For those of you who do not know the word anxiety, I hope you can get some picture of what anxiety means, for those who already know that word, you may get what it feels like through this article, and for those who have it, I want you to know that you are not alone. Especially, I hope this can get you over it or at least get much better than I did too.
Before sharing, I want you to know that, like me, there are many people out there at many places all over the world who are experiencing such a bad condition. We do not have access to therapist or clinic. We are in a place where wellness is not as important as surviving. And have it without knowing what it is and why it happens, even worse, we do not know we have it, not to mention fix it.
Overview
What is anxiety?
A simple term that make it easy to understand is “Depression is to live in the past, Happiness is to live in present, and Anxiety is to live in the future”.
This is pretty simple and easy to remember as our brain works better connectively.
How do you know you have it?
Rushed
You normally feel that you don’t have enough time, so you try to make things happened or done as quickly as possible. You feel the need to rush and afraid that you will run out of time. Sometimes, it’s distinguished as being efficient, but you should watch out.
Stressful
Do you find yourself in a stressful environment or situation often? Be it at work, school, or at home, there are possibility to get them. You mostly fee stressed when there is too much to handle. You feel overwhelm and don’t know what to do. You cannot get things done because you don’t know how to, or you don’t have enough time to do it.
Trembled
You may feel trembled on your hand mostly and sometimes on your chest. You occasionally feel that and it’s either symptoms of some illness or anxiety.
Short-breathed
If you never notice, you should try. Your breath should have some pace. It should be long enough to get a lot of air to your lung because your body really need that to live. If you feel not at ease and your breath is so short that you occasionally sigh, it’s a sign that your body need more air.
Forgetful
Remember about anxiety being about the future? Yes, you don’t really focus on detail of what you do and you become more forgetful that it’s too much. It could be that your hand is too full for the current situation or you think about future more than putting your interest into what you are currently doing.
Short-tempered
If you notice yourself more short-tempered or getting told about that it could mean you are not enjoying your current self or that you could be very unsatisfied with it. It would make you think about becoming better to enjoy and be happy but the future just stay there and never become the present no matter how much time has passed.
How to fix it?
Relax
I always try to be relax but it started only when I do the facial massage. For you, it could be body massage or anything that work for you. However, just tell yourself to relax and sleep does not really help sometimes. The same bed you sleep might make you lay down just like you usually do and the atmosphere does seem to bring up your hormone to really relax. At home or work place would still make you think about whatever trouble you are facing, so go somewhere different like a massage or resort where you can enjoy. You don’t tell yourself to forget and enjoy, but you would do automatically when it happens.
Feel and enjoy the moment
I normally don’t have self awareness and only focus on what I do and the result. I don’t really see those as reward, joy, or journey. I have to keep reminding myself many times at first to enjoy it, and eventually it became more and more automatic. Frequently start by asking yourself some questions like “So, I am doing this?” “How am I feeling?” “Am I happy right now?” “Am I really sad right now?” “How does this taste? Good?” “Am I going to work on something I’ve never done before?” …
Control breathing
Meditation is a really good method to control breath. It is different from sleeping because that’s when you are conscious. You can do meditation by learning from videos or just do by yourself if you have high commitment. Otherwise, you can look for meditation class and join with others. Controlling your breath helps you calm down and feel your own presence. If you remain calm you can feel the moment and you become more conscious about the present than future.
Understand
You have to try to understand that what you do does not speed you up that much, so as it’s not much difference, you should maintain your pace.
Stress management
You should learn to deal with your stress. It’s undeniable that some people are unfortunate with stressful working environment. “What doesn’t kill will make you stronger.” is a popular and true phrase. You can either leave that environment or learn to cope with it. Talking to a friend or family would be helpful too because you can feel better and get good advice from them.
These are very useful ways and as a result, I have felt much better. I occasionally feel anxious, but as I have built a good foundation of self awareness and self control, I could detect faster and deal with it more promptly. They are something you can inject into how you live your life to feed your mental like you feed your physical with food everyday.
If these methods could not help you, you may be in serious situation that seeking a help from professional is important.
We believe everyone deserves peace of mind and we all can and deserve to be mentally healthy.
Good luck.
