Tag: mental illness

How to achieve an anxiety free life!

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You might be reading this title & thinking.. IMPOSSIBLE!

I believed that too, until recently. I lived with anxiety EVERYDAY of my life. I would wake up shaking, unable to breathe and having to run to the toilet, every minute of every day. It was unbearable. It got to the point that I didn’t even understand the point of living if this is what living was. How was it possible for someone to feel so awful, every day? There were no breaks, no moments of relief. I tried medication, counseling, exercise, you name it! But nothing worked until I opened my mind to the ability to allow something to work. I was so stuck in my mind believing that this was it, this is how it was going to be for the rest of my life. But when I allowed myself to heal, different methods allowed me to heal.

I’m going to be summarising the different ways that have helped me achieve an anxiety free life (for the most part, I still have some bad days) but I am going to be doing detailed posts about each individual thing, in order for you to fully understand each step.

So, what I do is I have a notes page on my notes app on my phone & whenever I need to remind myself of things I should be doing, I refer back to it. So I advise you to do the same, write the points down that you are willing to try (I advise trying them all together as this is how things worked for me) and each morning you can read over the list to remind yourself of the steps you need to follow.

Now this isn’t going to be a quick fix, you aren’t going to feel better overnight but if you follow these steps & prioritize your health you will notice a dramatic change, so here goes.

 

Anxiety free life! 🌈

 

Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is pain that develops the powers of the mind.

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Acknowledge & understand that a panic attack happens when the body thinks it’s in danger, it doesn’t actually have to be in danger. So instead of fearing it..

Change your perspective to “this is a normal response that has become overactive due to my constant anxiety, don’t be silly, you’re not in any danger at all.”

Self-talk in your head will free you from anxiety & by also using breathing exercises.

  1. Accept that the anxiety is there & allow your body to heal from it.
  2. Understand how your body responds to anxiety & learn how to change it.
  3. Change your perspective. Wire your brain to think POSITIVE.

 

 

  • Follow self-care routine. (I will be doing a blog post on this)
  • Try to not to control your anxiety too much. Don’t get me wrong, I know how hard it can be to try to ignore anxiety. But the more you focus on your anxiety and try to control it, the worse it can get.
  • Tablets taken every day: if you take prescription tablets, make sure you are taking them regularly when you need them!
  • Vitamins taken every day: I take – Probiotics, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin D, B12 & Fish Oil. I will also be doing a blog post on this!
  • Exercise every day! I’m not saying go run a marathon but even: Go to Gym classes, Go out a walk in nature, or even walk up and down the street. Just get your body moving.
  • Drink two liters of water every day.
  • Essential Oil Therapy: Lavender baths, Inhalation, Oil Diffuser with Lavender, Clary Sage or Angelica. (Post coming on this)
  • Practice guided meditation every day: Also, meditate when anxiety strikes. This is one of the most helpful ways to manage anxiety for me.
  • Practice breathing exercises every day: Either when doing guided meditation or whilst walking or at random times!! So important. (Post coming on this)
  •  Read self-help books.  One of the biggest things that have helped me manage my anxiety and help turn my life around is reading self-help books. POSITIVE THINKING is so important!
  • Eat a healthy diet. It’s important what you put into your body and some foods/drinks can make your anxiety worse.
  • Get a good night’s sleep and take a nap if (and when) you need to. Sometimes sleep is all it takes to get any emotional problems you may be suffering under control.
  • Try not to avoid the things that scare you. Challenging yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone can be one of the most helpful things for anxiety. But don’t bite off more than you can chew; you don’t want to make things worse. Challenge yourself in small steps and be patient.  Remember, there is a difference between not going and not going because you’re too anxious.
  • Spend more time with friends & organize fun things.

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Practice mindfulness. This is a great way to manage your anxiety. Being mindful allows you to live in the present moment instead of living in the past or being fearful for the future.

 

I know this list might seem pretty intense, but even try something new one week at a time. I will be doing blog posts on each individual thing mentioned in order to give you more information. But if you have any other things that help you please comment below!

 

I hope I can help you.

Stay Strong ❤

So, What is ANXIETY?

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That dreaded bloody word, ANXIETY.

You hear it everywhere. You hear people say that they feel anxiety about a job interview or a first date. They feel anxious over the weather or about dying their hair. Celebrities on tv use the word anxiety as a way of describing being nervous.

We all get nervous & anxious sometimes and this is important & beneficial to us. It’s useful when we are placed in a situation as it will allow us to make the most important decisions and to do our very best.

BUT, our anxiety feels different. Anxiety feels like a tonne of bricks have been placed on your chest, your lungs are empty & closing up, your body shakes uncontrollably accompanied by hot and cold flushes, tingling down your arms and legs, spasms and cramps in your stomach & your mind spinning as if it was in a washing machine, but instead of being cleaned it’s being absorbed with negative thoughts, and what ifs?

Anxiety can be unbearable, but it can also be life altering. Stopping you from answering the phone, walking to the shops, making it into work or even leaving your bed.  It can ruin relationships with loved ones and even your relationship with yourself.

Anxiety is a horrible feeling that we all experience at different times in our lives. When you are feeling anxious there are a list of symptoms that you can experience such as:

  • Increased heart rate
  • Muscle tightness
  • Hot and cold flashes
  • Trembling
  • Shaking
  • Sweating
  • Feeling unable to breath.. these are just a few.

It also impacts us mentally. Worrying about daily things but the thinking becomes obssesive and often hard to get rid of. Jumping from one thought to another or obsseively thinking of the same thing over and over again.

It can largely influence how we behave. For example, making us avoid the things we need/want to because of the fear of embarassement or how things will turn out. Interfering with daily tasks and important dates.

 

So, how do you get anxiety?

