8 COPING SKILLS FOR ANXIETY

These 8 coping skills for anxiety can help you have a calmer day to day life! When you put your anxiety first, it can have you on alert at all times. It is constantly there, weighing in on your decisions before you make them. Getting rid of anxiety isn’t an overnight thing. It takes time to heal those thought patterns. So, what are some skills that can help calm down the anxiety from day to day? These are the 8 coping skills I use to break through my anxiety on a daily basis. 

1. Don’t think about it

This might seem silly to someone battling with anxiety because that’s all you can do. Think. And that’s the problem, you think too much and it’s causing all these issues.

With anxiety, you will take that thought, think it again a million times until it becomes a bigger. In order to not go down that rabbit hole, you need an exercise.

The exercise: 

A thought comes up in your head, a negative thought that makes you anxious. When one of those thoughts come up for you, verbally say out loud, “Don’t think about it.” Repeat this three times. 

• Make your mind shut that off.
• Redirect yourself.
• Physically force your brain to stop.

This will make you feel more in control. Because our thoughts influence the way we behave and act on things in our environment. Do not give these thoughts a chance to wreak havoc. Say, “don’t think about it” and move on. This isn’t a magical fix, but a practice to keep yourself in check. 

2. Don’t give in to your triggers

There is a thrill in having something trigger you, you get that rush of adrenaline from your strong emotions. Suddenly you can’t concentrate on anything but your trauma and the anxiety that surrounds it. Unknowingly waiting for something to trigger you again, so you can feel all the feels. 

But getting swept up in this anxiety does nothing for you. It negatively impacts your work life, relationships and interactions with others.

You decide to not be fully present in the moment, you would rather be back in a place where all your pain was because at least you feel something. You realize that you let yourself be triggered! We decide how we react to a situation. This is a part of becoming an adult and taking accountability.

So, you want to stop, how do you do that?  Instead of letting yourself be triggered, replace it with acceptance.

Accept where you are, what your life was, and what it is now.

All you can do is the best you can, focus on the positive. Don’t allow yourself to relish in those triggers anymore, because all it does is make you more anxious. When you first start your anxiety journey, it seems uncontrollable. But when you decide you truly want to change and take matters into your own hands. You can slowly control those triggers. 

3. Journal every time Anxious feelings come up

Your mind needs a way to release all of the anxious thoughts you’re having. Imagine you’re trying to carry all the groceries from the car in one trip. It’s a struggle but you don’t want to make a second trip. That is what your brain has to deal with on a constant basis. Your mind is carrying a 50-pound load of anxious thoughts and there is never any relief from that weight. Journaling is an excellent way to take the pressure off of what you’re feeling inside. Anything and everything, write about it. Especially when it is fueled by anxiety, get it out of your system. Talk to a friend about what you wrote down. Express it, so you can let it go. 

4. Be different to become different to Receive different

Don’t do the same things you normally do that lead you nowhere. Switch up your routine. Switch up your thought patterns. By now you’ve heard of the law of attraction. You attract what you are. If you’re a ball of anxiety and stress you will keep cultivating that lifestyle. Start new habits that make you feel good. Get more things done in your day. Tell yourself, “No, I AM WORTH IT.” Don’t be your own worst enemy. You should be on your own team! Hype yourself up like you do for the people around you. 

5. Exercise to COPE WITH ANXIETY

When I look up ways to cope with anxiety, I always see exercise on the list, and I find it so annoying. Going to the gym won’t necessarily take away your anxiety.

But more research has been done that exercise is actually good for your brain. And that piece of information, motivates me to work out. Some people don’t care about being ripped or lifting weights. But if it can help clear up your anxiety in your mind, that to me is worth it. Not only is it good for the neurological aspect for your brain to function but it can boost your self-esteem. For example, shedding a couple of pounds, getting toned on the backside, or feeling that you have more energy now to get other things done in your day. Exercise has so many benefits. That is the amazing part about it. Start small.

• Yoga 
• Pilates
• Jogging
• Walking

6. Take long walks on exciting trails

Make it a habit of exploring different trails. Walking is good exercise. This will be a space for you to think out all those thoughts your anxiety keeps pressing you about it, while also getting out into nature. Breathing in fresh air and basking in sunshine is rejuvenating. These walks can help you recenter and focus on what is important to you. It can even be a walk in your neighborhood. Just get moving and let ideas come to you. A lot of great scholars used to incorporate this in their routine, to form new perspectives on projects they were working on. 

7. Make yourself be social

Isolating yourself to avoid your triggers doesn’t do you any good. In fact, isolation in general can lead to more depression which is a friend of anxiety. Usually, one leads to the other.

When you are in a group setting you have to understand that you are there to have a good time. You are not there to react to any little thing that someone says or does. Do not let something someone said that has nothing to do with your situation sending you in a downward spiral of your own anxious thoughts.

Find a way to be comfortable in being present instead of wishing you were someone else. A big reason for anxiety is from not being present. When we are anxious it’s because we are somewhere else mentally, either in the past ruminating on things we never could control or the future possibility of everything going wrong.

Tell yourself that you’re in this moment right now. And you have to show up as the best version of yourself because you don’t know the opportunities that could come in a group setting. You could make friends with a potential employer or even a new close friend. You have to make yourself attractive in the sense of magnetism. Because ultimately that is what you would want out of other people. Someone who brings a good energy and is pleasant to be around. Not getting trapped in their own head, pouting, seeming like they’re in their own world, or spoiling any one’s fun. This is the part of becoming an adult and having accountability. Yes, we have anxiety, but the end goal is to not let it run our life and hopefully one day fully heal. 

8. Realize you are not your anxiety.

Living with anxiety is not an easy way to live. It is difficult, it makes everything more stressful than it needs to be. Think about the difference between, claiming your anxiety as a separate issue attached to you and making it your identity. When you recognize that it is something attached to you it means you can let it go and get rid of it (eventually.) When you make it your identity, you are telling yourself that this is just who you are. You are telling your own mind that this is something that cannot be fixed. 

A practice: 

Catch yourself in the way you speak about anxiety. Do you say, “My anxiety makes me do so and so” or do you say, “I’m dealing with anxiety, and it causes me to feel this way.”

Think about the way “your anxiety” is. What it means to you. How does it affect you? What do you notice? Question yourself and just learn about yourself more. You don’t have to identify with anxiety for the rest of your life. You can have anxiety but it’s not something that you are. Planting this seed in your head, this thought of detachment from anxiety disorder, will open up space for growth. 

Conclusion ON 8 SKILLS TO COPE WITH ANXIETY

I have given you 8 different skills exercises, practices/or thoughts to help you cope with anxiety. This is a gentle way for you to start coping with your anxiety. It all starts when you truly want change. When you first start out on your journey, it will go in phases. One of the first phases is discovery. There might not be any action right away. And that is okay, especially for someone with anxiety who already experiences fatigue and mind fog. Discovery is a wonderful phase to be in, it feels great to take in new information. The more difficult phase is taking the action to resolve the issue you are starting to notice. That phase requires more effort. Build yourself up slowly to that. Start incorporating one or more of these things slowly into your weeks. Try to make it a daily thing eventually. Do whatever feels right to you.