How To Stop Anxiety By Occupying Your Mind
Filed under: Anxiety Disorders, News & Updates, Panic Attack Help, Personal
I’ve had a few conversations lately, all with people who are living with severe panic and anxiety, and each of these people said the same thing to me: that they spend hours and hours of their day just worrying, beyond their control.
This wasn’t really surprising to me, because I used to do it too.
It got so bad for me at one point that it was almost as if I would schedule parts of the day where I would just sit or lie down and worry over just about anything I could think of. There’s something compelling out worrying.
It’s addictive.
I think it used to give me the feeling that I was trying to solve my problems, which gave me what I thought was a good reason to keep doing it. It made me feel like I was doing something, taking action, when in fact I wasn’t doing anything at all.
Aimless worrying achieves nothing. It just leads to more worry, more anxiety, more panic attacks.
This subject of endless worrying, and having no power to stop it, hasn’t been on my mind for a long time. Not until these conversations that I’ve had recently with the people I mentioned at the start of this post.
And now that I think about it, I realise that it’s not something I do anymore. So I’ve been trying to discover what I do differently that’s stopped the constant worrying I used to do.
And here’s what I came up with.
I don’t worry all the time like I used to because I don’t allow myself the time to do it anymore.
Back when my anxiety was at its worst I didn’t do anything with my time. I’d just sit around, worry, lie around, panic, sleep, eat, and then I’d worry and panic some more.
It’s a tough cycle to break, which you probably know first-hand.
I think what broke the cycle for me was when I started to read everything I could get my hands on - and most of the books I read were related in some way to my problems with anxiety and panic.
Suddenly, a large part of my day was spent reading, learning, and when you’re reading and learning it’s hard for your mind to multi-task and do anything else at the same time. And that includes worrying.
(Stimulating your mind is also a great anti-anxiety trick, by the way. And there’s nothing better than reading to achieve it.)
So I was reading a lot. Then, as my reading lead to the discovery of some effective ways to deal with panic disorders, I decided to start sharing what I was learning. I started putting little videos and audios together, which is kind of what lead to everything I do now with my websites/newsletter/videos/books. These videos and audios took up even more of the time I used to spend worrying.
Then I did something which took up more time than I’d ever have believed.
I got a puppy!
She’s not a puppy anymore. She’s about 16 months old now (her name’s Millie). And I walk her at least an hour a day, every day. So that’s even more time my mind is too busy on other things to worry.
So you get the idea. I now do lots of stuff with my time, and that makes it hard for my mind to wander onto worries - it’s usually preoccupied with something else.
But it produced another benefit - one that I wasn’t expecting at all.
I’ve realised that having so much of my day filled with stimulating or distracting things has completely changed the way I act and feel when I do have some free time to just relax and sit or lie about.
Now, when I have nothing to do, it’s like my whole body just sighs relief. The very thing that used to cause me to worry (free time and lazing about) is now the thing that gives me my most relaxing moments in life.
I really wanted to share these thoughts with you today, because I think it’s something you should try. I really think it can help you if you have any issues at all with anxiety, panic attacks, or just constant worrying.
So start introducing something new into your day. It can be anything you like. Try a new hobby. Put up a website on something you love (don’t know how to put up a website? Learning how has just become your new thing to do!). Start reading up on something that interests you. The possibilities are endless. And right now, all you need is one new thing.
So find that “just one thing” and start doing it today. And if this works for you, and you find yourself worrying less, find a second thing, and a third, and so on. Before you know it, you won’t be worrying anywhere near as much as you do right now.
Can Gratitude Decrease Anxiety and Improve Your Mood?
The Power of Gratitude
Someone emailed me a link to an article that explains how to do a 2 minute exercise that can single-handedly improve your mood, your emotions, and manage your stress levels. For the sake of 2 minutes, I think it’s worth a shot, right?
I’m gonna try it out once a day and see what it does for me.
In a nutshell, it’s all about gratitude, and how finding 3 things a day to be grateful for can lead to more optimism, better moods, improved emotions - lots of positive stuff! Like the article says: it’s easy to write this stuff off as nonsense because it seems to simple. But sometimes the simple things work, so give this a shot and see if it works for you.
You can check out the article here.
If you make any breakthroughs or you come across anything else worth sharing, make sure you come back and post a comment!
My New Podcast On AnxietyGuru.net
Filed under: Anxiety Books, Anxiety Podcasts, News & Updates
Have you ever been to AnxietyGuru.net? It’s a really good blog, and it’s all about coping with and dealing with anxiety. I started reading the blog a few weeks ago, and I ended up agreeing to put together a podcast for Paul, the guy who runs the site.
In the podcast I talk about fear, and how the kind of fear we experience because of our anxiety isn’t real fear at all.
If you’ve read part #4 of my course “Beat Panic Today” then you’ll be familiar with this idea already. But I think it would be good to check out the podcast too, because I mention some things in it that aren’t in the original version. Things like what book I read that inspired these ideas in the first place. And I also reveal a bit of my past, and what made me start my search for these solutions to anxiety 2 years ago.
That link will take you right to the page the podcast is on. Then just scroll down and look for the little orange play button.
Stop Anxiety…With A Dog!
Filed under: Anxiety Podcasts, News & Updates, Panic Attack Help, Personal
I always wanted a dog, for as long as I can remember. But my mum wouldn’t let me when I was little, and then when I was old enough to decide for myself, my anxiety wouldn’t let me. Half of my days I couldn’t even leave the house, so a dog was out of the question.
Anyway, a couple of years ago I finally overcame my anxiety-related problems, and then about a year ago I got my dog Millie. Even though my anxiety was pretty much completely gone when I got her, she’s been such a help this past year or so.
She’s like an anti-anxiety miracle!
I think one of the reasons I’ve been able to keep my anxiety away is because of her, the walks we go on, the peace of just heading off somewhere quiet and letting her enjoy herself.
I went for a walk by the river with her this morning.
The River A mile From My House
It was a pretty dark and dreary and rainy day, as you can probably see, but I still came home about 70% less stressed than I was when I left! I did my best to get a picture of Millie to post here, but she wouldn’t stand still for long enough to get a good one. So here’s the best I got.
My Rough Collie, Millie
Do you have something in your life that works as a kind of a natural anti-anxiety treatment? I think if we look hard enough, we can usually find one or two things that really calm us. And if we are lucky enough to find one, then we should milk it or all it’s worth!
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Be My Friend