Lots of things can trigger anxiety.

  • Stressful life events – such as losing a job, a loved one passing away.
  • Past events – that may have been traumatic or even disturbing to your thoughts.
  • Life style – such as poor diet, unhealthy life style.
  • Personality – maybe you have always been a naturally nervous person?
  • Health problems – which can result in anxiousness over how to cope.

 

 

BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS..

You have the potential to change.

Any fear or anxiety can be a massive sign of unresolved problems – maybe something that has happened in your past is still affecting you today or maybe you just aren’t willing to realise how incredible you are. But whatever it is, you can choose to change.

But the thing is, you have to be willing to change.

Its important you have some insight into what is causing the fear & anxiety i.e., where your fears came from and when they started. Have you gone through a traumatic experience? Had a large lifestyle change? Now, im not saying something dramatic has to happen to for you to have anxiety. You dont even need to have a reason for having it (I believed for years that my anxiety had no cause) but its important to think deep because once you idendtify the cause, you can eliminate it.

Okay so now you know what has started your anxiety and you are looking to resolve the issue, you now will need to alter how you view the issue, yourself and others. Of course this is easy to say, but in my next couple of posts im going to be writing about the different ways to overcome anxiety. Read them, try them & alter it to suit you. Unfortunately, its all about trial and error but once you find what works, the relief will be unreal. But you might be tempted to follow old habits, stopping your progress but  you must allow yourself as much time as you need to accept these changes.

Overcoming anxiety is not an easy thing, there is no quick fix or magic pill. But with different methods & a positive frame of mind.. IT IS POSSIBLE TO OVERCOME IT!

 

Stay Strong ❤

About me & about this blog.

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Ever since I was young I knew I was different.

I didn’t enjoy the things that my peers did. I didn’t want to go the places that they went. The happiest I felt was when I was home in my pajamas, unlike my friends who would moan about how desperate they were to have plans to leave.

I would feel emotions so intensely. Whereas everyone around me did not. I would feel the weight of the world lying on my chest because my best friend hadn’t texted me back. I would cry myself to sleep over my crush liking someone else. I didn’t care, BUT I DID. I cared so intensely and deeply that I would feel peculiar, weird, even crazy! Why must I be lying on the ground shaking because someone had confronted me about their missing invitation to my party? Why must I be sweating & hyperventilating because there were no taxis to get home? I feel things in ways that many others couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

I craved connections with everyone. I craved the feeling of being loved, being liked, being wanted and I would do anything to make these connections with others. Although deep down all I wanted to do was lie in my bed and watch re-runs of my favorite shows, I would over exert myself in order to make sure I was ‘liked’ by others. I would go shopping with girls & spend money I didn’t even have just to impress them & fit in. I would drink alcohol to the point I couldn’t walk just so I didn’t look like the loser sitting there sober. I would walk around in freezing weather wearing only a cardigan so that boys would think I was attractive.

You might by now be thinking,  “Yes, but EVERY teenager feels and does things like that!”

Yes, they probably do. But everything to me was a chore, my teenage years were a chore to me. A chore that I hated to do, but had to. I had to because the fear of not being accepted drove me crazy. I was desperate to look normal, but then my emotions would send me haywire. I would look fine to others, but inside my chest was about to blow open & my mind was about to melt. The churning in my stomach made me feel like I was going to pass out with the pain but it wasn’t the emotions that caused me to act different from the way I really felt, it was the fear of not being accepted, of people not understanding how I really felt.

I aimed to succeed. I wanted to succeed in school, in popularity & appearance. I wanted to succeed in creating connections with people to feel needed.

So, what about now? Am I still craving connections? Am I still feeling emotions so deeply that it knocks me to my core?

The answer is yes. Yes, everything is the same, apart from my end goal. I no longer crave artificial connections, I no longer want people to accept me for why i portray to them I am. I still feel emotions intensely, but I no longer hide them away from people.

Anxiety is like having someone controlling living inside of you, whose aim is to make you feel the worst of the worst. It wants to break you down, believe things that are not true & push you down to the breaking point. My own teenage years were FILLED with anxiety. I didn’t know it at the time, but my intense emotions that I tried to push down, the emotions that I believed were more sensitive than others, was actually anxiety that was trying to make me my worst self. So when I reached the point that daily panic attacks were occurring I knew I needed to change, I needed to make a change to my life. I couldn’t bear the shaking, the churning stomach, the tight chest and the racing mind every day. Everything I had every worked for (the friends & the popularity) had gone. I had lost everyone around of me. The people that I tried to impress, and make connections with had left me. During my hardest time, they had disappeared. Disappeared because I no longer fitted in. That’s when I knew, the only connection that I knew I truly needed was a pure connection with myself, to be able to understand my own mind and body. Work to impress only me.

I no longer go to parties just to show face & I don’t force myself to look good for others,

I now aim to succeed. I aim to succeed in myself. Succeed, in pure health, in happiness. I aim to make connections with people who have pure hearts. I aim to heal myself and to make a difference in the world. I’m not saying I am stopping world hunger or stopping pollution but I aim to help other heal the way I feel myself heal every day. I want people to reach their full potential, to live a life that makes them happy to their core and to also feel emotions on a normal intensity. I aim to make deep and lasting connections with those who vibrate a frequency that I recognize within myself.

I now hear my own voice and I listen to it, I embrace my calling and my emotions. I will not and do not compromise with my happiness and most definitely my health. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

and so I ask, do you believe in more? Do you believe in a life without anxiety?

If so, then please stay. I want to help you.

I’ll be uploading different posts on how to help with different kinds of anxiety, different situations to help to cope with and how to feel happy within yourself.

If you are still reading, then thank you & I hope that this blog can be of some help whatsoever.