How to Avoid and Overcome Anxiety

All experts in the field of psychology know that the brain functions best when it is in a stress-free state. Non constructive emotions, like fear, worry and anxiety bring about mental and bodily stagnation. If you want to relax the mind and body, then the ability to be able to see the funny side of things is essential. If you find it hard to relax you will also find it hard to deal with intense situations. Having the ability to be in control when the going gets tough increases the probability of you having a successful life. Remember that with a relaxed mind and body you will feel that anything is possible because you will also have a more positive mental attitude as a result. rnThe thing is about anxiety is that it can be hard to identify because of its subjective nature. Basically anxiety is a catch-22 situation made up of thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Anxiety starts in the mind with your thoughts. These thoughts bring about physical sensations that affect your behaviour. A person that is always anxious tends to have more distressing thoughts than other people, thus, maintaining the catch-22 situation. If you want to avoid and overcome anxiety you have to take a more holistic approach that will reprogram the mind and body. A good way of doing this is by breathing and relaxation. These two simple and valuable methods are an excellent way of bringing the mind and body back into harmony again. An anxious person tends to breath too quickly. Breathing too quickly will upsets the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. When this happens unpleasant symptoms of anxiety and panic will start to emerge. The best thing to do is to practice breathing 10-12 times per minute this will naturally relax the body. Slowly breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Take the air right down to the bottom of your lungs, and feel the ribs expand as you do this. Pause between breaths and time yourself. Try to exhale for as long as you inhale. After a while your breathing will adjust and you will not have to think about breathing more slowly. This breathing technique is good to help deal with the physical symptoms of anxiety, but what about the mental side of it? How can you bring about a relaxed state of mind? The thing to do is think of a time when you were completely relaxed and focused in something that you were doing. Think about the thoughts, feelings and emotions that you had while engaged in the activity. Make the thought real just as if you are there in the moment. Do this until you can distinctively isolate each individual emotion and thought that you had. The more you practice this technique, the easier it will be in the future to activate positive emotions when you need them. The next time you are in a situation that you feel anxious about just breath slowly and bring back to memory the emotions you felt when you were completely focused in what you were doing. Good luck!