6 Keys To Living Without Anxiety
Do you feel that anxiety has been haunting you for a long time? Can’t you relax and disconnect? Do you feel excessive nervousness, tiredness, fatigue, discomfort …? Anxiety is a very common symptom worldwide. As for anxiety disorders, these are also very prevalent; for example, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has an annual prevalence of 3% and a global prevalence of 5%. Do you want to know the 6 keys to living without anxiety?
In this article we recommend some habits and small strategies that will be useful if you want to leave anxiety behind in your life. As you will see, taking care of your mental health also implies taking care of your physical health, since body and mind are intrinsically related. Thus, through healthy lifestyle habits, you can begin to face anxiety and regain that inner peace that you long for.
What keys to living without anxiety are the most effective? As you will see, these have to do with your lifestyle habits, but also with your emotions. Take note!
Reduce sources of daily stress
There are many sources of stress in everyday life: jobs, responsibilities, housework, conflicts with your partner or family, etc. Stress is strongly related to anxiety.
That is why one of the keys to living without anxiety is to reduce, as far as possible, all those sources of stress that impact daily well-being. Thus, although sometimes we cannot completely eliminate these sources of stress, we can try to reduce them : organize ourselves better at work, delegate, take things easy, manage conflicts assertively, etc.
Practice meditation
It sounds like a cliché, but the reality is that the practice of meditation has reported great benefits in reducing stress and anxiety. Through meditation, we can work the connection with our body and our mind, promote a state of inner calm and peace, learn to let the thoughts that torment us flow, etc.
You don’t have to be an expert for meditation to reduce your anxiety level; With simple daily practices we can begin to know this type of practice so beneficial for mental health.
Connect with what you feel
Many times, anxiety stems from poor management of emotions or directly from not facing them at the time. Thus, connecting with what we feel is another key to living without anxiety. Why?
Because connecting with emotions is learning to listen to the body, and not only to our mind, since sometimes the body goes at such an accelerated rate that it feels overwhelmed and that is when anxiety appears.
Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be trained and that can help us identify how we feel, understand our emotions, manage them (give them a break, channel them …) and face them.
Focus on the present
In psychology it is said a lot that people with depression are focused on the past, and those with anxiety on the future. Logically, here we will do well to be cautious because there will always be nuances. However, it is a phrase that reflects very well how a person thinks with anxiety: always anticipating the future, thinking about the negative things that have not (yet) happened.
Therefore, training to focus on the present is another key to living without anxiety. The fact of connecting with the famous “here and now” allows us to manage emotional states in a healthier way and, above all, put anticipatory thoughts at bay, because in those moments our mind is focused on what is happening (and therefore therefore he does not “suffer”).
Sleep the necessary hours
Restful and quality sleep is closely related to a favorable state of health. Good sleep implies good rest, and when we are well rested there is not as much room for anxiety. That is, a restful sleep provides us with energy and rest, factors that precede anxiety.
For all this, another key to living without anxiety is to sleep the necessary hours, taking care of the quality of sleep. To do this, a good idea is to have habits that are part of good sleep hygiene (always go to sleep at the same time, do not take stimulants before going to sleep, practice regular exercise but not just before going to sleep, disconnect screens, etc.).
Avoid exciting substances
Drugs, coffee, tea or some soft drinks are exciting drinks that can increase your anxiety levels if you already suffer from it. So we recommend you eliminate (or reduce) these substances in your day to day so that you can enjoy a calmer state at a mental and physical level.
There are people to whom these substances do not affect them too much, but others who are more vulnerable to their effects. So, if you are one of the second, do not hesitate: you can try to replace them with other substances, such as infusions or decaffeinated coffee.
We have left you some of the keys to living without anxiety, although there are many more: looking for pleasant environments, organizing tasks, prioritizing responsibilities, making decisions, removing catastrophic thoughts from our life … Remember that, if you need to work on any of these areas and you do not know how to start, you can always request the help of a professional to accompany you during the process.
