How To Reduce Anxiety

That tight feeling in your throat, the pressure of an invisible creature on your chest, and the inability to decipher the reason behind it.

As horrifying as it feels to the person experiencing it, anxiety is more prevalent than we would like to believe. More so in women than men by 50%, and 6.8 million adults are affected.

We have so much stress in our lives now a days that it is not a surprise that anxiety is running rampant through our society. Think of all the things we have to do throughout the day, and all the extra pressures that are placed on women, for instance the standard of looking perfect, having a great career, being the perfect mom, the perfect spouse, the perfect friend. Now this is only a small list, I am sure there are many other things on your list.

Consider this. What if we STOP pressuring ourselves?

Then what? What is so bad about not being perfect? I am not saying to totally give up. What I am saying is this, learning to laugh at ourselves and keep moving forward instead of getting so down about not being at our goal at this moment that we lose focus. Getting caught up in silly stories that our egos create and we repeat in our minds. These stories that we tell ourselves are creating our reality. And who wants anxiety in there reality? Not me. And for sure not you either.

What can we do as women to reduce the anxiety in our lives and create a better reality? Well, there are a ton of options:

1. yoga-now yoga is actually an activity which is supposed to prepare your body and mind for meditation.
2. meditation-well of course I had to add this after the last one, meditation has been proven to reduce blood pressure, and anxiety.
3. breathing relaxation technique-basically it is a 5/5/5 ratio on your breath; counting to 5 during your inhale, holding for a count of 5, and releasing slowly for the same count of 5.
4. aromatherapy-using lavender and ylang ylang oils in a diffuser or applying directly to the skin, provided it is the type which is okay to be used topically, can be extremely helpful in reducing anxiety.
5. exercise-getting your blood flowing can not only improve your health, but also reduces the cortisol and adrenaline in your body thus reducing stress and hopefully anxiety.

All of these practices help a person to come to the Now. When you are living in the now there is no anxiety. So it might take a while, but like with everything with practice comes improvement.

The idea is to learn to accept who you are right now.

If we can do this, and still keep our goals and aspirations in mind then we can grow, while reducing our anxiety.

Lao Tzu stated that if you are anxious you are living in the future.

Joy can only be found in the now. Peace can only be found in the now. So release the idea of “What If” and focus on the RIGHT NOW.