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7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

Plaid Coat (old), similar here and here | Everlane Recashmere Sweater | Madewell Skinny Jeans |Boots | Monogram Necklace | Rancher Hat

How are you doing? How’s your anxiety? It’s been awhile since I shared how I cope with things and one thing (that I think) is pretty obvious that I have been learning to manage a bit better is dealing with uncertainty. I still find it hard to believe that we are going through a world pandemic. That kind of stuff only happens in movies. My health will forever be in question. Every symptom could be a sign that my cancer has become terminal and then you add coronavirus to the mix, and it is just chaos with my mind. So let me tell you, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We are all in this together. Maybe for some of you this is the first time you have ever dealt with uncertainty. I totally get it and without a doubt it is scary.

I’m not perfect but these 7 ways to cope with anxiety have helped me. By no means am I healthcare professional or licensed healthcare professional. But I hope I can help you all in some way.

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

Practice Deep Belly Breathing

Take a deep breath. But not just any type of deep breath, deep belly breathing helps slow down blood flow and brings you back to a relaxed state of mind and releases the tension.

  1. Sit Upright
  2. Close your eyes.
  3. Take a deep breath through your nose and simultaneously suck the air in from your belly. Pull in the air as much as you can. You’ll feel your belly go in.
  4. Slowly exhale through your mouth and simultaneously push all the air out through your belly. You’ll feel your belly slowly go out.
  5. Repeat Steps 1 – 4 three to 10 times.

How do you feel?

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

Exercise Regularly

It has been a known fact that exercising has many benefits to the body physically and mentally. You don’t need to be a workout warrior. You just have to make sure you keep your body moving. Especially since most of us are working from home, it is so easy to have the lack of movement. Exercising gives you more energy and helps cope with stress. Either go for a walk, do some at home workouts, yoga, or maybe even dance!

Talk It Out

Whatever is on your mind let it out. Sometimes just talking out loud helps me feel like I have a sense of control and I figure out how to manage my stress and anxiety. If you want to talk to someone who is unbiased, I’m all for therapy! I go to a psycho-oncologist. They’re basically a psychologist that specializes with cancer patients and they understand the medical aspect (they’re well informed about cancer treatments and its side effects) as well as helping me navigate psychologically.

To find a therapist, I highly recommend checking with your healthcare provider. They will be able to assist with finding the right one. My psycho-oncologist was recommended by my oncologist.  Let me tell you, therapy has been a game changer for me.

7 Ways To Cope With Anxiety

Take Time Out

This time is for you and for you only. Do what you want to do. Either you work on a hobby or need complete silence for a moment. I struggled with this at first. I told my therapist that I just don’t have the time. So she told me I need to take deliberate steps to have the time out. Either set aside one day (or evening) a week for this time and put it on the calendar.

Meditate

Meditating doesn’t mean you shut everything off. It’s all about just letting your mind go with the flow. I’ll admit I still need to do a better job incorporating meditation into my life, but whenever I do, I feel better. I love using the Headspace app. You can meditate for as little as 3 minutes and it can be effective.

Everlane ReCashmere

Acceptance

Most people think that when we have anxiety that the goal is to get rid of it. But what gave me clarity and peace of mind is knowing that anxiety is part of life. Anxiety can be good because it can help us be more aware and be more productive. So really it is all about managing the anxiety so it doesn’t take over your life. It is totally okay to be scared. It is okay to feel stressed and anxious. Focus on what you can do. For instance, this whole COVID19 pandemic is very scary. So I do what I can control and that is social distancing, wash my hands, and follow the rules shared by the CDC.

Get Good Sleep

Not only will you feel well rested and recharged, but when we sleep the body does a lot to be healthy. When we sleep the body flushes out toxins, takes in and processes information from that day, and balances out hormones.

Again, I’m not a healthcare professional but these are ways that continue to help me cope with anxiety. I still have high anxiety, but like I said it is all about managing it.

Plaid Coat

OUTFIT DETAILS

Plaid Coat (old), similar here and here | Everlane Recashmere Sweater | Madewell Skinny Jeans |Boots | Monogram Necklace | Rancher Hat

xo RD

 

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Comments

  1. Didier says

    Thanks for sharing babe! I think that I am speaking for a lot of people right now but the anxiety level is quite high. It comes in waves for me throughout the day but mostly I’ve been trying to avoid reading too much about the virus so I can keep my mind at ease.

    -Didier
    http://www.didieryhc.com

    Reply

  4. Lee says

    Such great tips; I hadn’t thought of the idea of acceptance before and it totally makes sense. Im going to work on that more as I move through periods of anxiety with all this COVID stress and uncertainty.

    Reply

  8. Rachel says

    First of all — I love this outfit!

    I have been so anxious lately, especially as I navigate work from home and not having the same schedule that I’ve been used to for the last three years. I’ve mostly been able to keep it at bay but finally hit a breaking point last week and cried it out for HOURS. Love the breathing technique you shared – I need to do this more often!

    Rachel
    http://www.hello-her.com

    Reply

  10. lexie says

    I love your coat, it’s so cute! These tips are super helpful, I think it’s so important to remember to breathe. Where I am in the UK, we’re allowed to leave the house once a day for exercise so running has become a sort of therapy to me right now (who would have thought!) Stay safe and well xo
    http://www.lexiealexandra.com

    Reply

  15. Margot says

    Amazing post here !
    I always struggled with my anxiety so your article is really welcome for me.
    And I love when you say it’s also important to accept with anxiety. I think it usually helps me to accept I’m scared of something and to imagine the worst so then I can see the positive in a situation.
    Thanks you so much for sharing all your tips to help you deal with anxiety.
    Stay safe !
    xx
    Margot
    https://troughthepasturesofthesky.com

    Reply

  18. Stephanie says

    These are excellent tips for managing your anxiety. Anxiety is a really challenging thing to work through, and for some people, it will never “go away.” But it’s super helpful to have practices in place for when things are especially rough and you need a way to combat the emotions in the moment. Deep breathing is one of my go-tos, so I’m glad you shared that!

    Reply

  19. Mollie says

    Thank you for writing such a helpful post! I’m currently recovering from Covid and the process is a long one. It’s been over 2 weeks since my first symptoms showed and I still have no taste or smell – I have a lot of anxiety about not being able to regain those back and that the nerve damage done is permanent. I’m doing my best to focus on other things, and I’ve definitely been getting good sleep. I don’t think I’ve set an alarm for 3 weeks now, so crazy! Hope you’re staying safe x

    xx Mollie

    Reply

  23. Natalia says

    Thank you for sharing! I have been struggling with anxiety these past few weeks, but not because of covid19. I don’t cope well with isolation and normally what calms me down is counting down the days. This time, there is no end date, and in my country there are not even real measures to stop the spread, so it will take a while. I will definitely try out your tips. Hope you stay safe!

    Lindifique

    Reply

    • [email protected] says

      I’m so sorry you are going through this. Please know that you are not alone. Anxiety is not something that goes away and it helped me to know that it is something I cope with. Hope I am able to help!

      Reply

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