by Janis Goad
If anxiety and panic attacks are preventing you from fully participating in your family or social life, or are holding you back at work, there are things you can do to get back a sense of control over your life.
It is important to recognize what your anxiety triggers are. Try to write them down, in as specific detail as you can so you can see what you are facing. It can help to break the challenging actions into smaller steps, and take one small step at a time toward doing it. Focus on small steps, one at a time, one day at a time. Achieve success in the first step, and then you can broaden your perspective.
If it is necessary to ask for professional help, do it. Sometimes anxiety attacks can interfere with daily life so much that counseling or medical care may be required. There may be an underlying physical concern, or a mental health condition that will respond to a program of talk therapy, relationship counseling, dialectical behavior therapy, or other type of professional help.
In many cases anxiety comes from stressful life situations such as job conflicts, financial problems, relationship or family difficulties, or illness. In these cases, anxiety contributes to loss of sleep and inability to relax. Relaxation techniques that focus on the body and breath are simple yet powerful methods that can quiet the mind, induce a relaxation response in the body, and promote inner peace and wellness. One of the easiest to learn is conscious relaxation. This takes about ten to fifteen minutes, so find a place where you will not be disturbed, and turn off the lights and the phone. Lie on your back with your legs apart, arms apart, palms facing up, and close your eyes. Now starting with your feet, scan through your body with your inner awareness and consciously relax every part. Relax your toes, your ankles, your shins, your thighs, your hips, your back, your belly, your shoulders, your arms, your hands, your fingers, your neck, your jaw, your eyes, your forehead, your scalp, and picture your whole body relaxing into the floor. Feel the wave of relaxation moving up your spine. Notice your breath. Watch your body breathing naturally, without trying to change the breath at all. Just watch it. Move into inner stillness. After about ten minutes, roll to the side in fetal position and help yourself up to sitting. Then continue with your day, or if you have done this at bedtime, move to bed and fall asleep.
The more you practice relaxation, the easier it becomes. There are many other anxiety natural remedies based on watching the breath. It is also important to structure time to relax into your schedule to counteract the stress hormones the body produces during states of anxiety, so don’t overlook making time to pursue your hobbies, laugh and be with friends. Going for walks, gardening, carving wood or making chainsaw carvings, painting in water colors, and playing music are all useful methods to keep balance in life, relieve stress and reduce anxiety.