5 tips to cope with anxiety.

    Hey everyone. Today I'm going to talk with you about five tips to beat anxiety. So stay tuned.

 So like I said. Today I want to talk with you about five helpful tips to beat anxiety. I've heard from so many of you, that you struggle with this. And there are so many ways that we can help ourselves. And this is only five. There are tons of ways. But these are just some helpful tips to get you started.

1. Keeping busy all day. I know that sounds really silly and simple. But often times our anxiety loves and lives in the quiet.  When we have nothing to do. And we are sitting at home. And we are moping about. It kind of takes a mole hill and turns it into a mountain. When we have time to ruminate and think about things. It can make it so much worse. But if we are just going about our day. We're doing things. We're making deals. We're breaking hearts. We don't have time to think about it. So I would encourage you, if you are able, plan your days out. Make sure you have things happening. Back to back to back. You're scooting on through.

2. The second helpful tip is what we call 'feeling focusing'. And this is something that we can do no matter where we are. Which I love about tips. Because we never know when the anxiety may strike. And feeling focusing is when we focus on the area in our body where we feel the anxiety. For some of us it might be our throat. Our chest. Our stomach. It could be in our shoulders. Wherever you feel it physically. I want you to focus on that spot. And I want you to slowly breath into it. And if you find your mind wandering. Bring it back to that spot. Keep breathing, slowly. I promise you by drawing your focus back to the area in your body. Back to that area. Over and over. Your anxiety will diminish. It's because our mind can't go out searching for more things to worry us with. It slowly dissipates.

3. The third helpful tip is exercise. Now obviously I don't want you to do anything to an extreme. But taking a thirty minute walk. If you like to run and it's not unhealthy. You go for a run. Maybe you jump some rope. Maybe you take your dog out. Maybe you walk with a friend. Maybe you do yoga. Whatever it is. If you play tennis. Play basketball. There's so many things to do. Just last week I went to Target and got Sean and I some tennis rackets and basketballs. So we can play. Anything you can do to exert some physical energy. Can help with anxiety. Often times when we have a lot of pent up energy. Anxiety thrives. So having an outlet for that. Even if it's just nervous energy. Having an outlet like exercise. Can really help bring it down.

4. The fourth helpful tip is phoning a friend. I feel like we are on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? But it's really important to contact people and to have people on what I always talk to my clients about, on your 'emergency call list'. And this isn't a real, this isn't like an emergency 'I'm going to the ER I'm bleeding, I broke a bone. 'This is 'I'm feeling stressed, I'm feeling overwhelmed, I don't know what to do right now. 'We need to have at least five people on this list if you can. Because we never know who can pick up, right. Some people might be in class. Some people might be asleep. Some people might be at work. We don't know. But we want to make sure we have people that we can contact. Even if it's a text. I know now we text more than we actually call. But I want you to reach out to people. Because having someone on the line. Having someone talking to us. I think calling is the best. Because hearing someone's voice can be so soothing. And sometimes when we feel like we are a ten on our anxiety scale. It can help bring us back down to maybe a six, or a five. And the more we talk with them. And the more we kind of vent to them about what's going on with us. The better we will start to feel.

5. The fifth and final tip is going to see a psychiatrist. And the reason that I wanted to put this in here. Is because there are those of us who doing these things. This feeling focusing, we're exercising, We're trying everything to help ourselves. We're seeing our own therapist. And nothing gives. It's not getting better. And sometimes it's getting worse. And seeing a psychiatrist, they can offer medications that can help with it. Now obviously I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I'm not a physician. I don't prescribe medication. But it can be so helpful and so pivotal in your recovery. And don't be ashamed of it. Many people seek help from psychiatrists. How else would they even exist? They wouldn't have a job or career. People see them. When we can't do enough ourselves. The medication can help us get there. I often tell my clients, and this still rings true. All research shows that therapy and medication gives us the best possible outcome. Because sometimes our mind is running so quickly. Things are happening so fast. That we can't even think about doing anything to help ourselves. We're just trying to stay afloat. It's so overwhelming. And medication can help with that. Bring that anxiety level down enough. That we can actually take action. We can start making steps towards our recovery. Putting things in place, creating plans. It can give us that little bit of squish we need to get started. So I would encourage you. If you have tried a lot of things. And that's not helping. Reach out to your psychiatrist, or your general practitioner doctor. And let's start working on recovery.