How to Manage Anxiety

Anxiety and I go wayyyy back...

I can remember these mild OCD tendencies and weird tics I had as a kid, like blinking all the time or not wanting to step on cracks in the sidewalk or needing things to be symmetrical. And I freakin’ loved counting things!

Over time, I learned how to manage my anxiety, but I still get waves of it.

A lot of us (nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States) are living with anxiety disorders, and women are more than twice as likely to develop anxiety than men.

So, let’s talk about it…

In the latest Rebel Buddhist podcast episode, I share some tools that have helped me over the years—not to get rid of anxiety, but to deal with it.

Newsflash: getting rid of anxiety altogether would actually be a bad move. Why? Because our anxiety has something to tell us. Just like all emotions, anxiety is something we humans need to give us information. For me, it gives me information that things are out of alignment in my life. That I need to pay attention to something.

That—or that I drank wayyy too much caffeine.

Anxiety has served us well in our evolution, helping us react quickly, assess the safety of a situation, and heighten our senses so we could pay more attention to what was going on.

But, these days, it’s not something we necessarily need as much for safety. It’s often triggered by things like overflowing inboxes and traffic jams: far from an actual threat to our lives. But we’re still having the same response to it.

So, let’s make like the marvels of evolution that we are and...adapt!

The good news? Anxiety in and of itself is harmless. It’s our reaction and our resistance to it that causes problems. And that’s within our power to change.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• what anxiety actually is & how to recognize its symptoms in your own body & mind
• the game changing mindset shift to move from resisting & reacting to your anxiety to allowing, observing...even welcoming it
• some of my favorite tools and reminders to manage anxiety, mindfully
• how to turn arrows into flowers (not literally, obvs...better than that: a Buddhist story to help us understand how we add fuel to the fire of anxiety & how we can stop)
• resist, react, avoid: our 3 favorite ways to respond to emotions & why they ain’t helping
• our biggest misunderstanding about acceptance
• a step-by-step technique to gain perspective on your anxiety so you can get a grip

Look, I know how scary anxiety can be. I’ve had panic attacks before, where I thought I was dying. And there’s a bunch of stuff, even just on the natural side, that can really help: breathing techniques, supplements, exercise, getting enough sleep...but it was only once I changed my thinking about anxiety that I could change my response to it.

Changing your life always begins with changing your mind.

So commit to your mental health. Life is so precious, so fleeting, really. We are all going to die, right? And we don’t know when. Being a human is not easy.

Instead of letting that send you into another spiral of anxiety, train your mind so that you can make the most of this one wild and precious life. Happy human-ing, rebels!

RESOURCES:

// If you’re new to the squad, grab the starter kit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll get access to the private Facebook group where you can ask me questions! Once you join, there’s also a weekly FB live called Wake the F*ck Up Wednesday, where you can ask questions that come up as you do this work – in all parts of your life.

// If you’re interested in finding out more about how to free your mind and free your life, join Freedom School. Enrollment is open, and we are diving DEEP into ways to cultivate clarity and courage so you can create your best life. There are also some sweet bonus courses for you there. It will set you up to live the best version of you in the year to come. Learn more at JoinFreedomSchool.com

// Check out Episode 51 on self compassion