Category: Anxiety/Stress

6 Things You Can Do Right Now to Change Your Life and Stop Worrying

Post author By Ally
Post date October 19, 2022
No Comments on 6 Things You Can Do Right Now to Change Your Life and Stop Worrying

(Prefer a video version of this blog… skip to the bottom of the page)

Worry gets in to all the crevices of our lives. We worry about our jobs, our kids, our relationships, money, and a million other things every single day. It’s no wonder we feel like we’re not getting things done the way we’d like.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way. To change your life and stop worrying, ask yourself these quick questions:

What Are You Really Worried About?

Many times, worry is a mask for something else entirely. A hard look and some pointed questions might be necessary to get to the heart of the matter. On the other hand, once you have a clear understanding of what the real issue is, it’s easier to address the problem and stamp out the worry completely.

Is This Even Possible?

Worry inflates everything to monster proportions. If your worry seems slightly ridiculous, it probably is. Take a step back and ask yourself just how likely this outcome is. Worry can’t stand up under this kind of scrutiny.

Is This Something I can Control?

We have become so good at worrying about the things we can’t change. Seriously, what difference does it make if it snows tomorrow? Nothing we do can keep the flakes from falling. Accept sometimes you’re just going to have to go with the flow and adapt to the circumstances.

Does this Affect Me Today?

Worries about the future can really derail your life today. If you’re worried about something far off, it’s time to take a step back. Ask yourself a fundamental follow-up question if you’re concerned about the future: “Is there something I can do today that will prevent this outcome tomorrow?” If so, now you have a plan of action. Get to it!

Am I Spending Too Much Time?

Obsessive worry doesn’t help anyone. If you find yourself circling back to the same concern over and over, you might need help breaking out of this cycle. Consider talking to someone, such as a good friend or even a counselor or trained professional, to help you break out of this vicious cycle.

Why Do I Care What Others Think?

If you’re worried about the opinions of others, why? If you’re concerned about impressing your boss, there are better ways to do this than worrying. More often than not, though, you’re going to find most people’s opinions really don’t matter. Don’t let them get to you.

Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ll find it’s easy to get your thoughts back on track. Worry becomes a thing of the past when we’re mindful of it, and don’t let it become obsessive. Imagine the difference a life without so much worry will make.

I used to be a worrywart – I would worry about everything! And that’s not a fun way to spend your day.

But, gradually I became increasingly aware of what this was doing to me and those around me and I began to work on changing this self-destructive habit. So if you are caught in the trap of anxiety and constantly worrying about things that you may or not be able to change, I’d love to help:) You can schedule a time for us to chat here

You can check out the video version of this blog below

Tags how to stop worrying, worries, worrying

Anxiety/Stress

Deep Breathing To Manage Stress

Post author By Ally
Post date August 20, 2022
No Comments on Deep Breathing To Manage Stress

Sadly, we’re bombarded with multiple stress-inducing factors on a daily basis. From incessant pressure at work to responsibilities at home that never seem to end, life is hard.

That said, stressors don’t have to be small things that build up over time. They can also be one big life event that comes out of nowhere and turns your world upside down.

Whichever way stress burrows into your life, the problems of dealing with it are the same.

Luckily, one technique that’s proven to be successful at managing stress is deep breathing. This calming technique has many benefits besides lowering stress levels, such as improved blood flow and helping you sleep better.

So, keep reading to discover how deep breathing can make you healthier, stronger, and less anxious.

What Is Deep Breathing?

Deep breathing is a technique used to help you achieve inner peace and a sense of calm. The whole point of deep breathing is that it allows you to breathe through your abdomen, rather than the shallow breathing we typically do through our chest.

What abdominal breathing does is help control the nervous system by reducing the release of stress hormones. Thus, it encourages the body to calm down and relax, decreasing anxiety levels.

Consequently, this enhances your overall well-being. Deep breathing through the abdomen also prevents various illnesses and conditions, like high blood pressure, obesity, and Type-2 diabetes.

Moreover, deep breathing helps you focus more on what you’re doing. So, rather than make rash decisions, you can take your time to think things over.

How Does Deep Breathing Work?

Deep breathing allows you to boost the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream. Having more oxygen means your cardiovascular system works double time.

