware of what anxiety feels like. You've probably experienced it at least once in your life. But for some people, this feeling is a common occurrence. It kind of feels like that moment when you're holding a Jenga block on the tip of your fingers, knowing that if you pull, the entire tower will collapse (the 'Oh shit' moment). Except for people who feel anxious often, this feeling is prolonged and creeps upon them out of the blue or is often triggered by something.
It's been almost a year since I've started paying attention to my anxiety and decoding my emotions, and the process still continues. I've learnt a few techniques that have helped me calm down and I thought it would be helpful to share them.
1. Focusing on the present moment.
So here's a technique I learnt from Vishen Lakhiani's book, 'The Code of the Extraordinary Mind'. His book, like the title so clearly mentions, is literally a guide to unlock your potential. In one of the chapters, he talks about coping with anxiety and negative thoughts. One useful technique that worked for me was 'focusing on the present moment'. When the negative thoughts begin to inundate, it's easy to get caught in an endless spiral for hours. And you end up worrying about things way into the future, they're probably never even going to happen but at that moment it feels like only the worst is going to happen.
In such a situation, you need to bring your mind back to the present moment. You can do this by engaging all your senses. Pick up the things around you— a leaf, pen, whatever—and start examining its textures. Try listing the things you can smell—food, perfume, coffee etc. Pay attention to the sounds around you. Can you hear birds or people? Describe what you can see around you in 5 sentences.
If it helps, ask yourself out loud- "What do I see? How does this smell? What does this feel like?"
2.Essential Oils
How would you describe what a spa smells like? I would say "relaxing". If you've ever been to a spa, you'd know that they use A LOT of essential oils to make the place smell spectacular. But there's also another reason behind the use of essential oils: aromatherapy.
Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils or aromatic plant extracts for healing purposes. There are nearly 100 types of essential oils with different healing properties and effects. They are used for reducing stress, relaxation, dealing with migraines, better sleep, soothing sore joints and more.
For me, lemongrass is the shit. It helps reduce migraines and anxiety and is generally calming. I usually apply it on my wrist and the fragrance just envelops the air around. I also made a lemongrass bath salt, which was quite helpful.
So you can explore essential oils and figure out which one works best for you and in what form, could be pot puri, candle, plain oil, diffuser, bath scrub etc.
3. Tapping pressure points
I learnt about this technique from a social media, mental health advocacy page. On doing further research, I came to know that this technique is actually called the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT tapping. It's an alternative anxiety treatment with both physical and cognitive elements. I'm not going to go into much detail, but in case you want to have a look, here's a link.
So in this technique, you have to tap certain pressure points on your body and you'll feel relieved immediately. The nine main EFT tapping points include:
Karate chop (side of the hand)
Eyebrow point (EB)
Side of eye (SE)
Under-eye (UE)
Under nose (UN)
Chin point (CP)
Collarbone point (CB)
Underarm (UA)
Top of the Head (TH)
You're supposed to tap each point 5-7 times and repeat until you feel slightly calmer. I'm just going to leave a youtube video link for proper directions on how to do this.
Personally, I don't really tap all the points. I feel like the collarbone point and head points are sufficient for calming me down (however, this is a personal preference... I suggest you try it and choose the points that work best for you).
4. Exercise
In one of my previous articles ('Anxiety and the Amygdala'), I talked about the science behind anxiety and what happens in the brain and body. The gist of it is that anxiety generates a "flight-or-fight", which leaves you with adrenaline coursing through your veins making you jittery and restless. The best way to combat this is to move your body. Do some jumping jacks, on-the-spot jogging, go for a run, do your workout for the day and break a sweat.
This one is my least favourite technique because I don't enjoy sweating (I sweat a lot), but every time I've tried it, it has worked. Just a little movement, even fast paced-walking, can reduce the amount of restlessness you feel.
5. The Worst-Case Scenario: Rationalizing
This is a method that I learnt from a book called 'Active Listening Techniques', by Nixaly Leonardo.
It is also something that a friend of mine helped me bring into practice (p.s. you can be that friend for someone too). This is essentially a method to help rationalize thoughts.
So when you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed with negative emotions, the first step is to identify what is causing this. Could be, "I'm worried that I won't be able to get into a good college".
Now think about why you're scared of this, what's the worst that could happen? Identify the "worst-case scenario". In this example, it could be: feeling worthless and dissatisfied, possibly disappointing your family, feeling useless or having lesser opportunities.
The next step is to live in that worst-case scenario. Really think about being in that situation and everything that comes along with it. In this case, maybe your friends will sympathise with you or taunt you, some "aunties" will pity you, your parents may not be happy with you for a while...
Don't dwell in the 'worst-case scenario' for too long. Keep going by asking yourself: "If this [worst-case scenario] does happen, what's next? How will I move on?" Repeat this question until you've answered it to a point where you realise that there is actually a solution to this scenario. In this example, it may be realising that you can take a gap year to prepare better and get into the college you desire or that you can find a workaround and do other online college courses while attending college. You may also realise that your family still loves you and supports you and that the "aunties" have no life and find joy in demeaning others.
So this was a long post. I've found these methods to be useful, but I still have a long way to go with combating my anxiety. If you read till the end and found it even slightly helpful, I am very glad and thank you for your attention. I hope you try these techniques and they work for you. Just make sure you're consistent because results may take a while. But don't give up :)
Bye!