How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps

In this article I will explain How to control anxiety With 10 simple steps that will greatly improve your quality of life.

Everyone at some point in our lives has felt their symptoms and we have had to fight and overcome anxiety.

Woman With Anxiety

These symptoms cause you agitation, acceleration of thinking, loss of control, sweating and a lot etcetera and are often treated as a disease.

This is the first error that occurs, since anxiety is not a disease but a symptom of a problem.

When this occurs the wide range of anxiolytics that consume and that only stop the symptoms, leaving unresolved the problem that causes them, so it is only put what I call"a patch." Hence many people follow Taking anxiolytics For years and fail to heal.

10 Steps to Managing Anxiety

1-Identify what happens to you

The work drop due to anxiety is quite common in certain stressful sectors

This first step is fundamental, you should know that the anxiety Fulfills an adaptive function, protects us by activating us for action and makes us react energetically in post survival.

Imagine that you are walking in the countryside so relaxed and suddenly there appears a bull of about 500 kilos that runs towards you. It is here that the symptoms of anxiety make their appearance to protect us and give us the energy that you need to escape.

You will dilate your pupils so as not to lose detail of the beast, the heart will beat stronger to pump blood to all the muscles and that it reacts faster, you will start to sweat which will cause your body to cool, etc.

All this change that has experienced your body will make you run to get you safe or even climb some tree. This one I describe is the adaptive function, but at present the situation of that bull that chases you is imagined, that's where the problem is.

Our mind imagines terrible things that can happen to us like we might lose our job, not be able to find a partner, let our partner leave us, an argument with someone and a long etcetera that makes a dent in our health.

2-Know the power of your thoughts

How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps

Your way of thinking, the way in which you elaborate a supposed catastrophic situation using your imagination, is where much of the problem lies with anxiety. That is why the different anxiolytics do not act in changing that way of thinking but in the symptoms of anxiety.

The human being is an imaginative being by nature and that many times is against you and is reflected in the idea of ​​imagining catastrophes where there are none.

Your brain And mine does not differentiate the real from the imaginary, but interprets the thought that you elaborate being this real (there is a bull that follows me) or imaginary (I do not go to such a place I do not say such thing is not going to be that.... .what if…….). In these two situations the mind Interpret threat, it will activate us and we will feel fear.

3-Record those thoughts and make them aware

Intrusive thoughts

It points out in a paper the situation that triggers the difficulty, Negative thoughts They generate and the degree of anxiety they produce. This is very useful since everything you have in your head you order when you write and in turn you make it conscious.

Observe that thoughts are catastrophic and negative, as I said before, are interpreted by your brain as real which triggers real discomfort that turn into anxiety.

The more convincing on your part that what you think can occur higher level of discomfort, so you have to doubt what you think. By giving more importance it becomes solid for you, you become rigid and consequently affect you more.

If those thoughts revolve around the same situation, try not to avoid it. Doing so will lower the anxiety a bit but when we are in that situation will again trigger the anxiety at high levels.

You have to expose yourself to that situation again and again and you will see that every time anxiety subsides, there will be what is called habituation in psychology. This point is of vital importance since you will associate that being in that situation does not mean that everything that you thought happens. It tests your own irrational thoughts.

4-Analyze the different possible interpretations of each situation

How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps

The same situation can affect different people differently. What one assumes a problem to others supposes a situation typical of the day to day. Nothing is a problem in itself but it will depend on the way in which it is interpreted, as I said before, and the options that we have of other alternative interpretations to that same situation.

If you think that a situation alone Has a solution Possible because you believe so, according to your own arguments that you do not test them with others and that no matter how you think and think until the exhaustion does not see output, consider a rigid person.

If this is so, it will affect more the difficulties that are encountered in the day to day. Be flexible, do not push yourself too much and focus on the solution, reserve the energy to generate alternatives that can give you another perspective of the situation.

The self-registration I mentioned earlier will be worth to you to draw alternatives from those rigid thoughts that you wrote and that are the cause of the level of discomfort. Focus on finding possible alternatives to those thoughts and find that when you find another, more positive thinking will change your level of discomfort.

This will tell your brain that the situation is not so bad. Discuss the problem with other people, sure that they see it differently and add to their repertoire other ways of seeing, not closing. Think that other people have solved it, learn from them will be very useful.

5-Know the model A-B-C

This model is by which cognitive psychology is governed and is the key to understanding the role of thoughts, which I explain above. Aaron Beck, the father of cognitive psychology, in one of his books mentions a simple example that is the one I use to explain to my patients the importance of thoughts.

