I remember when I was 18. I went to the GP for recurring headaches. After listening to me explaining the headaches, he asked me how I was feeling apart from the headaches. And out of nowhere, I started crying.
A whole lot of things came out, from worries about what I was going to do after uni, to worrying about death. It turned out that even though I had only noticed the headaches, I had been experiencing low-level anxiety for quite some time and it had materialised as recurring headaches.
So in one swift move, I learnt that anxiety is not just the obvious stomach wrenching fear or the panic attack. It can be a lot more subtle and you can actually do something about it before it gets to the headaches and the flood of tears when somebody asks you how you are doing.
There are several things you can do when you think that you can be experiencing that low-level anxiety that is pretty constant:
- One of the first things you can do is do something every day that you enjoy, that makes you feel good. It is a little bit like putting your oxygen mask on first. As a woman, you are probably giving a lot of your time, attention and energy to the people who matter to you but you might not be refilling your own tank as it were. This will cause tiredness, stress, overwhelm and anxiety
- Another thing you can do is to move. Your body is supposed to move and when you move, be it walking, running, gardening, doing yoga, you release stress simply through the movements. If you do it for long enough, you are also helping the release of the happy hormone endorphin, and you are spending time doing something that you enjoy. So movement every day will keep low level anxiety at bay.
- Watch your breathing. The breath is the key to your mental wellbeing. If you breathe calmly and deeply, you are going to be calm and serene. On the other hand, if you breathe in a fast and shallow way, or if you hold your breath (as we often do when we are stressed or anxious), we are creating a perfect storm in which the shallow rapid breath causes your body and mind to get more and more stress. So, learning relaxing breathing techniques is a great way to control your anxiety and stop it taking over.
If you practise these 3 things, you will start to feel calmer and less anxious. I can promise you that.
But I’ve got a lot more techniques, which includes specific breathing techniques that I’ve used for calming anxiety, as well as mini yoga classes that you can do in just 5 minutes to help your body move and release tension on my membership.
Summary
Low-level anxiety is very subtle but can mount up to something that has a direct impact on your physical health and on your mental wellbeing.
You can easily keep on top of your anxiety by making some changes in your life such as doing something for you every day, including movements in your routine and watching the way you breathe, aiming at slow, long breath.
If you want more help and ongoing support, here is the link for my membership: https://radiantwellbeing.vipmembervault.com