Let’s Talk About Anxiety: Tips for Self-Care

By Beka Romero

In this world, the situations we experience every day become part of our lives such as work stress, sports competitions, exhausting city traffic, family difficulties and uncontrollable heartbreaks.

Among all this there is a natural response of the body to stress or perception of danger: Anxiety.

Anxiety is an emotion that prepares the body to face threatening situations. When it becomes excessive, persistent, and uncontrollable, it can become an anxiety disorder; But on many occasions also and in its natural form, anxiety can be useful as it alerts you and motivates you to take action.

Symptoms of anxiety can include constant worry, nervousness, muscle tension, difficulty on focus, problems falling asleep, catastrophic thoughts, among others.
Here are 3 tips to practice self-care when you face anxiety:

Deep, conscious breaths: Take a moment to inhale through your nose, filling your lungs, and then exhale through your mouth, repeating several times until you manage to reduce tension and establish calm. You can also pair it with music at a low volume.

Emotional self-care: Spend time doing activities that make you feel good about yourself, for example drawing, watching a movie, yoga classes, talking with your friends or going out. This will help keep anxiety and mental noise under control.

Sleep routine: Quality sleep is important to maintain good mental health, even if you have the opportunity to nap during the day, do it.

A good rest helps reduce anxiety, avoid mobile device screens 30 minutes before bed, as well as some foods that are not conducive to bedtime such as caffeine, sugars and energizers.

Let’s remember that each of us experiences anxiety differently and for that reason self-care strategies should be based on your self-knowledge and what is functional for you. If anxiety is persistent and presents a constant challenge in your life, consider speaking with a mental health professional for guidance and remember “You own your thoughts, choose positive and calm ones.”