Strategies To Reduce Anxiety

We're big on wellness at Stellar and stock a lot of feel good products to lift your mood and encourage relaxation. For that reason, we've become a gifting destination for those going through a difficult time, sent from colleagues, family members and friends. So we thought it would be a great idea to delve a little deeper into the mental health space and have gone to Beyond Blue for some strategies to manage anxiety.

Everyone is different and it takes time and effort to work out what works to manage anxiety on an individual level, but these 10 strategies are recommended by specialists and are definitely worth trying if you suffer from stress and/or anxiety.

2. Progressive muscle relaxation: Reduce muscle tension in a quiet location away from distraction. Close your eyes and slowly tense for 3-seconds and quickly release each muscle group from your toes up to your head. 

3. Stay in the present moment: Anxiety can cause your thoughts to catastrophes future scenarios that are unlikely or have never happened. Bring yourself back to the present moment. Meditation is a great technique to bring you back to your body.

4. Healthy lifestyle: Eating well, staying active, spending time with loved ones and getting out into nature are great ways to reduce stress. Doing activities and hobbies you genuinely enjoy is a great way to improve your mental and physical wellbeing.

5. Take small acts of bravery: Avoiding what makes you anxious can be helpful short-term but make you more anxious in the long-run. The way to get through anxious moments is by learning that what you fear isn't actually likely to happen and if does that you will be able to cope with it. Approaching something that makes you anxious will help you overcome it in the long term.

6. Challenge your self-talk: As touched on above, anxiety can cause you to overestimate the danger or consequences in a situation and underestimate your personal capacity to handle it. How you think will affect how you feel, so try to interpret and concentrate of different results of situation that makes you anxious rather than jumping to the worst case scenario.


Reflections Stone Journal by Gracious Minds

7. Plan worry time: It's inevitable that you will still have worries from time to time, so set aside time to indulge in these concerns. 10-minutes every day to go over your worries and write them down can stop you from focusing on them at other times.


Day Journal by Wilde House Paper

8. Get to know your anxiety: Keep a diary of when your anxiety is at it's best and worst. Proactively manage your anxiety by finding patterns of when it's at it's worst and planning your week around those times.

9. Learn from others: Talking and listening to others who experience anxiety can be incredibly helpful and make you feel less alone. Podcasts are great and Beyond Blue's online forum can help you connect with others.


Essensual Vibe by LBDO

10. Be kind to yourself: Remember, YOU ARE NOT YOUR ANXIETY. You have a mental health condition called anxiety, it can be rough but it does not mean you are weak or inferior.

Those are our 10-tips to reduce and help manage anxiety from Beyond Blue Australia, but remember everyone's condition can be different, if your anxiety is proving to be difficult to manage seek support from a professional here. For more information on anxiety and mental health support visit beyondblue.org.au.

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