More Tips for Overcoming Anxiety
by Cherilyn Schutze
MEd., LPC, CCATP, CGC, EMDR Trained, DNMS Trained
Last month we uncovered five truths about anxiety, and this month we are diving in and sharing 5 more tips to help you feel more in control when anxiety shows up. Everyone will experience anxiety at some point. The key to dealing with it is to recognize its place and learn how to manage it.
FIVE MORE TRUTHS ABOUT ANXIETY and how to manage it:
6: REFRAME
By reframing and changing negative thoughts, we create new pathways and connections in our brain, which literally change the brain, helping us to be less reactive to negative thinking. When we recognize that we have the power to change our brains, we begin to feel more in control of anxiety and are better able to manage it.
7: PATIENCE WITH EXPERIENCE
The brain learns through experience. Our brains are like children. They learn by experience and have to be reminded over and over again until they get it. I often tell my clients to imagine their brain as a small child who wants to run out into the street. You have to be patiently vigilant, and guide the child back to safety. Eventually, the child learns that it’s not good to run into the street. When we are patient with ourselves and redirect our thoughts, managing and learning to live with anxiety becomes much easier.
8: CURIOSITY
Ask yourself the following questions when you are ruminating:
Is this serving me?
What can I learn from this?
What am I feeling in my body?
These questions can help us to be less judgmental about our thoughts and anxiety, create space between the thoughts and the feelings and help us determine if anxiety is an adversary or an advocate.
9: LIVE WITH ANXIETY- DON’T AVOID
Our goal isn’t to get rid of anxiety. It serves a very important role in our lives, signaling us to take action when we are in danger. When anxiety is an adversary, it sends the wrong signal, keeping us in overdrive, and exhausting our minds and bodies. Our goal therefore, is to learn to live with anxiety and recognize when it is serving us and when it’s not.
10: COMPASSION
Create space for grace. When we judge our thoughts, we strengthen anxiety. When we let go of our self-judgment and doubt, we create space for grace, allowing us to have self compassion, and create room for growth and healing. Self judgment and self doubt hold us back by putting us in a box with no easy way out. By having compassion for ourselves and recognizing that our thoughts are not facts, we are better able to recognize when anxiety is an advocate and when it is an adversary.
Anxiety tells us we don’t have options. Compassion opens up space to see our options.
If you or someone you know is struggling with managing anxiety, reach out today for a free consultation.
