Powerful Ways to Deal with Anxiety and LIVE FULLY
by Kim Normand Dobrin, ellement collective™ educator & Co-Founder/CEO of Free The Mind
Are you feeling overwhelmed? Panicky? Scattered? Not being able to focus? Hyperventilating?
All of these can be symptoms of anxiety.
Here’s the thing - we ALL feel anxiety at different times in our lives.
Anxiety and fear runs deep inside us as humans. It comes from a deep conditioning from the day we are born.
Can you manage this? YES!!!
The first important fact to understand is we have two types of fear. Anxiety comes from a fear, at times, we are not even aware of within us.
Fear is there to protect us. You want to listen to these feelings when they rises up inside of you.
As an example, walking down a dark alley puts you in danger. Anything that will place you in a dangerous situation, mentally, physically or emotionally is an important signal to listen to and respect.
The fear and anxiety that we want to address here is what we create in our minds, imaginations and thinking.
Teenagers face unique challenges in their journey to adulthood.
We all go through this, and we all can say that it has it’s own challenges, as we navigate our teenage years.
With the coronavirus pandemic, everything became more complicated and complex. School closures; little or no social interactions; doing almost everything virtually; we all definitely missed a big part of our lives and went through many feelings of loss and disorientation.
For teenagers who are going through a tough time in their lives, who are feeling lost, anxious, and depressed, you're not alone. Society has taught us that to ask for help and support shows weakness. This is so far from the truth.
Reaching out to ask for support, love & nurturing takes maturity and courage.
It is a BRAVE step and take strength nor weakness.
Here are powerful ways to deal with anxiety and live fully:
1. Recognize your emotions.
Being honest about your emotions and why you're feeling that way can reduce anxious thoughts and allow you to address the root cause of your anxiety.
It is normal to experience anxious feelings, by acknowledging your emotions, you'll see if your situation calls out for professional help.
Does it last for days? Does it get in the way of you doing the things you need to do? This is a great start to release and let go of what's stopping you from living fully.
2. Go within.
Overcoming anxiety can be a challenging process. It can take a lot of time and will require you to pull on your inner strength. Close your eyes and go within. By doing this, you're allowing your inner purpose, passion, and dreams to drive you to overcome whatever you're feeling anxious about.
Ask yourself the question- what is making feel like this? Listen. Then write downtime answers. Free write on anything and everything you are feeling. About everything and anything. Take your writing and rip it up! Burn it safely if you can, releasing all the negativity that comes out not the page. This is very therapeutic and you can do the daily or whenever you have anxiety creep up on you.
3. Let go.
Once you know the root cause of your anxiety and acknowledged your emotions and beahvior, it's now easier for you to think about how you can move forward when you see yourself in a similar situation. Your mind has incredible powers, use it.
You will notice hat when you are in fear or are feeling anxious your behaviour will change. Perhaps you will be irritable, or quiet. Perhaps scattered and cant focus. Breathing can become either very shallow or very fast and hard.
When you notice these behaviours happening it is a signal to stop, pause and assess whats going on.
Then change the behaviour to how you behave when you are feeling calm and positive.
By recognising your behaviour you can change it. Your emotions and thinking will change with it.
4. Self Care
Self care is essential for quietening down fear and anxiety.
Here are a few suggestions:
Go for a walk in nature
Exercise
Eat something healthy and yummy - no sugar this creates a chemical reaction in your body that can increase the anxiety.
Sit somewhere quietly and breathe slowly and smoothly … in for 4, hold for 2 and exhale for 6. Do this for a few minutes.
5. Shift thinking
Most of our anxiety comes from the “what if” question. This is projecting into the future that most likely won’t even happen! So read a book; write a journal; cook a new recipe - all of these will bring you back into the present and being mindful
If you're one of the many people who are experiencing anxiety during these times, don't freak out and think you cant handle this.
YOU CAN!! How do I know? Because I have done it myself and taught thousands of others to do so too.
This new normal may not easy, I do hope we all find meaning from the experiences that we're living through now, and that we all heal, learn and grow from this.
Kim Normand Dobrin
Co-Founder/CEO of Free The Mind
www.kimnormanddobrin.com