3 Effective Strategies for Managing Anxiety

In today's world, with its numerous demands and pressures, so many of us live in a worrying state of anxiety.

But we do not need to be the victim of anxiety. There are things we can do to halt it in its tracks.

Anxiety Disorder Self Help

Perhaps the first thing to realize about anxiety is that it is not unique to you. If you are feeling anxious, you are not alone.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, as many as 46 percent of people living in the US will experience problems such as panic or an anxiety disorder at one time or another.

In Britain, also, anxiety disorders and panic attacks are the difficulties most often seen by doctors and therapists.

Mental Health Anxiety

So prevalent is anxiety that I have devoted two whole chapters to it and its treatment in my latest book 'The Chi of Change'. Simply put, anxiety is the most frequent form of emotional and mental difficulty that there is. Never before have we been this rushed, this stressed, this anxious.

While some measure of anxiety is simply part of life, excessive or extreme anxiety can block us completely, preventing us from achieving our potential and living our life to the full.

Here are three simple strategies that may help you to understand and manage your anxiety.

1. Embrace It

Becoming anxious about being anxious simply sends us on a downward spiral of negative emotion. Understand that the uncomfortable feelings that tell you you're feeling really anxious will not kill you. There really is no need to be terrified of them.

When you feel the signs of anxiety coming on -- the increased heart rate, the shallow breathing, the tense muscles -- just stop, and notice how you feel. Notice every little sensation. Do your very best to remain as an observer.

How are you breathing and holding your breath? How do the muscles in your shoulders and arms feel? What is happening with your back and your posture? What are you doing with your hands?

Notice these things, allow yourself to feel and embrace them. Be in the moment. Allowing yourself to relax into, and then beyond those scary feeling is the real key to conquering them.

Emotions are short lived if we allow them expression, but because they frighten us our tendency is to try to deny and repress them. When we sit with our emotions and allow them to be expressed, then the anxiety will automatically run its course and exhaust itself. Soon you'll notice yourself feeling calmer and quite a bit more relaxed, even if you feel a bit tired.

The more you practice, then the less you will be frigthened. And, of course, the less you are frightened, the less anxious you are.

For a quick release of emotional energy, a fast and effective technique is to switch to something physical at first signs. Jump, punch the air or a pillow, run on the spot. An immediate release of physical energy will speed the process of emotional emptying.

2. Run for it

Exercise is one of the best things you can do to for quick anxiety relief. It's not always possible to drop everything and rush out for a jog when things get stressed. But it is an important and drug-free way of managing stress that builds into anxiety. Exercise increases endorphin levels, improves metabolism, supports circulation and energy, and has been shown to lower anxiety levels.

Exercise also puts you in touch with bodily sensations -- elevated heart rate, respiration, body temperature -- all those things that accompany anxiety and panic attacks. In so doing it can desensitize and alter your responses to these sensations, making them far less frightening when they do occur.

Anxiety and Panic Attacks Self Help

Researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro published a study in 2013 that showed exercise to be a very effective means of not only reducing anxiety, but also of preventing anxiety and panic attacks in the future. And there is a wealth of research that supports this finding.

Remember that exercise has its greatest psychological effects when it is perceived to be pleasurable. Choose some form of exercise that most appeals to you. Taking a brisk walk, a run, cycling to work, or visiting the gym are just a few ways that people enjoy exercising. Go with friends, or take along your MP3 player, and make it something you really look forward to.

Exercise really does help to lessen anxiety.

3. Heal It -- Alternative Medicine Anxiety

If you were to wake up tomorrow anxiety-free, what specifically in your life would be different? Answer this question and you might just see the areas where some inner work is needed.

Sometimes we can become anxious over something specific, such as giving a talk a presentation, or traveling, but at other times and in other cirmumstances we might well be absolutely fine. At other times we may be anxious for no reason. This is because at some stage we learned to associate specific situations and sensations with feelings of anxiety and this may have become a 'conditioned response' that can be activated at any time, without our conscious mind even being aware of the trigger.

Take time out to do some healing work on your own unique anxiety patterns. Too often anxiety itself is treated as the problem. Actually, anxious emotions are not the real issue. Anxiety stems from that part of your subconscious mind that is trying to communicate something to you. There are many ways to understand and heal these emotions, and I believe hypnosis to be foremost among these.

Hypnotherapy is a gentle yet powerful method of reducing anxiety effectively, with studies showing the benefits of hypnotherapy to be of similar effectiveness to diazepam -- a medication commonly prescribed to treat acute anxiety.

The very best therapy will uncover the origins of your anxiety and will help you to neutralize and resolve this. Additionally, it can help you to manage stress and anxiety that may occur in the future in a much more balanced way. For many people this sort of recovery can happen in just a couple of visits with an experienced hypnotherapist.

Now is the time to let go of the anxiety and get your life back on track. Use these three strategies and see the difference. With the right attitude and approach, you will might be surprised to find how good you can feel in just a short time.