Need ideas to ease my anxiety!

[ZOO7]

what ideas do you all have to ease anxiety these days? I have more physical symptoms like headaches, nausea, brain fog, dizzy! Any ideas yinz have would be appreciated.

[ZOO7]

Good idea. I do have small barbell type weights here. Will try this. Thank you.

[DodgeDhanda]

Hi Z7.

Have U looked into using breathing techniques?

Like slowing down ur breathing , U do this by placing ur right arm across ur heart & ur left arm across ur tummy ( not stomach as that's just behind & below ur heart ).

Then U close ur eyes & feel ur heart beat & feel ur tummy raise up & down & as U concentrate on ur heartbeat & raising of torso. THEN ..... U listen to ur breathing in through ur nose & out of ur mouth & once U start to control ur breathing it's then when U try to breathe in & out without making a sound & by the time U've attained the silence U will feel better .

U need to slow ur heart rate down & lifting weights is great exercise buy that will send ur heart racing even more as will most exercise & that's also why u exercise when ur feeling calm & want to work ur body & do cardio too.

But hey its up to U .

[ZOO7 in reply to DodgeDhanda]

I do the breathing often. It does help me. I appreciate your approach will give it a try. Anything that helps, I will do. Thanks

[DodgeDhanda in reply to ZOO7]

Do both, calm ur breathing first then go hell for leather in pumping the iron

[FauxxTrot]

I use an app called worry tree. Writing my anxieties down is helpful because then I can see them, read them outside of my mind. Almost like someone else could have written it and sometimes rereading what I wrote sheds some light on why I'm feeling the way I am. I always need to solve/analyze so this helps me. If it doesn't I set a worry time alarm. Like I'll spend 1 hour worrying about this tomorrow morning over coffee. Then by the time tomorrow morning comes I'm either not anxious anymore or I can think with a clear mind.

[ZOO7 in reply to FauxxTrot]

Great advice. Will definitely try this. I have not set a worry time before. Thanks

[FauxxTrot in reply to ZOO7]

You're welcome. It's strange but sometimes knowing there is time set aside to tackle the anxiety and gently tell yourself now is not the time can help

[Luna49]

Look for Claire Weeks on YouTube, she is an incredible woman who can change the way you feel about anxiety (and the way it makes you feel).

[ZOO7]

Thanks. A while back I listened to one of her books. I will look her up on you tube. Thanks for reminding me about her. ❤️

[designguy]

What helps me sometimes is eating bland foods and soups for a few days to allow my digestion to calm down even switching to decaf coffee and drinking herbal teas. Also just sitting and practicing mindful meditation helps and being rational with myself and reminding myself that the physical sensations are normal and come and go all the time and to not blow them out of proportion.

[ZOO7 in reply to designguy]

Good ideas. I will try the calming foods. I do think that my diet does relate to my anxious feelings. Tea is a good idea. I drink coffee a bit when I have a headache. It does sometimes help. Will definitely try these ideas you shared. Appreciate it. Thanks for sharing.

[designguy in reply to ZOO7]

You're welcome. Our gut health directly affects our brain health and mood so diet is very important.

[Flor55]

Hello ZOO7. I tell myself two things: (1) I'm doing my best, and (2) be kind to yourself. I let the feelings really sink in. I find this kind of "self talk" is very helpful.

[ZOO7 in reply to Flor55]

I need to get better at the kind self talk. I’m not good at this. Will try to be better at it. Thanks for the reminder. It’s so strange because I’ve always had a bit of anxiety since I was little but now at middle age I’m like so heightened to it and extreme worry every day.

[Flor55 in reply to ZOO7]

I also use two other self-talk instructions: "I'm OK". That helps me deal with the shame that has been a constant in my life. And "Nothing's My Fault". This may sound kind of denial of reality, but so much of what I beat myself for is truly not my fault and it helps me deal with the profound guilt I've been dealing with. If the anxiety you're suffering from has anything to do with these things I think they would be very helpful.

[ADHDgifts]

One other thought (and I'm sorry you are going through this) -see if you can get your vitamin levels checked. I did this (same symptoms) and was very low in iron and my doctor had me supplement with Klaire Labs (best in my opinion did not have side effects) iron and B6, B12 and SAMe.

[ZOO7 in reply to ADHDgifts]

that’s a great thought. A while back I did take iron. I actually have it here. I should give it another try. Sometimes I do a bcomplex vitamin. That does seem to help me a bit.

[ZOO7]

I did some small weights today when I felt the afternoon rush of anxious feelings. You know what? It helped. I focused on my reps. And just kept doing various exercises for about 10min straight. Then I stopped, and thought to myself you did good. 🙏