We all experience anxiety, worry and fear sometimes. When I was just starting out at work, my worry was if I’ll ever get a steady paying job. Then it was about finances, how I’ll be able to pay my bills when I no longer had a regular job. Recently, it’s been health related when I had to get an invasive medical test in order to get insured which I shared in my July 2022 wrap up post. If you’ve ever found yourself feeling anxious, allow me to share some of the ways I manage anxious thoughts.

My Anxiety Coping Strategies

  1. Talk to Someone. I’m grateful that I have a wonderful group of people I can turn to. Whenever the anxious thoughts came in, I talked them out with friends and family. Their words of encouragement and positivity helped me a lot. They also help me take my mind off of my worries by talking and doing things we enjoy – watching movies, making plans for the future, etc.
  2. Exercise. It’s been a good habit I’ve been able to keep to help manage anxious thoughts and stress. I do yoga every morning, cardio or strength training even just for a few minutes a day. After a good sweat session, I feel good. Like Elle Woods said, “exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.”
  3. Write it Down. Whenever something bothers me, I grab my journal and write about it. I find it therapeutic to write down my thoughts on paper.
  4. Take Deep Breathes. Taking deep breathes is an effective way to manage anxious thoughts as it helps you think more clearly and calms you down. I practiced this when I was lying down in the hospital bed while waiting for the doctor to arrive to get started with my test recently. It worked to help to slow down my racing thoughts.
  5. Do affirmations. One of the habits I got into doing during this pandemic is doing affirmations. It’s a powerful habit that can help mold the mind. Affirmations has so many benefits and I’m glad I finally learned its value. I always do it in the morning though sometimes even before I sleep.

The Bottom Line

It’s normal for us to feel anxiety from time to time but we just have to face it. I know that when I finally pushed through with my medical procedure, I felt so relieved like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I like what Susan Albers, PsyD said in an article on how to calm anxiety and anxious thoughts:

Thoughts are like clouds. They’re not good or bad, they just come and go. You don’t have to react to them — ‘Oh, wow, that’s interesting. I wonder where that thought came from,’ works better than ‘Oh, no, that’s terrible.’ Being grounded in the present moment, without judgment, is the place to be.