Methods/ ways of coping with anxiety when it kicks in the body

[JustMeA]

Hello to you all 🙂This is my second post now, although i ve been part of this comunity for only two days. I find it quite helpfull being here, sharing with people all about anxiety.

I was thinking we could share our ways/ methods of coping with anxiety right when it starts rushing into the body.

What is it that you do that keeps it on a low level?

I find breathing helps me, as long as i start focusing on breathing as soon as i feel anxiety is about to start. If i do not focus on breathing, i am lost, i will feel it in my body for 20-60 minutes, it depends, and than, it will go away.

Take care of you, all. You are strong enough to face anxiety 🙏

[Wildflower13]

Hello! I am new here too I agree, it is so comforting to find others that are similar to me in my experiences / struggles / etc.

I like what you said about focusing on your breathing. As silly as it may sound (I've been dealing with anxiety for 18 years off an on) I only just recently have learned how to really tune in to my breathing and use breathing as a tool to combat anxiety when it arises. Filling out bodies with oxygen truly helps clear my brain of that foggy feeling (which scares me and gives me more anxiety). I'm learning to do yoga / meditation daily and that has greatly helped me learn how to use my breath.

I also agree with what you said, if I do not gain control of my breathing, then the shallow breaths kick in and I am sent into some sort of panic attack state. Then, after that, I am pretty much exhausted for the rest of the day.

I see you are from Romania, I am from the United States - it makes me smile to know we are all the same. We all have struggles, we all have triumphs, we are all just trying out best.

I hope you have a wonderful day

[JustMeA in reply to Wildflower13]

Hello Wildflower13 🙂 Well, i don not like that foggy brain sensation either, i find it frustrating because i feel my brain shuts down and can not think anymore.

But i have been reading quite a lot about the phisiology of anxiety and all the changes that occur in the body during anxiety, and so i found out that the prefrontal cortex kind of ,,shuts down,, ( this area in the brain is responsible for rational thinking, decision making etc) and than, in the brain the amygdala gets activated, which is responsible for the fight or flight response. Because the brain thinks we are danger, it sends signals to release in the body adrenaline. And so the huge amount of adrenaline in the body makes us feel all those strange sensations and also feeling tired, but there s nothing to worry about, because nothing wrong can happen while having anxiety, it is just that our brain tries to keep us safe from danger, and so all that he does is send signals to all the body to get ready to run and protect ourselves .

I think you are very strong since you ve been able to deal with anxiety for so long 👍

And no matter where we live, or what our background is, after all we are all humans.

Take care 🙂 🙏.

[Wildflower13 in reply to JustMeA]

Hello!

Somehow I missed your reply earlier, I'm so glad I saw the notification this time because you shared some great information! Thank you for explaining everything so well and in a way that made sense to me. That was a great summary of info! I like how you said that nothing can happen while having anxiety - that is comforting to read. Our brains must be so tired from being so over worked all the time 😅 I know mine is!! Probably one of the many reasons we get that foggy feeling - we are truly on overload.

That is right - we are just humans trying out best

I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing weekend! 💙

[JustMeA in reply to Wildflower13]

Hello Wildflower13 🙂

I am glad i could share this info and more important, that it made sense.🙂

Well, we don t want to let anxiety control us, we must be in control of it.

There are scientific studies which show that there isn t truly any danger while having anxiety, so yes, that is truly comforting to know.

I wish you a very relaxing week end, too 🤗

Take care!

[Agora1 in reply to JustMeA]

A well educated response for sure. Now that's all we have to do

is believe in that. Breathe xx

[Hidden]

Thank you for sharing. I am pretty new to the group, also. I just thought I would mention that along with breathing, I have found that physically removing myself to a new location is very helpful for me when I get stuck in an anxiety loop / panic attack / repeated negative thoughts. When anxiety sets in at work for example, if you work around other people, you might find that the sounds of the office or other things about your environment keep you in the anxiety loop, despite the breathing practice. Sometimes taking a short walk to get some fresh air and reset the environmental stimuli can really help.

[JkBauer]

Good morning,

That is great that you find deep slow breathing helps you with your anxiety. How have you tried getting outside and walking while you do some deep breathing? Or maybe try listening to some relaxing music while you are doing your deep breathing.

Definitely pray to God for help and ask Him for peace and direction.

I will pray that you will find JOY and Peace amongst your anxiety.

[JustMeA in reply to JkBauer]

Thank you for your kind words🙂 I ve tried lots of ways to reduce anxiety, like walking, counting backwards, meditation, guided meditation, naming colors and objects next to me, and i could go on, and i find breathing works for me. I suppose each individual reacts to different methods of reducing anxiety.Joy and peace to you, too🙏