Imagine that it is a windy day and you are in your house. Suddenly the window starts to make noise and you think it may be some thief who is trying to enter through the window, then you will feel afraid and you will run out to call the police.

However before the same situation you may think that it is the wind that simply moves it a little, so you will not feel fear. Notice how the interpretation you make of the wind changes your mood, your emotions, what we have seen so far.

6-Doubt your thoughts, confront them

How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps 1

The thoughts have to be taken as hypotheses, something to be checked.

Ask yourself:

  • How likely am I to have this happen to me? From 0 to 100 what is the extent to which I believe that thought?
  • What data do I have for and against?
  • Where is it written that this is so? Why do you say it?
  • Does the mere fact of what you think means that it is true?
  • Is everything true that you always think? Have you ever been false to something you thought or to what you were convinced?
  • Can I read the minds of other people? How do I know this is what you think? Is there a possibility that I'm wrong?
  • Thinking about it helps me achieve my goals?
  • Does it influence me to think so in my state of mind?
  • If someone close to you knows what you are thinking, how would this person react?
  • How would another person solve that same situation?
  • If finally what I think was true, what is the worst that can happen to me? Is it worth me to go ahead with the hypothetical consequences? Is it really a catastrophe?
  • After questioning the thoughts ask yourself again: From 0 to 100 what is the extent to which I believe that thought?

Now, taking advantage of the answers you gave to the previous question, you elaborate an alternative and more realistic way of thinking, you will see how it changes what you feel and therefore what you do.

"He who suffers before he suffers suffers more than he needs."

7-Do not try not to think

How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps 2

Many times you try to avoid thinking so you do not have a bad time. We strive to avoid not thinking, to take that away from our minds. The result is that the opposite happens, that thought becomes more present and takes more force.

A thought is nothing more than the connection of neurons, it has no entity as such come and go. If you give importance to it, let's say you are reinforcing that connection and therefore the brain will misinterpret it as important.

Imagine that I tell you not to think of a white bear, to strive not to think of a white bear try by all means do not think it please. Surely the first thing that came to mind is that white bear, so you did the opposite of what I said. If you've always tried not to think about that concern, and the opposite has happened to you over and over again, try to self-impose the opposite.

Let the thoughts flow, do not fear because you think strange things, if you do not care, they will weaken on their own.

Let him know that we all think an enormous amount of things per day, due to our imaginative capacity that we bring as a series, and that this we think becomes reality in a very small percentage. So let your imagination run wild and do not even theme it, it can be fun.

For this advice you can help Mindfulness .

8-Practice correct breathing

How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps 3

When we feel fear or anguish Our breathing becomes short and rapid. This causes our pulses to fire and the warning signal reaches the brain. Spend at least 20 minutes a day practicing diaphragmatic breathing.

Go to a quiet place and lie on your back comfortably. Be aware of your breathing, take air through your nose and focus on storing it in the stomach swelling it. Hold for 5-6 seconds and blow the air through your mouth.

One trick is to put an object on the navel and try to raise and lower it, this way the diaphragm will be exercised. This is usually contracted by the excess of tension which I recommend to descontracturarlo going to a physiotherapist, you will see that you will notice the difference.

I recommend you practice These relaxation techniques .

9-Learn relaxation techniques

How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps 4

A widely used technique is Jacobson progressive relaxation . It is a psychophysiological method, which consists in deliberately and systematically tensing and relaxing groups of muscles to achieve two fundamental objectives:

  1. Eliminate muscle contraction.
  2. Replace it with a state of deep relaxation.

Basically this type of relaxation involves learning to tense and then sequentially relaxing various muscle groups throughout the body while at the same time carefully and rigorously focusing attention on the sensations associated with tension and relaxation. In this way we make conscious the excessive feelings of tension and the difference of these and the sensations of relaxation.

To do this feel as comfortable as you can, keep your head straight over your shoulders and your back should be touching the back of the chair. Put your legs apart without crossing them and fully support your feet on the floor. Put your hands on your thighs and then focus on making your breath conscious.

Start by tensing your forehead for a few seconds and focus on feeling tension, then let go and feel the difference. Then we close the fist of the hand and we tighten it, we hold a few seconds and then we open the fist and feel the difference.

So with all muscle groups. Look for a video on YouTube where you explain it in more detail and take advantage of its benefits.