Then, as soon as your brain detects this substantial amount of oxygen in your system, it responds by doing several things. The first of these things is that it reduces the concentration of stress hormones. So, as a result, you calm down, and you become less stressed.

Follow these steps to perform basic deep breathing exercises:

First, put your right hand on your abdomen near your navel.
Next, place your left hand on the center of your chest.
Some people find it helpful to close their eyes, so you can try that and see if you feel comfortable.
Inhale and exhale fully a couple of times to shift from chest to abdominal, or diaphragmatic, breathing.
Next, inhale deeply while focusing on the rising of the abdomen as the lungs fill with air.
As you do this, it should cause your belly to expand about an inch.
Then, slowly let out your breath.
While exhaling, most of the movement should be in the area underneath your right hand. Your chest should only move slightly.
Each time you breathe in and out, focus on how you feel.
Repeat anywhere from 5–7 times.

Benefits of Deep Breathing

When you’re calm and relaxed, you breathe through your nose and take slow, even breaths. But then, something stresses us out, and our ‘fight or flight’ response kicks in.

This is when our breathing becomes more rapid and shallow to increase our oxygen supply. More oxygen means more blood rushing to our extremities, allowing us to run for cover or fight for our lives.

Yet, in today’s modern world, we neither run nor fight. Instead, we create this imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide that has no way of escaping, which affects our health and well-being.

Here are a few physiological benefits of controlled, deep breathing:

Lowered heart rate and blood pressure
Reduces lactic acid buildup in muscle tissue
Stronger immune system
A boost in physical energy
Reduced levels of stress hormones
A renewed blanched of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood
Increased feelings of calm and relaxation

Deep Breathing Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks you can use the next time you’re using the deep breathing technique to help you reverse your stress responses and feel calmer.

The trick to going from chest breathing to abdominal breathing is those first two full exhalations.
Pushing out the air from the bottom of our lungs creates a vacuum that will allow you to switch to abdominal breath on your next inhalation. Next, pause for a second or two before inhaling slowly.
The recommended breathing is through the nose. Yet, it takes a while for some people to get used to nostril breathing. So, in the meantime, you can breathe through your mouth until you’re more comfortable.
Avoid taking more than five deep breaths. More than five breaths make most people feel light-headed. If this sounds familiar, take 2–3 breaths at a time to avoid feeling giddy or off-balance.

Tags anxiety, deep breathing to manage stress, resilience, self care, stress

Anxiety/Stress Personal Growth

How Avoidance Actually Creates More Stress

Post author By Ally
Post date July 31, 2022
No Comments on How Avoidance Actually Creates More Stress

When you have an especially difficult or stressful task on your plate, it can be very tempting to avoid completing said task. Or if you don’t like to think about a subject because of an experience, it can seem easier to just not think about that topic. Both of these situations are known as avoidance, and though it may be tempting to engage in this behavior, it causes more stress than it relieves.

You Won’t Stop Thinking About It

If you’ve ever experienced trauma, it can be tempting to avoid all thoughts of things that may remind you of the trauma you experienced. Although this may be less painful in the short run, the truth is, long term, this will stress you out more because the thoughts of your trauma will always return until you genuinely learn to deal with them rather than avoid them. The same holds for certain physical tasks. You may put them off because you don’t want to think about them, but this will only stress you out more because you will have to keep thinking about the task instead of simply completing it now.

You’ll Run Out Of Time

When you put off a task, you may momentarily relieve your stress by telling yourself you will complete the task later. But this is worse than doing the job now because later you will experience more pressure as you are faced with a fast-approaching deadline. This is especially true if you haven’t left yourself enough time to complete the task and have to rush at the last minute.

Avoidance Creates Conflict

Maybe a coworker is waiting for you to complete your work so they can get started on theirs. And if you didn’t leave yourself enough time before the deadline, you may cause them to be late on meeting their deadline as well. This can cause a conflict between you as your coworker may be upset that you made them late. And when you experience conflict in your relationships, this only adds to your overall stress level rather than lowering it.

Although it can be extremely tempting to avoid certain tasks or put them off, this is a flawed approach as it will only cause you more stress in the long run. This is because avoidance doesn’t solve any problems. Instead, it just creates conflict, which leads to increased stress in the future.

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