At a time when it feels like there is no end to the potential sources of daily anxiety, finding strategies to mitigate anxiety becomes all the more important and your personal mindset is one of the strongest tools you have at your disposal. Today we share four tips on managing anxiety during uncertain times from Healthline.
- Use breath-based emotional regulation and meditation. We’ve said it before and we will say it again, simple breathing and meditation exercises can be incredibly beneficial for managing anxiety when you’re triggered and even preventing it in the first place. Take time during the day to sit quietly and repeatedly breathe in a deep breath to take in all your air and then breathe it all out. Repeat this five to ten times. This is a great practice for whenever you feel anxiety rising up and a healthy habit to work into your morning or lunchtime routine.
- Take charge of your own self-worth. Stressful environments and negative messaging from social media can have us all doubting our self-worth, but investing in personal confidence can help boost our productivity and fight anxiety. Take time to notice feelings of shame and what triggers them and respond by speaking kindly to yourself and adopting a mantra of self-love. Making a list of things you are grateful for or a list of weekly accomplishments is a great tool for recognizing your value each and every day.
- Listen with nonreactivity. It’s so easy to let inflammatory headlines and social media posts get us riled up. While it’s important to follow contemporary news and discuss these difficult topics, the way in which we do this can help us manage anxiety. When taking in information online, from a friend, or at work, listen with the goal of understanding, rather than response. This strategy lets you intake information without emotional inflammation and find a more measured and informed understanding of an issue.
- Stay close to your values. Throughout every action and event in your daily life, remember your values and continue to live in accordance with them, even when you’re anxious or triggered. Take action on issues that matter to you and remember to continue to invest in self-care no matter what is going on in the world at large. The one thing you can control is your own actions, so invest in taking actions that reflect your values.