10-Practice sports

How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps 5

This last step is very important. You should exercise and feel your body, see that the activation that occurs is normal and has nothing to do with the symptoms of anxiety. As you exercise more frequently and focus your attention on the activity itself, soon the anxiety will weaken.

Here you can read More about the benefits of sport.

These steps are the ones I have seen of many cases that I have had in consultation that work and that if the person agrees to perform them and stop to reflect will achieve results.

And you have worked for you? What are your problems with anxiety? I am interested in your experience. Thanks!

You can download a step-by-step summary in this image (right click and save image as...):

Overcome anxiety.  Lifeder

Case study to calm anxiety

Two months ago an email came in to my inbox of a girl asking How to calm anxiety .

He told me that he was sweating just by going out and felt his chest tightening, he had been a year and it made him worse with his family problems and the time of exams.

Also, it got much worse when I had to leave public speaking And had a couple of subjects in which it was mandatory to do it to pass.

To calm anxiety

The steps the girl followed were as follows:

- Relaxation techniques : I taught him the techniques of autosuggestion and progressive muscle relaxation. From the day after the conversation began to practice 15 minutes per day every day of the week.

- Exposition : I asked her that although she feared to speak in public, she would try to do it starting with small tasks. Therefore, we made a list of the situations that caused them anxiety When speaking in public. He started by asking in class, continued to participate in small class dynamics and ended with work exhibitions.

- Control your negative thoughts : As for leaving home and feeling anxious, I told him what he thought when he left. I usually had very negative thoughts and based on the discussions, concerns and problems I had. For example,"I will never get along with my parents","I will suspend the exam and I will have to study all summer". I asked him to make a list of those thoughts and replace them with more realistic and positive ones like"I will find a way to get along with my parents, to improve my behavior"and"whenever I study for an exam, I approve."

-Finally, to be distracted I said that a solution is practice sports . This girl had friends who moved in environments that made her anxiety worse and when she was not with them, she was at home studying or at university. So he was always in stressful environments. To practice sport Helped him: 1) keep his mind distracted for an hour. 2) decrease anxiety; Sports improve and prevent anxiety and 3) make new friends and build more constructive relationships.

On Thursday we were talking and he said that he has improved a lot. He continues with his small discussions at home although he has learned to control himself with the relaxation and control of his thoughts. As for public speaking, he still feels anxious but compels himself to participate in class or go out and talk in public every day. In addition, although he started with the gym, he has signed up for a basketball team of his faculty.

In return for giving him these little tips, I asked him to do me a simple favor: write me what has helped him to improve these two months. Here I leave you:

- Control your thoughts : When you feel anxiety you do not know how it starts, it is there, you start to sweat, you increase your pulse, you feel nervous and it even turns your stomach. What has helped me most to calm my anxiety is to control my thoughts and make me aware of them; Tell me positive things and when I start to say negative things, question them.

Those thoughts with which anxiety begins are always there but we are responsible for letting them influence us or not. When you have one, think it is one more, question it and substitute it for a more realistic and positive one.

- Relaxation : One of the things that Alberto taught me is that if I relax it is impossible to feel anxiety at the same time. I had never thought about it, so I was encouraged to practice those techniques. With these techniques you say positive things at the same time that you breathe deeply and relaxed and they help you to know when you are relaxed or when you are tense. Another advantage is that if you practice enough, you learn to relax quickly in the situations that cause you the most anxiety.

- Patience : Two months ago I felt much more anxiety than today. Anxiety can be controlled although it needs to be done step by step and with a plan. Today I still feel anxiety but I do not have that previous discomfort to have it; I accept it and do what I have to do to control it. I'm not thinking about my anxiety all day, it's just one more thing that I can improve on.

- Inform me about anxiety : Alberto taught me two very important things: 1) that when you feel anxious adrenaline is released in the blood and that in the vast majority of occasions is not related to things that happen abroad. 2) Anxiety occurs in situations where we believe that something bad can happen to us.

Now when I feel anxiety I first think about what negative thoughts I am having, what I think is going to go wrong. And I know that the anxiety and those uncomfortable feelings are caused by the adrenaline, not something external that is happening or something bad that is going to happen to me.

- Exercise : Today I could not live without exercise. It's a time-out where I see everything forgotten and have fun. It shows in the physical and mental well-being, I come home more relaxed and I sleep better. She has also helped me make good friends in college.

I hope this experience has helped you and we hope you will comment on your cases and what has been useful to you.


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