Managing Anxiety

Dealing with anxiety is hard. But there are things we can do to manage these tough feelings.

And there are two main strategies that yoga employs - ameliorating the symptoms of anxiety and dealing with underlying causes.

In most instances, it's important to deal with the symptoms and return to a place of health or good enough health (for example, attending to eating well and taking some physical activity). If the symptoms of anxiety are not overwhelming, then the second strategy of dealing with underlying causes is possible. In yoga, this focuses on the mind and creating space to reflect on the causes of worries and the possible options for working with these. For example journalling, pranayama and meditation are all practices encouraging space for reflection. Dealing with the sources of worry is preferable as a long term solution but dealing with the symptoms of worry is the first step.

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1. Pranayama - Focus on your breathing

Focusing on breathing has important benefits. It helps to direct your attention away from thoughts and rumination to something else, which helps to direct the mind elsewhere. It also affects the autonomic nervous system and if you use a suitable breathing pattern, will take the nervous system to a more relaxed state. It's quick and easy to use breathing to alter how we feel.

Use this: Lengthen the exhalation

Breathe in and out through your nose. Breathe with a longer exhalation than inhalation. The length itself is not particularly important but spending more time exhaling than inhaling is. Keep your breathing steady and comfortable.

You'll find other techniques recommended (by people who don't understand yoga breathing!) such as box breathing, 4, 7, 8 breathing and breathing out through the mouth (why?!) but they are not as effective as this option.

2. Activities with movement such as yoga asana

Using movement is a good way of dealing with anxiety as it reduces tension, stiffness and adrenalin levels in the body. It doesn’t have to be strenuous so yoga of any kind can be good. Or other activities like walking, running, swimming, taking a fitness class or dance class are also good. High intensity activities generate cortisol and are not good in the evening, when the body is preparing to sleep and cortisol levels are naturally declining so save these for morning time. Partly these movement-based activities require you to concentrate on your body and take your mind off the anxious thoughts.

3. Journalling

Taking the time to record what’s happening in your life and how it’s affecting you can help you acknowledge how you are and help to understand what is triggering your feelings of anxiety. It’s important to understand where worries are coming from if you're thinking about delaing with the underlying causes. Knowing this can help you better to look at how to address those causes and manage situations that cause anxiety.

The action of writing things down can help organise thoughts too, especially at 3am!

4. Challenge your thoughts

Anxiety can lead us to think about things over and over again in our brain which is called ‘rumination’. When you catch yourself ruminating try to write down the thought and to challenge it. Is what you’re worrying about likely to happen? Are you being realistic? Have you had similar thoughts which have not turned into reality? This can make it easier to challenge the thoughts and stop them from overwhelming you.

5. Get support for money worries

A common cause of anxiety is money. If you’re worried about not being able to pay bills, are struggling to repay debt, or aren’t sure if you can cover your family’s living costs, seek help. This could be via Citizen’s Advice or a trusted friend or some kind of financial adviser. Many banks will be able to point you as a customer in the right direction. Please don't feel ashamed if you're struggling with debt, it can happen to anyone.

6. Spend time in nature

Spending time in nature has a positive impact on our mental health, helping us feel calmer and less stressed. This can be as simple as tending some flowers in a window box or going for a walk in the woods. Any amount of time doing this is good for us, but to really get the benefit, try to spend a significant period of time – maybe an hour or longer – when you can really connect with nature and immerse yourself.

7. Connect with people and talk about how you feel

Don’t worry alone. Anxiety can feel very lonely. Connecting with other people can help a lot. If you’re able to talk to people about how you feel, it can help to reduce your anxiety. Sometimes saying what’s worrying you out loud can take away its power over you. You can do this with a trusted, supportive friend or use professional support like a counsellor or a therapist.

8. Get quality sleep or rest

Resting and having a good night’s sleep is hard when your head is full of worries but there are some things that can help. If anxious thoughts keep you awake, write them down in your diary. If sleep is still not coming, get up and have a drink (nothing with caffeine!) and wait until you’re feeling more tired before going back to bed.

Keeping a note in your journal or diary of your sleep patterns, what time you went to bed, what you ate, how often you woke up etc can help you work out a routine that will help you get better quality sleep. Getting into a routine of some sort is very supportive when we feel overwhelmed with anxiety.

9. Eat for a healthy mind

Feeling anxious might cause us to reach for sugary snacks, junk food or alcohol. It’s important that we don’t turn to unhealthy foods or drinks as a way to cope as they will do more damage in the longer term. Similarly, we should avoid smoking or taking recreational drugs. Eating healthy food helps us to regulate our blood sugar and gives us the energy we need to live well.

10. Practice meditation or mindfulness

In yoga, this is the classic and time-honoured way of taking time and finding space away from our thoughts and allows for observation of our own patterns of thought and behaviour. Using meditation can be difficult which is why using pranayama is an important preparatory technique. However, meditation is a long term solution for overcoming our anxieties, even if being anxious is a strong part of who we are normally. Some people are naturally more anxious than others or have inherited this characteristic from a parent, and yet meditation allows for altering how we both perceive and react to our worries. Starting small and getting into a regular habit is key to using meditation.

One of the most important steps that we can take, is to acknowledge that we are experiencing anxiety and make a decision to change this. It's not easy to do this alone. It's often easier when we have supportive people to help us and an environment around us that will support the changes we need to make.