Rund's Halloween Makeup TutorialOct.27.2020
So now that we have covered the bases of anxiety, here are some simple lifestyle habits to adopt that may not necessarily silence your anxiety, but will definitely make it difficult for the old monster to keep screaming:
The Buddhist Center defines it as “a means of transforming the mind. Buddhist meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and a calm seeing of the true nature of things. Sounds super Zen – right?
But if religious meditation is not your thing, do not stress – literally. Meditation is all about clearing away distractions and learning the patterns of your mind. In doing so, you open yourself to identifying negative habits and allow yourself to cultivate new, more positive ways of being. If that means turning on a Hip Hop instrumental or whatever music relaxes you and allows you to focus, then maybe that is your “ohm”.
To help you through it, we recommend using an app to help talk you through it till you find what works for you. Our go-to app is Headspace (available on iPhone and Android) – The app allows you to choose how long you’d like to meditate for and has levels to understand your progression. No mats or fuss required. All you need is a spot to park your booty and some headphones.
Physical health and mental health go hand in hand. When your body isn’t feeling it’s best it will translate to your mental health. Working out releases’ endorphins, and dopamine – otherwise known as the ‘happy hormone’ which helps feel-good vibes. To prevent yourself from falling into a bad place, starting your days with a brisk walk, a relaxing yoga session or even a mini workout may help.
We know – Coffee is everyone’s secret weapon. But sometimes caffeine can be the weapon that is hurting you and has a negative effect on exaggerating nerves that can add to anxiety. Try a coffee detox for a week and see if there is a noticeable difference in your mood or sensitivity to triggers. Caffeine does not affect all of its lovers in the same way, but more often than not, there has been a correlation between caffeine consumption and anxiety. You have to ask yourself, is coffee worth the stress? We heard you hesitate, Na-uh. No. The answer is no. Nope. No Diggity.
Music is a form of therapy, in the same way, that sound can start triggers it can also stop them. Curating playlists that help you relax and bring out positive feels. Though music can ease your mind and bring on a sense of relaxation, it is actually a form of working out your mind. In the same way that muscles become stronger with exercise, the brain gets stronger when you use it. A strong brain is one that is creative, cognitively flexible, and able to reason efficiently while making few mistakes. This comes not from increasing the capacity of the neurons, but from exposing the brain as a system to new experiences and new information.
Listening to music, reading books and in general keeping the brain active and at its best by giving it new information to organize and make sense of, leads to learning, which drives the brain’s process of pattern recognition and neural reorganization.
Learning new skills not only adds to the brain’s repertoire of abilities, but it forces the brain to continually restructure its “filing system” and prevents “thought ruts”- that can often cause anxiety from forming.
Sleep. Yeah, yeah- we know you’ve heard this a million times but how much are you practicing it? We are all guilty of late-night Netflix binges and Instagram scrolling.
A common side effect of anxiety is insomnia and staying up too late or not sleeping can intensify it. Anxiety often results in abnormal heartbeat paces and a lack of sleep can worsen it.
Committing to a proper sleeping schedule (a MINIMUM of 8 hours- you heard us) is one of the simplest habits to help yourself. If you find yourself struggling sleep, consider purchasing natural remedies e.g primrose oil supplements to help you start getting your sleep together for the first consecutive 7 days. Make sure not to overdo it on the natural remedies, as you do not want your body to become reliant on an external contribution to pass out.
An obvious but difficult habit to develop is to keep your phone out of arms distance when you go to bed and allotting a curfew for yourself. This helps to avoid being distracted by a lit-up screen and makes sure that Netflix actually allows you to “chill”.
