• Getting in touch with one’s thought patterns and challenging negative self-talk that leads to unhelpful behaviors. The identification of one’s triggers and further probing into their nature allows one to tackle them with self-awareness.  This allows for better management– allowing one to respond instead of reacting without feeling the loss of control. 

• Educating oneself about anxiety, its causes and nature. Knowledge about anxiety helps one to target those habits and beliefs that are adding onto the condition. Reading self-help books, joining support groups and connecting with online communities can help. Another method is to keep a journal that helps one identify helpful and unhelpful behaviors. 

• Creating a healthy routine with adequate sleep, a nutritional diet and exercise. Staying active and respecting one’s circadian rhythm improves one’s bodily resources– positively impacting the psychological ones. A healthy routine enhances one’s confidence and provides structure to their day. 

• Relaxation techniques like deep breathing from the abdomen and using progressive relaxation techniques (that involve consciously relaxing one body part after the other). Yoga and meditation help one in getting in touch with their body and mind with the mindful focus on breathwork. 

• Mindfulness requires one to focus on the present moment without worrying about the future or ruminating about the past. Mindful practices involve doing what one can with what one has in the present moment– thus maximizing productivity and minimizing procrastination and worrying. 

• Grounding techniques involve the mindful exploration of one’s current thoughts and emotions while being fully aware of the situation. These involve journaling– which allows one to record and discover patterns that promote self-insight, and the 333 technique that involves naming 3 things that one can see, 3 that one can hear and three that one can touch in the immediate environment. 

• By engaging in small acts of bravery, one can expand their boundaries of comfort by taking one step at a time towards something that is scary but equally desirable. For instance, before giving a big presentation at work, doing so for a small group of friends. Similarly, before embarking on a huge solo trip, taking oneself out on small errands. 

• Practicing self-compassion and gratitude add onto the long term resources that positively enhance one’s relationship with oneself, the world and the future. This is a result of a positive self-talk that actively deals with cognitive distortions (internal biases or mental shortcuts). 

While no mountains are scaled in one day, it is important to keep going everyday with whatever effort you can spare towards betterment. Anxiety management has multiple dimensions– from therapy and medication to personal motivation and internal will. The most important being your own initiative to tackle it. 

It is these small but very significant efforts that help in winning daily battles. There will be moments when you feel like giving up and that is guaranteed. However, it is also guaranteed that you will emerge stronger every time you pick yourself up. Each time you do, do not forget to acknowledge how far you have come. 💜