5 Simple Ways To Reduce Anxiety

Jodi Picoult said: Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far. She right. Anxiety doesn’t get us anywhere. But the truth is that it is a reality for us. We are anxious about simple every day things, and we are anxious about huge things that are beyond our control. For many of us, anxiety is almost second nature. Anxiety keeps from living life fully and from being grateful. It keeps us from enjoying the present moment. Today, I’m sharing 5 simple ways to reduce anxiety.

Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained. – Arthur Somers Roche

5 Simple Ways To Reduce Anxiety

The good news is that we can find ways to reduce anxiety.

Put Anxiety Into Words

Putting the feeling into words can reduce anxiety. In fact, the more fearful words people use to describe their anxiety, the more their anxiety reduces.

Wash The Dishes

Mindful dish washing can reduce stress and calm the mind, a study finds. People in the study focused on the smell of the soap, the feel and the shape of the dishes to help them enter a mindful state. The group showed a decrease in nervousness and an increase in mental inspiration.

Researchers found that doing the dishes in a mindful way also increased the pleasurable feeling of time slowing down.

Get A Massage

Research has found that just five sessions of Swedish massage is enough to improve the symptoms of anxiety. Swedish massage is the type of deep-tissue massage that people are most familiar with.

With massage, levels of cortisol – known as the stress hormone – were also reduced. People who took part in the study also saw reduced depression symptoms.

Connect With Nature

People who feel connected to nature have lower levels of anxiety, recent research finds.

Nature seems to provide people an escape from busy urban environments — a way to let their minds recover.

It may be that it is not even necessary to be in nature to get the benefit, as long as one feels connected to it.

Perform Acts Of Kindness

Performing acts of kindness can help people with social anxiety mingle with others more easily, a new study finds.

At the end of the study it was those who’d performed the acts of kindness who felt more comfortable in social interactions.

The acts of kindness seemed to help people deal with worries about rejection.

Let me stress that all the above tips are for those of us with ‘normal’ levels of anxiety. If you are constantly anxious, it’s time to get professional help. Do it for yourself and your family, please.