Here's part two to my A-Z of anxiety.
I- Instinct: As I mentioned before the bodies natural response is the fight or flight response. Your heart is racing, your chest feels tight, your body starts shaking. But its just the bodies way of reacting to a situation. It's not something you can necessarily control but how you help bring the body back to ''normal'' is something you can control. Whether that's by breathing, walking away until you've calmed down or sitting somewhere quiet.
J- Jelly: No not the food kind, I mean how your legs feel when you have a trigger. I feel like I can't walk and if I do my legs feel like they've turned to jelly. So the best thing for me to do is sit until the feeling has passed enough for me to calm down a little. After which I try to find somewhere quiet, if this isn't possible then take some deep breaths and focus on something else.
K- Kind: Being kind to others is always important, it can help make someones day that little bit better and you feel good for being kind too. What do I mean by being kind? Texting someone how they are, smiling if someone smiles at you. The little things mean just as much as the big gestures.
L- Listen: This leads onto listening. Everyone is always going through something good or bad, and its natural to want to tell somebody. So if you are that somebody, listen and be proud that they trust you enough to share their story. And if you want something to share, there's always someone, somewhere who wants to listen.
M- Meditation: This is something I've tried relatively recently, its not an instant fix. It's something you have to try everyday for at least two weeks before you really start to feel any difference. The great thing being that everyone has 5-10 minutes in their day to meditate. You start to feel a sort of inner peace where you know there aren't issues over crowding your brain. I use an app with rain sounds because this sound has always relaxed me. For others it could be the beach, white noise or anything. Guided meditation works well for beginners and those more used to it if you feel you need it.
N- Natural therapies: I've spoken about natural remedies like Rescue Remedy and Scentered before in my post Anxiety busters for on the go. So I'll keep this brief, they work better for me than conventional medication and there aren't set doses so can't really overdose by accident.
O- Opportunities: Accepting new opportunities can be difficult for anyone. Even more so for people with anxiety as new things can bring new challenges and triggers. But sometimes it's good to take on something new. There's a famous quote which says do something everyday that scares you. And I think we should do that, even smaller things like going to the shops when it may be busier. All of this can help in the long run.
P- Panic Attacks: Panic attacks can be scary, it's one of those things that unless you've had one its hard to explain how you feel. But when people say they feel like they are having a heart attack, they aren't far wrong. Okay so I've never had a heart attack, but I have had panic attacks. And they are terrifying, you shake, feel like you can't breathe, tingle all over (because of the lack of oxygen), cry, feel like you can't move and so much more. Having someone there comforting you is helpful, not being too crowded as it can make you feel worse. Remembering to breathe, failing that the person you are with keep telling you to breathe in through the nose and it'll pass soon.
Q- Quiet: Sometimes having some quiet time to yourself to read, listen to music, sleep.. anything really can be quite healing. A time where you can just do something you really enjoy, just as long as you remember to join your family and friends again afterwards!
xx
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