Anxiety Relief

Hello my lovelies. Today I am going to share my anxiety management strategies with you all. After beginning to write my Mental Health Diaries series, I realised that there are things that I have discovered and developed that could be of use to other people. I am by no means suggesting that these are guaranteed to work (and I am no doctor!) but they could prove helpful.

Herbal Relief

The first thing that I find useful to always carry around with me is Rescue Remedy. The range contains many different types of product but they all use entirely natural, plant based ingredients to provide relief. I believe that it is safe to use Rescue Remedy with some antidepressants due to this (such as Fluoxetine which I am on) but as always, be sure to check with your doctor before introducing anything new to your system. Personally, I use the spray which helps out quite a lot. I use 2-3 sprays on my tongue and find that I feel a little calmer afterwards. I know that there are other products in the range, such as pastilles which do the same job so if that suits you a little more, there are many different options.

Breathing Techniques

With my anxiety, I find that part of the vicious circle is the physical effects of the worry. I hyperventilate and find myself going light-headed as a result. Therefore, having a range of breathing techniques is incredibly useful. By regulating my breathing rate, my heart rate drops and thus, my body gets out of the panicked state. One technique that I find helpful is the 3-2-4 controlled breathing. This works by:

• Inhale through your nose for the count of 3 seconds
• Hold this for 2 seconds
• Exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds

This is a nice, simple technique which is highly effective. You can repeat this as much as you want until you feel calmed.

Grounding

Sometimes, our bodies can get carried away when we feel anxious. I mean, it is natural considering that anxiety triggers the fight-or-flight responses within us. Something that can be beneficial in this instance is grounding. There are many ways of doing this and a simple google search will inform you of a range of methods, however, the one I will outline here for you is the one that I find the most useful for me.

The 54321 Method

• Name 5 things that you can see
• Name 4 things you can feel (physical rather than mental or abstract)
• Name 3 things that you can hear
• Name 2 things that you can smell (or 2 things that you like the scent of)
• Name 1 thing that you like about yourself (I know that this can be challenging sometimes but there is always going to be something because you’re wonderful!)

I hope that you have liked this post and find it useful-either for yourself or somebody that you know (in which case, please share it!) Please let me know either in the comments or on my Social Media (Instagram and Facebook are in the sidebar).

Until next time,

Chantelle xx