Dealing with Anxiety, part 10 of 11

Dr. John Delony regularly offers massive amounts of solid advice. Let’s spend some quality time with him and his thoughts on Anxiety, which is so prevalent —

Anxiety is real. It’s powerful. Anxiety affects millions and millions of adults, teens and children in the United States alone, and it’s the most commonly diagnosed mental health challenge of our time.¹ It hijacks our thoughts, our guts and our heart rates. It can be crippling. But it’s not a death sentence (even though it feels like it sometimes). And here’s the truth: To start healing, you don’t just deal with the anxiety . . . You have to address the things causing anxiety in the first place—the situations, thoughts, schedules and choices throwing your wellness and world totally out of whack.

Think of anxiety like a smoke alarm. It goes off when it detects a “fire” in your life. The alarms sound when you feel like you’re in danger or have an unpleasant emotion. And before you know it, your body floods with muscle tension or panic or a racing heart or you overanalyze every single detail of your day.

But the good news?

You can quiet the alarms and put out the fires.

Here’s how to get started dealing with anxiety.

11 Ways to Deal With Anxiety

Dealing with anxiety and healing the chronic fight, flight or freeze response is a multilayered process. While it might take some intentional counseling and lifestyle changes to help calm these stress responses, there are ways you can quiet anxiety in the moment.

1. Stop being alone.

Stop isolating. Just stop. Loneliness is killing us. It’s more destructive than obesity or smoking. Reach out to a friend or family member you can connect with . . . today. Have lunch with a coworker. Go for a walk with a neighbor. Meet some friends for nachos. True human connection and peace only happen when you’re safe and when you can be honest with other people. I don’t care if you’re an introvert or extrovert or what your Enneagram number or Myers-Briggs type is. You cannot get through life alone. Go hang out with someone. If you need help with anxiety, there are people like friends and trusted therapistsready to walk alongside you. We can’t pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Believe me: I’m an introvert from Texas, and I’ve tried.

2. Take a deep breath and drop your shoulders.

When we get anxious, we hold our breath. Holding your breath cuts off oxygen to your brain. Breathing calms the body’s fight-or-flight response. Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose for four seconds. Pause and hold your breath for seven seconds. Then, slowly exhale through your mouth for eight seconds. Do this until you feel more calm.

3. Turn off the news.

If you’re trying to deal with anxiety, the answer is not to consume more information or look at yet another inspirational Instagram post. Shut off the TV. Log off social media. Turn off the true crime podcasts. Stop bingeing self-help books. Our minds are so attuned to messages from all types of media. You’ve got to recognize how much information is enough to stay updated and how much more will kick off a mental spiral of obsession and doom.

4. Write down your thoughts.

Get those looping, catastrophic thoughts out of your head and onto paper. Anxiety makes it easy to jump from a reasonable, healthy thought to a worst-case scenario death spiral. The way to end a spiral of overthinking and worrying is to release those thoughts from your brain. Seeing your thoughts and feelings on paper helps you search them for truth or exaggeration. For example, does forgetting your work assignment really mean you’re stupid and unlovable? Of course not. Write your thoughts, see them, and challenge the dramatic, critical voice inside your head.

5. Go outside.

Get out when it’s warm, cold, wet or dry. Get sunshine. Breathe fresh air. Watch clouds or count stars. Be cold. Or be hot. Walk barefoot in the grass. Hear the birds sing. You don’t need to move to a cabin in the woods to reap the benefits of nature and help get rid of anxiety. Walk around the block. Visit the garden center at Home Depot. Or spend an extra minute in the sun before you walk into the office. You can find a way.

6. Move your body.

The last thing I want to do when I’m stressed out is exercise. But it’s one of the most healing things you can do. Exercise is a powerful tool for reducing stress, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Moving your body could look like stretching before bed, lifting weights, walking the dog, or playing outside with your kid. Make it a goal to move your body every day—but also be sensitive to your body’s needs. For example, if you’re in a season of anxiety, your body probably doesn’t need the extra stress of training for a marathon. Doing yoga, lifting weights, or rucking might be better options.

7. Back off caffeine, alcohol and sugar.

Our bodies are extremely sensitive to chemicals. And when it takes six cups of coffee to wake up in the morning and three glasses of wine to take the edge off after work, your body will go haywire. Toss a bag of sour gummy candy in the mix to numb out after a tough conversation, and your strung-out nervous system is primed for panic. Ditching (or lowering) the caffeine, alcohol and sugar you eat and drink is one of the first ways to calm anxiety.

8. Rest.

Sleep is the most powerful tool we have to reset, heal and renew our bodies and minds. Be intentional about bedtime or naps. Leave your screens in another room, cut out the beer or glass of wine before bed, and try to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night (I hear ya, moms and dads of toddlers . . . hang in there). When you’re learning how to stop the anxiety alarms, create a bedtime routine to wind down—and stick to it.

9. Start a gratitude journal.

I know this can feel super cheesy and Pinterest-y. But focusing on people, things, and experiences you’re grateful for forces you out of obsessing over the past and future and brings your attention to the now. It also makes you stop staring into your navel and start looking into the eyes of someone who loves you or needs you. Gratitude improves happiness, health, optimism, mood, sleep and a sense of well-being. Start or end every day writing five different sentences that all begin with “I’m grateful for . . .”

10. Eat real food.

Please, treat your body well. Drink plenty of water and eat protein, healthy fats (like nuts and fish), and fruits and vegetables. You don’t have to blow your budget on organic or pasture-raised foods—just eating more whole foods will make a huge difference. And simple tweaks like having breakfast and eating every few hours will help keep your blood sugar stable and your energy and emotions from skyrocketing or crashing.