Ease your mind: 4 Easy ways to cope with anxiety and stress!

Hello amazing members and listeners of our community! How are you all doing?

As a person who has struggled (and still struggles, I'm not going to lie! ) with anxiety and as a listener who has worked with several members on anxiety- related issues, I thought it would be useful to share some tips, which have helped us cope with our anxiety to an extent!

I know that the same methods and techniques don't work for everyone, so feel free to try whatever you think may work for you! At the end of the day, we have nothing to lose by trying some new things, right?

1. The "worries- box"

Okay, this is a technique about which I'm super excited because it has worked wonders for me! It works in a really simple way: You take a box (preferably opaque, which means that you can't see what's inside when it's closed), which you name the "worries- box". Each time you are worried you write each one of your concerns on a piece of paper and you put it in the box saying out loud "These thoughts won't be making me worried anymore.". Then, you close the box and take some deep breaths. Repeating the same phrase (feel free to make alternations to the one I proposed) everytime you use this technique is key, as you create a specific pattern that helps you calm down and your brain gets accustomed to it! It may sound extremely simple, but remember; consistency is key. The more you stick to a technique (that seems to have a cetain result, of course!), the better it works!

2. A journal devoted to your emotions

You can use a notebook (feel free to decorate it!) or some pieces of paper, if that works for you better. It would be preferable to write there on a daily basis. A good step is to give answers to some specific questions !

These questions are up to you. I would propose something like: "How did I feel today?" /"What situations caused stress to me?"/ "How did my body react to the stress? (Did my heart rate get faster, did my palms sweat/ did I clench my fists? ) "/ "How long did that feeling last? " / "How come I felt better? ".

Important note: I emphasize the fact that observing how our body responds to specific emotions can help us identify what we feel when we can't really name it. For example, I tend to bite my lips when I get stressed. There was one time period in my life that I was feeling a bit down and overwhelmed and I didn't know why. By journaling my emotions in detail and observing how my body reacts to certain feelings that I wasn't able to label, I noticed that I used to bite my lips a lot during those days. That way, I suspected that a main reason why I was feeling down was stress! By identifying my exact emotion, I was able to work on it and feel better.

I encourage everyone who decides to apply this technique to use colors, images and shapes in their journal (to describe or categorize their emotions)- which is not only helpful but also extremely fun!

3. Self- care routine

It's widely known that self- care is absolutely required and can help us cope with intense emotions, like stress. What I've found really efficient is to set a specific time when I get to do my self- care each and every day (for an x amount of minutes, the same for each day). That helps me know that I am going to be solely devoted and focused on myself during that time and it makes me see it as a really useful break, which I get to enjoy daily! It also gives me motivation and hope to continue working hard, as I am sure that there will be time to relax later. It also helps me feel less overwhelmed and, therefore, less stressed.

4. Record yourself!

That's right- try recording yourself just talking about your stress and/or what's stressing you out! That's really easy and pretty simple, but it can make you feel heard and, eventually, calmer . Saving these recordings and listening to them at a later time may also help you observe specific patterns when it comes to your behavior and feelings, which is a great first step to achieve finding more ways to cope with them!

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These are some ideas on how to cope with stress! I think that sharing the techniques we personally use can be really useful for others, that's why I'm encouraging all of you to share your own, by replying to this thread, if you want. How do you usually cope with stress?

If you try one (or more! ) of these 4 techniques, feel free to update us on how it worked for you!

I really hope my post helped somehow!

Lots of positive vibes for all of you!

-Dream