Stress may be a word we hear a lot now but people will find it hard to believe that this word was tucked in our school books too. Defined as force per unit area, most of us may not have understood the relevance of stress when we learnt about this concept of physics in school. Simply put, whether an object is being pulled apart or compressed heavily, the forces at play is known as stress. It is actually responsible for effecting permanent deformation in the object. So far so good, but just imagine if the object which is subjected to this enormous amount of force is your brain. Sounds worrying, doesn’t it?
For most of us, stress is our response to any environmental condition which is perceived as adverse by our mind. This is our body’s natural response system to handle any threats or danger to our life. Things like working constantly, being worried about one’s performance at work, overthinking an upcoming event and our role in it and crises of many kinds can leave us anxious. But a prolonged exposure to stress can cause a permanent strain in our brain, leaving us worrying too much, reducing our abilities to perform many life tasks.
Even a positive experience can lead to stress and anxiety. For instance, after a hectic work week, social get-togethers help us wind down and enjoy life, rejuvenating us. But if you are the host of the get-together and are getting increasingly jittery about the planning and success of the party, it means you are getting stressed and anxious instead of happy and joyous. As we age, similar situations may cause pronounced physical and emotional burden on our health and mental faculties. An anxious mind is like a rocking chair – it just takes you back and forth. How to deal with stress and anxiety is not a question but an answer to leading a healthy life.
Whenever you are stressed and anxious, you tend to ignore the positive things around you and end up in a spiral of negative experiences from the past. If this has become a habit, even the slightest of negative thoughts is enough for your brain to react to this emotionally. Inflexible body or tense muscles are immediate signs that you should never ignore. In fact, noticing these are your first step towards healing, something your mind desperately needs.
Once we know how to deal with stress and anxiety, we can embark on a journey to win over an anxious mind. Here, we have researched and outlined ways for people to lead a life that is free of stress and anxiety.
Identify your anxiety
Have you ever noticed how you get worked up and stressed in the advent of entertaining a sudden or unannounced guest?However, you do your best to maintain the decorum of your home by being pleasant and not letting anyone know about your nervous state of mind. Interestingly, once that guest leaves, you relax and start savouring the good time you had.
This is why the best an anxious mind can do is to recognize and understand why it is anxious.By identifying what causes you anxiety, you can find a way to deal with it. Instead of treating painful emotions as threats or problems, you can try to get to know them. The moment you are able to connect and understand your body better, your mind will receive that much needed breathing space and prompt you to return to the present. This helps to bring self-awareness and you consciously start focusing on your feelings. Acknowledging and accepting those feelings bring calmness and a state of mindfulness.
Mindfulness techniques like deep breathing, meditation and yoga direct your mind to focus on inner peace and help reduce anxiety.
Routine regulates the mind
Your routine activities helps regulate your mind. They do so by bringing in an element of control.
Routine activities like taking a walk every morning, meditating or even having your meals at a designated time are simple but effective ways to bring surety in one’s life and have calm and composure. The time bound nature of routine helps to break your chain of thoughts and rejuvenate your body, more so if you are performing monotonous tasks.
Working according to routine helps reduce anxious feelings in general by conveying to your brain a powerful message that you are safe in the present moment.
Be kind in disciplining self
We all know, ‘a healthy mind resides in a healthy body.’ Despite knowing the benefits of exercising, yoga or outdoor sports, only a few of us stick to our schedules. In fact, just the mention of schedules make many of us jittery. The mental image associated with schedules is that of harsh and demanding conditions, strictness and discipline in tow. This thought itself is detrimental to our resolve to stay fit.
Just like attending school or college, one has to be disciplined in one’s approach towards dealing with stress and anxiety as well. But there is no need for it to be punishing in nature.
Learn to be kind to yourself while maintaining disciple to win over an anxious mind. Aiming for perfection from the very start will feed your anxiety – so be considerate and build your schedules in a phased manner.
Learn new hobbies to keep you physically and mentally active. Things like bird watching, nature walks, freestyle dancing, painting and listening to music can reduce your anxiety and regulate your flow of emotions. Try finding activities that your mind whole-heartedly welcomes and helps you tune into the present.
Envision positive change
You need to be cognizant of the fact that law of inertia will definitely pitch in when you are trying to deal with stress and anxiety. For instance, if you like morning walks, getting up early could be difficult. If you are able to get up early in the morning, you might find pollution a deterrent to going outdoors – something or the other will always prove to be difficult in your healthy routine.
To be successful in achieving what you have envisioned for yourself, you must attach a motivational force which is strong enough to tackle minor obstacles.
To overcome mental inertia, motivation, even forced at times, helps generate positive feelings. This in turn can have a phenomenal impact on your resolve and motivation levels.
Higher motivation positively correlates to desired results and arrests anxiety. Being able to envision positive changes is like a true friend in need whose advice can never go wrong. This friendly power can win over an anxious mind, helping you live your best life.
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