Five Tools to Help Your Anxiety

​Anxiety is something that nearly all of us experience at least once in life. Whether it's from a stressful job or an overwhelming social calendar, anxiety happens. While it's normal to have feelings of anxiety occasionally, chronic anxiety can take a toll on your health and your well-being.

There are lots of tools out there that are simple and effective that can help to ease the mental load that anxiety pushes onto you. Speaking of tools, we've put together a list of five of them that can help your anxiety in a healthy and sustainable way.

1. Breathing techniques. When you're anxious, your body goes into a fight or flight mode and your heart starts to race. Your breathing becomes shallow and when you're not breathing, you're not thinking. This is where your mind starts to spiral and you need to have a chance to sit down and do some intentional breathing for that to go away. It's a technique that can help you to reset your nervous system as long as you're breathing in deeply through your nose and then blowing it out through your mouth.
2. You can start a journal. If you're looking for clarity and you're looking to feel calm, then you don't need to be a professional writer. You just need to start a journal. Writing what you're thinking and how you're feeling isn't about poetry, it's about clarity. Anxious thoughts out of your head and onto paper can help you to put them in order and make sense of them, which is what can help you to calm down. It at least stops them from circling around your head on repeat.
3. Take a look at mental health apps. We carry around our phones in our hands or our pockets all day long, which means we have a constant stream of access to information and the Internet. There's a growing number of apps out there that are designed to help manage anxiety, and many of them are surprisingly effective. Apps like Headspace and Calm and Insight Timer guide you through meditation, breathing exercises and mindfulness practice.
4. Talk to somebody. Sometimes anxiety can't be soothed by an app or a deep breath, and that's OK. Professional help can be one of the most powerful tools for managing anxiety, from therapists and counselors to medical marijuana doctors who can assess where the cannabis is illegal and suitable for your specific needs. It's important that you consult a professional here and not self diagnose or self medicate.
5. Create your own calming down kit. It's like a first aid kit but for your nervous system. It may include herbal teas or a weighted blanket, your favorite book, some noise cancelling headphones, and essential oils. Anything that can bring you comfort should be included in your personal kit. The point is to have something physical and ready to go when the anxiety strikes.

Anxiety doesn't have to take you over and pull you underneath. It can be there in the periphery as long as you learn how to control it.

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