Best Ways to Manage stress and anxiety

Feeling overwhelmed by stressful situations, try to take a break and listen to soothing music. Playing soothing music has a positive effect on the brain and body. It lowers blood pressure and lowers cortisol, a hormone associated with stress.

Anxiety often causes nausea and loss of appetite. However, skipping meals can take a toll on your physical health and increase anxiety. Low blood sugar releases cortisol, a hormone that helps you perform better, however, your anxiety could get worse under pressure. Incorporate a healthy diet with healthy fats, sugar, lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. If you are busy, eat 3 meals a day. if you have time on your hands, take 5 to 6 small meals throughout the day. 

A great way to destress is by controlling your breathing. Controlling your breathing keeps you centered and aware of your body, and less prone to panicking and letting anxiety get the better of you.

The 4 7 8 technique can help significantly with stress. First breathe in quietly through your nose for 4 seconds, then hold for 7. Slowly breathe out through your mouth, making a "woosh" sound, to the count of 8.

This makes you more aware of your breathing, which relaxes your involuntary nervous system. The involuntary nervous system regulates the heart, digestion, and of course, breathing. Practicing this technique often will also increase blood circulation, making you less prone to anxiety.

Practice whenever you're starting to feel stressed, or as a daily meditation habit.

If you feel yourself getting anxious, that means it's time to take a break from whatever is stressing you out. Take a walk, listen to music, journal, meditate, or do anything that's going to help you feel more at peace. Walking away from a problem gives you time to recharge and come back to the drawing table with a clear mind. This way, you can feel more confident in the decisions you make.

When you are suffering from anxiety, your mind will be traveling in the sea of thoughts and emotions. To deal with your thoughts in a positive way, you have to acknowledge what you are thinking. You may not know why you are thinking about it and start stressing over it.

On such occasions, you should try to meditate and practice mindfulness. Anxiety can occur when you fail to understand and answer questions and control thoughts that have been in your mind for a while. Mindfulness helps control your thoughts. 

While it’s excellent if you can talk it out with someone, you probably wouldn’t do that if you're anything like me. The next best thing, then, is to reason through the stressful situation.

Identify the reason for your stress, understand what you can do to fix it, and always know that everything will be okay. If you don’t know how to fix it, skip to the last step and tell yourself everything will be okay. Because stressing about it sure isn’t going to fix it.

Pouring out your thoughts can help offload your stress and make anxiety manageable. Plenty of self-care apps are available that feature a mood-tracker and mood-journal. Express your thoughts there and look for potential patterns. You might find your triggers and you can look back later to learn about your thought process when you felt anxious.

Nevertheless, even writing on a piece of paper is an excellent way to deal with anxiety inducing thoughts.

This is a long-term process but has lots of benefits. Lately, mindfulness has gained a lot of traction owing to its apparent advantages for mental health.

If you find yourself under constant tension, join a class. It’s extremely likely that you’ll at least see an improvement in your stress levels.

Including exercise in your day to day can be really helpful with managing anxiety. It gives you a time and place to work on yourself and commit to being healthy. Exercising regularly also helps you sleep better at night and manage stress in healthier ways. Anxiety can be draining and debilitating. Incorporating exercise in your routine can be extremely beneficial. Find a physical activity that you enjoy doing (or recruit a friend to join you!) to make exercise more appealing to you.

Exercise is one of the best ways to combat a buildup of stress and anxiety. It is most effective when it becomes a part of your weekly routine. If you exercise regularly, you are less likely to feel the effects of stress as much as someone who does not exercise. Taking part in regular physical activity can help improve the quality of sleep you're getting every night as well as your confidence in yourself.

There is a close association between tension and your diet. Stress often makes us reach for sugary and fatty junk foods.

Plan ahead so that you don’t end up with a bag of chips the next time you feel stressed. Instead, always store some fresh fruits and veggies ready to be eaten. 

Caffeine, a stimulant in coffee and energy drinks, can cause symptoms of stress and anxiety to increase. Even cutting a small amount of caffeine out of your diet can be helpful for your mental health. If you get jittery after drinking coffee or another caffeinated beverage, you should consider lowering your intake. Caffeine can affect different people in different ways. While someone you know may not be affected by caffeine at all, the same may not be true for your own body.

Meditating can be a great coping mechanism for anxiety. It allows you to look at and examine your negative thoughts and see things from a different perspective.

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position anywhere you feel most at ease. You can put on music or sit in silence, whichever you'd prefer, close your eyes, and try to clear your mind.

Your mind will of course be jumping all over the place, which is natural while you're not getting any outside stimulus. Take each thought, one by one, and examine it completely non-judgmentally. Ask yourself why that thought came into your head and how it helps you. Eventually you'll be more and more comfortable with pushing your negative thoughts to the side, which will help you better control your anxiety.

If you’re laughing, you’re probably not going to be as anxious. Laughter has a bunch of benefits. It relieves your stress response and also relieves tension by relaxing the muscles. Long term benefits of laughter include an improved immune system and consistently good mood.

It’s obviously hard to laugh when you’re just sitting and staring at a wall. So try watching a comedy sitcom or hang out with your funniest friends. 

