Have you ever experienced waking up in the morning feeling a bit odd? Like everything is already prepared and ready, but you feel something is missing or wrong?
Did you have any experience where your heart beats so fast and you don't know why?
Was there a time that you were in the middle of something but suddenly became jumpy and nervous?
Is there any incident that you saw someone and then your hands started to become sweaty and your feet felt cold?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you had experienced anxiety.
According to the American Psychological Association, Anxiety is an emotion characterized by worried thoughts and feelings of tension. This may also include physical changes like increased blood pressure, sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat.
Though anxiety is normal and may be caused by the hormonal changes. Let us admit that being a woman is not easy as we have a lot of roles to fulfill. The need to balance our responsibilities between personal, family and career can get overwhelming that occasionally we feel anxiety creeping in. Thus, let me share 8 easy steps on how to free yourself from anxieties:
1. Express It - Emotions is one of the key factors that influence the way we think and behave. Though we are not required to say and share everything we feel, it is also not healthy to bottle up your emotions too long as it is inevitable that you will explode at one point. Thus, when you are feeling a bit overwhelmed, share it with someone like your mom, sister or best friend. You'd be surprised to see that letting it out can help ease the burden that you are feeling.
2. Exercise - Did you know that happy hormones are released when you exercise? When you exercise, your body raises endorphins and serotonin levels which helps trigger a positive feeling in your body. This helps you improve your overall outlook which fights off anxiety.
3. Get Enough Sleep and Rest - Getting enough sleep and rest is very important for us to function well. Keep in mind that our body and mind need to recharge, and we can do so by having adequate sleep and rest. We know that there is just too much to do, but it is ideal to have at least 6-8 hours of sleep per day. Ladies, keep in mind – you deserve to get some sleep.
4. Eat chocolate - Chocolates are also known to improve overall mental being as it helps increase serotonin and dopamine elevating one’s mood. When you are feeling a bit down or anxious, grab that dark chocolate that you have been dying to have. Just make sure that you have some in moderation as anything in excess is bad.
5. Don't Skip Meals - There are times that when you are anxious, you don't really feel like eating. However, you must keep in mind that low sugar can make you feel more down. When the amount of sugar in the blood is not enough to fuel the body's activities, hypoglycemia occurs which is a cause of depression, weakness, and mental dullness.
6. Practice Deep Breathing - As mentioned earlier, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and elevated blood pressure are some of the physical symptoms of anxiety. Deep breathing can help restore normal breathing patterns and can help overcome anxiety.
7. Meditate - When things start to get overwhelming, it is very important that we learn to relax and meditate. When you meditate you are allowing yourself to let go of the chaotic thoughts from your mind and replace them with a sense of calm and mindfulness.
8. Focus on Today - We may never know what the future may bring, and this leads us to feel worried about what might happen tomorrow. Just focus on the present. Learn to live the moment and trust that everything will be alright. This change of mindset will help you free yourself from all these meaningless anxieties. Enjoy what you have today after all, just like what Chloe Thurlow of The Secret Life of Girls said it is fun being a girl.