Overcome Anxiety: Effective Tools and Tips on SelfRise

Anxiety can be a challenging obstacle to overcome, but with the right tools and strategies, it is possible to manage and lessen its impact on our daily lives. At SelfRise, we understand the importance of providing effective resources to help individuals navigate through their journey of self-improvement and mental health.

There are multiple existing strategies for coping with anxiety that have greatly supported those suffering. A strategy that has proved effective is constantly questioning your thought pattern and ensuring that your fears are actually true. Anxious thoughts are often created when you overthink situations and arrive at an exaggerated outcome which you wholeheartedly believe will happen. This is often called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT, which involves replacing negative thought patterns with more balanced perspectives. Anxiety is caused by worrying about future events, rather than thinking about the present moment. Practicing mindfulness with meditation will reduce those worries and support you in overcoming anxiety. Physical methods such as progressive mindfulness relaxation and deep breathing are also extremely effective at reducing anxiety. This is because it helps to process one thing at a time rather than everything moving too fast and feeling out of control. Progressive muscle relaxation is the process of gradually tensing and then relaxing each muscle in your body. You can start from the toes and slowly work your way up to the head. This technique is best used while lying down in bed at night. The strategy that has become the most popular among individuals struggling with anxiety is breathing techniques. You can try breathing in for 4 measures and breathing out for 4 measures. However, there are some important points that you have to remember in order for this technique to work. When you take too many deep breaths, it can cause you to hyperventilate which then decreases the amount of oxygen-rich blood flowing to your brain. Instead, trying a thorough exhale before deeply inhaling and spending more time exhaling than inhaling is very effective. Another strategy is the 3-3-3 rule for anxiety which functions as a super simple technique that can help to calm your mind. It requires you to identify 3 things you see, 3 things you hear, and 3 ways you can move your body. When you identify 3 things that you see, take a moment to really observe these objects, noting, the details, colours, and shapes. Remember to listen closely to sounds that you hear as they can be as loud as a blaring siren or as subtle as an air conditioner. Moving your body could be as simple as rolling your shoulders or wiggling your toes. It works by redirecting your focus away from anxious thoughts.