Stretching your legs and getting some fresh air can usually help if you're feeling a little burnt out. Leave your phone at home, or just have it on silent, and take some time to explore your neighborhood. Pop in some earbuds and play some relaxing music if you'd like, and step out the door. You might find your new favorite coffee shop, or a florist you never knew was there. No need to set a goal of any kind, just let yourself amble and see what kind of interesting things you can find.

The benefits of eating healthy foods extend beyond the waist and into our mental health. A healthy diet can reduce the effects of stress, strengthen your immune system, improve your mood, and lower blood pressure. Excessive intake of sugar and fats can have the opposite effect. And fast food can look more attractive when you're under a lot of stress.

If you’re excited by reading the name, let me clarify, that Cannabidiol oil is a derivative of the marijuana plant and does NOT contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which induces the "high."

CBD oil is available at most alternative healthcare shops without a doctor’s prescription. There has only been some research on CBD’s effects on anxiety, but preliminary data suggests that it could potentially help curb panic and anxiety significantly. 

Talking to your partner or friend is one way to reduce anxiety but then again, they are not always around. Therefore, you only have yourself. One way to reduce anxiety is to shout and scream at top of your lungs. We teach children to not shout and hence, our inner voice dies inside. But as a teenager or an adult, you have the freedom to do anything. Letting out your emotions in a healthy yet controlled environment helps you combat anxiety. However, shouting is not the only way. You can pound your chest (gently), stomp your feet, or even punch your pillow. 

It can be extremely helpful to put all of the thoughts and worries in your head onto paper. There's something about taking them from your mind and making them physical that is very cathartic. While it can be a relief to write out everything that is worrying you, you could also try to write out everything that you are grateful for. Reminding yourself of all the blessings and happy moments in your life can help you put your stress into perspective.

Being around the people you love can serve as a reminder of all the great things in your life. When you're stressed, it is very easy to feel like that is the only thing that matters in that moment. It can be a very discouraging thought. Surround yourself with people who love and support you. They will make you laugh and remind you that everything will be okay. Regardless of the bad situations, you will always have people who will stand by you.

Next time you're feeling stressed, try putting those feelings into a creative outlet. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and start sketching, or mess around with some paints. It doesn't have to be perfect, and trying to make it perfect will stress you out even more. Just focus on having fun and experimenting and making something that's uniquely you, no matter what it is.

Stress and anxiety make their way into our lives when we are not feeling happy about each passing day. You might hate your job, have a health problem, or a regret that might be stressing you from time to time. 

Irritating routine activities such as waiting in traffic and delayed processing of a payment can trigger anxiety and make what’s going on inside you even worse. 

The best way to get rid of anxiety is to break the rhythm of life that could be responsible for anxiety. If you cannot break the rhythm and change everything, exit it for a while. If you feel stressed and have anxiety because your partner is abusive, you don’t like your job or you are bored, get away from the situation for a few days. 

It will help you calm your mind, think better, and relax. If the cause of anxiety is a serious one, think of ways to get rid of the cause of anxiety. If you feel you need mental therapy, arrange at least one session with a therapist. 

A great way to be less stressed is to avoid getting stressed to begin with. Managing your time well will help your days to run smoother and ensure that you're getting your tasks done in a timely manner.

Get a calendar and make sure you update it regularly. There, you can see your entire schedule in one place and can better keep track of appointments, assignments, and other things that may cause you stress.

Also, write yourself a to-do list every day and stick to it. Letting work pile up is sure to make you even more stressed, so make sure you do it before it becomes too much to bear.

Anxiety can warp your worldview and make your negative thoughts seem bigger than they really are. Next time you're experiencing self-doubt, try to tackle it head on and question why it is you feel that way. Question your fears, ask if they're true, and figure out what you can do to control them.

Try to reword the way you think to be constructive rather than destructive. Rather than thinking "I'll never be good enough", try thinking "I'm trying my best every day". Instead of saying "That was a stupid mistake", try "Now I know better for next time". Small changes like this can have a drastic effect on your outlook.

A lot of the times anxiety can be fueled by thoughts and feelings that that are irrational. These thoughts and feelings, can at times, appear out of no where and cause you to feel hopeless. A great way to deal with your anxiety is to visit a counselor or therapist, who will be able to help you rationalize your thoughts and pin point where your fear is stemming from.

They are also trained to help you re-wire your way of thinking to help soothe you in times where you are feeling anxious through various forms of talk therapy.

Whenever I am stressed, I take a few minutes to do tapping therapy. In this, you have to tap on specific parts of your body using the first two fingers for at least 30 seconds.

Start with doing karate chops on the sides of your palms (one palm at a time)

Tap on the top of the head.

Move to the bridge of the eyebrows.

Tap under your eyes for thirty seconds simultaneously.

Move under your nose and then on your chin.

And at last on your collarbone.

This tactic is called an ETF, and it calms you down and grounds you to your surroundings.

This rule has helped me multiple times when I feel like my mind is racing out of control. First, you want to think about three things you can see. Then, listen for three things you can hear. Lastly, move three distinct parts of your body. This exercise helps your brain focus in on key things and reset itself. After doing this, you should feel more centered within yourself. It's a quick trick that can help you when your mind seems to be taking over.

Friends and family make you feel like you belong, and they can get you through some really tough times. Studies suggest that this is true particularly for women because spending time with their children and friends helps release oxytocin, the body’s natural stress reliever.

However, men and women both stand to benefit from social connections when it comes to managing stress and anxiety.