3 Ways to Help Your Anxiety

I never thought I'd be a yoga teacher. As a high schooler, I even laughed when my doctor suggested that I start doing yoga to reduce my stress levels.

But I also never thought I'd have anxiety.

Graduating college and not feeling like I had a plan (despite having a part-time job in my field) is what started my anxiety.

After trying many things to cope with panic attacks, I accidentally discovered yoga helped me the best. (I started yoga to help back pain and shockingly saw a difference in my mental health.)

Once I decided to make 3 things part of my daily routine, I saw a HUGE decrease in the frequency and severity of my anxiety attacks.

The 3 things I started doing every day are:

1. yoga/meditation

Yoga is all about moving your body in rhythm with your breath in order to calm your mind. There are so many studies done that show a link between yoga and stress/anxiety reduction. Yoga calms your sympathetic nervous system, which is the part of your nervous system responsible for the fight/flight response. It also reduces cortisol, the stress hormone, and lowers blood pressure. These are just a few ways it can help with anxiety.

2. gratitude

Having a gratitude attitude can shift your perspective on many things. It allows you to be more in-tune with the important things instead of focusing on items you think would make your life better. It's about appreciating the things you DO have because not everybody is fortunate enough to have them. It takes your mind out of a scarcity mindset and into an abundance mindset. Even just thinking about 3 things you are grateful for each day can change your outlook around.

3. being outside for at least 5 minutes

Nature is so healing, and sometimes we forget that. There are so many benefits to breathing fresh air, having the sun on your skin, seeing green plants or the ocean. Being in nature is literally calming on a cellular level. It's natural to us, because as humans we have spent SO many more years out in nature than we have in buildings. Being in nature allows us to be in the moment. It invigorates our senses and puts us back in the present instead of worrying about the future. It encourages us to take a deep breath and process our emotions.

And here's the thing: it really doesn't have to take you very long to do any of these. Yoga/meditation can take as little as 10 minutes. That's how long I started with. Gratitude can be done while showering, driving, eating breakfast, etc. And being outside for just 5 minutes can significantly improve your mental health.

Many years later, I still make these 3 things a priority because my mental health is important enough to stay dedicated.

I was so relieved to find something that helped me, so I decided to become a yoga teacher to try to help others the way it helped me.

If you suffer from anxiety, know that there are many ways to try to cope. Some ways work better for some people than others. For me, the combination of yoga, gratitude, and time outdoors is what helped.

I encourage you to keep trying different combinations until you find something that clicks for you.

If you haven't tried yoga (on and off the mat) and nature, send me a message and we can chat about what it can do for you. All my classes are 10-15 minutes so they are easy to fit into your busy schedule!