Simple Ways to Manage Stress and Anxiety

As human beings, we are equipped with a brain and a heart along with a capability of spewing emotions, feelings, and thoughts consciously and unconsciously. But in times of uncertainty, we lose the right track or the positive mindset that we need to achieve the mental toughness to power through whatever life throws at us. I believe that the present is the most ideal time to discuss stress management and anxiety issues to build a sense of togetherness and improve mental health.

These are some easy ways to manage stress and anxiety that most people can follow through. But for any change to happen, we must believe in the power of self-awareness and be confident that no matter what happens, we are going to do it and overcome the challenges.

1. Exercise

One of the most important things to do is to keep yourself healthy and active. You might not realize how directly synced our physical and mental health is. Once you start exercising, you realize that your mind doesn’t have the energy anymore to wander but instead focus on the task that is on hand. Physical stress will undoubtedly reduce mental stress because of the release of endorphins in your body.

Exercising may not be your best suit, if so you can also indulge in some yoga. Learn what your body likes and feels the most entertaining to do. The goal is to put physical stress to relieve mental exertion. So, try to keep moving, do some dancing, Zumba, yoga, walking, running, cycling or anything to sweat it out.

2. Write your thoughts

It is very crucial that we let our emotions out and not keep it all bottled up inside. Keeping thoughts to yourself, especially the stress does no good to anybody. You end up thinking about all those things time and again. So, learn to let it out by taking some time out and write about it. Again, writing might not be everyone’s favorite thing to do, but you wouldn’t know unless you tried.

Keep a diary with you and write down the thoughts that bother you or things that are making you anxious. Just the act of writing it down takes a load off you that you were carrying and don’t even realize.

3. Strong social connections

If writing is not something you enjoy, try talking about it. And for that to happen, you need to have a strong connection built on trust and mutual respect with your friends, family, or significant other. Just the act of letting someone know how you feel and what you are going through can make a very big difference. You will find support and encouragement in the right way.

There have been studies that prove how mental stress can be challenged with a strong sense of social connection, whether its family or friendship. Even in the times of a pandemic, you can still talk to people over the phone and share.

4. Avoid procrastination

Procrastinating your things to do is not the best start in changing your mental health. Avoid putting things to later as it will only contribute to more stress. You will not be able to stop thinking about it unless the work gets done and that will add on to stress, anxiety, and weakness to think about other things. Like I said before, change takes time, but it starts with your confidence and belief.

The best thing to counteract procrastination is to have a to-do list or some way to pen down those tasks so you have a better idea of what you need to do and when. It is one of the biggest stress-inducing habits that need to be changed for the better.

5. Practice mindfulness

Self-awareness is very important when you are focusing on changing the way you think. Stress is not hard to manage once you realize that you are over-thinking and letting your thoughts run haywire. To counteract that, you need to focus on mindfulness and bring a sense of calm to your mind.

Some ways to do that is to build a positive aura around with filled with a sense of peace. Practice meditation and start with just giving it a minute of your day to reflect on some of the best things that happen to you. Just close your eyes, shut out the voices, and take deep breaths whenever you feel stressed or anxious the next time.

6. Divulge in distractions

Our minds are very fragile, and they can, fortunately, be easily distracted. The focus here is to use this to your own benefit and manage stressful situations. Put some music on, read a book, go for a walk or a drive, play with your pet, spend some time with your family, paint a picture, play a musical instrument, talk to your friends, make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, and just do anything and everything you need to do to divert your thoughts from a negative place.

Use your hobbies to find the sliver of happiness you need to get out of the anxiety-inducing situations. The less you think about it, the more beneficial it is for your mental health.

7. Understand your triggers

And lastly, understand what triggers you the most and creates a sense of stress and induces anxiety. Knowledge of that kind can lead to a strong awareness of the self and helps you to realize the situations that you need to avoid. Once you have cut down the foundational ties of stressors, they can’t harm you anymore. And nobody can do this better than yourself. Nobody knows you the way you do and that is something you need to remember to get a positive mindset.

So, stop hearing about the rumors, the news, and shut down the social media to understand the positives and not get sucked into the hole of pandemic induced anxiety and stress. The world needs a strong sense of positivity, now more than ever. So, share what made your day super good today and share the awesomeness and not the negatives.