3 Tips to Reduce Anxiety Levels

Before I start, I just want to say thank you to everybody who has taken the time to read my first post :-) and for all the Facebook likes, shares, and lovely messages I received!

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When anxiety flares up, it can become increasingly difficult to stay focused and calm. Your mind hyper focuses on the future, negative thoughts, and a lot of negative self talk happens. And so it feels next to impossible to dismantle the snow balling effect of negativity and panic. 

I've always found it difficult to order my thoughts when I feel a panic attack coming on, so here I want to share with you 3 simple but very effective strategies I use to help lower my anxiety levels. I thought I'd start the blog on a personal note, but bear in mind posts won't always be about my experiences, either way I hope these benefit you in any way!

1)"Blow Away the Bad Thoughts"
When I go through a period where I'm feeling particularly anxious, which may last a few days to a week, it's usually down to over thinking about certain things which might be going on in my life at that time. Having anxiety means that simple bothers appear ten times worse, and so I tend to fixate on them, which just in turn makes me more anxious. D'oh! 

To cope with these intrusive and obsessive thoughts;

• Picture the source of your anxieties - it may be a person, something that somebody has said to you, or simply an uncomfortable situation you found yourself in. 
• Take a deep breath, and imagine you are blowing it far away into the distance until it disappears. 
• Distract yourself with something visual or auditory - I find Family Guy usually does the trick! This will help prevent you from fixating on the same thought.

At first you may feel a bit silly, and find that those thoughts continue to cross your mind, but be persistent. They soon dissolve and when you finally move your attention, your anxiety levels will drop.

2)"Dedicating a time or day to unwind"
Being a student means there is just never enough time in the day! Who has time to sort themselves out with all these deadlines, maintaining a social life, and calling your Mam to let her know that just because you've not replied for a few hours - you are still very much alive! All this alongside with the anxieties of every day life, what a drain.
When you find yourself feeling anxious, remind yourself to put it on the back burner, and think about it at your dedicated time. 

"These thoughts are not for now. I will take time at 5pm to think about them, I have more important things to do."

• Set a specific time for every day when all of your errands have been run. Personally 5pm works best for me. It's that time of the day when all my lectures are over, I don't have to start making dinner quite yet, and I have enough time after my session to watch some of my favorite programs. 
• Set up some pillows, make yourself a cuppa tea. Or something you have to relax (preferably not alcohol, as tempting as it is!)
• Think about what has bothered you that day, and let yourself feel the way you need to

Don't over indulge in the thoughts, but it's good to let it out. Sometimes I find that I have forgotten all about what had bothered me!

3) "A 'good vibes' board"

A lot of my anxious thoughts are spent focused on the fact that I am feeling anxious, sheer irony. Beating yourself up over feeling this way is a pretty normal reaction, but you need to tell yourself that it is okay to feel this way. It is definitely not as easy as it sounds - however they key is to know that these anxieties you're feeling are not permanent. 

For a quick and easy way to get some encouraging words, I created a 'Good Vibes' board on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/alicemariejames/good-vibes), which is full of inspirational and encouraging words that lift remind me how great life really is!

A personal favorite is this classic by Roal Dahl

"If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."

That concludes my blog for this week. I hope you've enjoyed, please feel free to comment with any suggestions or just general interest :)

Have a lovely week