5 Innovative Tips for Managing Anxiety and Worry
Worry is inevitable in life. While we all experience it from time to time, it’s important we work to manage it in order to lead healthy lives. Here are five tips for doing so:
- Take a deep breath: When you are stressed, your breathing becomes shallow and rapid. By taking deep, slow breaths, you activate the parasympathetic system, promoting a state of calmness. Breathing techniques help you connect to your body and quiet your mind. A daily breathing practice, which can be as simple as five minutes a day, or 10 breaths every hour, can slow your heart rate, lower your blood pressure, reduce the activity of stress hormones and improve concentration.
- Make time for tea: The caffeine in coffee can aggravate feelings of anxiety. Instead, try reaching for a cup of passion flower, chamomile or decaffeinated green tea - all of which have been shown to promote a state of calm.
- Try some essential oils: Essential oils can have a powerfully calming effect on our moods and emotions. Diffusing scents like lavender, which is thought to induce relaxation, may help to ease stress. If you don’t have a diffuser handy, try putting a couple drops of oil in the palm of your hand and slowly inhaling.
- Fake it ‘til you make it: Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy suggests striking a power pose to combat anxiety. According to her theory, standing in a dominant, more expansive position for two minutes will decrease the cortisol (stress hormone) levels within your body.
- Rock some calming bling: “Ear seeds” are gold plated pellets with a Swarovski crystal. They can be placed on an acupuncture point on the ear, ultimately helping to minimize anxiety.
