A lot of people nowadays, suffer from anxiety and anxious situations in their day to day lives. Have you ever thought about why are we anxious?, and how can we deal with anxiety? Most of the people would come up with the solution of going and seeing a doctor and get on the prescribed medication.
This method would help temporarily but the truth is, that it’s far from being the ideal solution to this problem and would hardly help in the long term treatment of the problem.
What is anxiety?
According to the Oxford dictionary, it is defined as a worried and uneasy feeling. It presents itself as a physical symptoms such as an uneasy feeling in the chest, increase in heart-beat and rapid breathing. When anxiety is not managed properly, it often results in a panic attack.
If anxiety is caused by being worried, why do we feel worried? When we have fear and worry generally about the future to an intensity that it interferes with our daily activities we feel worried and eventually feel anxious.
Let me give you an example of my situation and how I dealt with anxiety using few of the tools I learnt at my rehabilitation centre in Mumbai, DAIRRC.
I recently went through a divorce. It was a very high emotional intensity situation. On the day of my signing the divorce papers at the court, I felt this weird feeling in my chest and was feeling restless. Immediately I realised that I am feeling anxious. I figured that the fear and uncertainty about the divorce, and what would happen after the divorce was bringing about this feeling.
At my rehabilitation centre, Doc had told me that when I feel anxious, never try to stop or resist the anxiety. That results in being anxious about feeling anxious, which can result in a panic attack.
I put into action what I learnt from Doc at the best rehabilitation centre. I decided to use the parasympathetic breathing tool. I was sitting in the back seat of a car. I increased the air-conditioning to full. Then I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, in and out for three minutes. I felt slightly better.
Then, I told myself what I learnt during therapy, that the opposite of anxiety is acceptance.
I told myself that I do not have any control over the divorce and the event that will take place in court. Nor can I predict the future about how the event will execute itself. But I can gather certainty in the way I behave throughout the event, that is being cordial and loving. Hence, I accepted the event the way it is, understanding that it’s not in my control.
Thereafter, the anxiety feeling started diluting. I felt a lot better, and in the end due to the tools and my acceptance, my divorce turned out to be cordial and simple.
Tools to deal with Anxiety
At this rehabilitation centre, Dairrc I learnt various tools that can be used during moments when we all feel anxious. Here is a list of some of things you can do:
Parasympathetic Breathing:
Slow and deep abdominal breathing. Take a deep breath in as your stomach expands fully. Then take a deep breathe out as your stomach contracts completely. Keep repeating it. This breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for cooling down the brain.
Pray/Chant:
The process of chanting or praying will help decrease the stress and anxiety and bring about a relaxing feeling.
Cold Water Shower:
A cold water shower instantly cools down the inflamed part of the brain bringing in clarity, increased alertness and happy hormones.
Rest for a While:
Post resting, your brain will feel calmer and you will be able to look at the problem differently and come up with a solution.
Meditation:
Meditating regularly impacts our pre-frontal cortex in a positive way. This is the part of the brain which helps us make decisions and increases awareness.
Focus on something else:
The good news is if these tools are practiced every day, the frequency and intensity of anxiety reduces with time. A last Friendly reminder to everyone dealing with anxiety: Never try to stop anxiety. Anxiety must be managed. Whatever you resist, will only persist.