Tips for stress and anxiety

As stress and anxiety are physical and mental processes, you may find the following strategies helpful to minimise stress and anxiety in your daily life. 

1.  Be aware that anxiety is a learned behaviour
When you feel any of those old unwanted sensations, look around and reassure yourself that there are no dangers and take your mind to somewhere relaxing. This recording will do that. The more you do this, the easier it will be for your mind to switch to calmer thoughts and for unpleasant sensations in the body to ease. 

2. Move the body/Exercise for 30 minutes per day - PREFERABLY outside
It has been proven that exercise is an effective strategy for overcoming stress and anxiety. It also has a significant effect on your wellbeing and happiness. Exercise needn't be the gym. A walk, a dance in the loungeroom, active gardening etc can be hugely beneficial forms of exercise/movement.

3. Get plenty of sleep 
Good quality sleep is essential for a healthy mind and body. Insufficient sleep can have a detrimental effect on your mood. Sleep deprivation increases anxiety and stress levels. It makes it more difficult to think clearly and rationally and can increase negative thinking. 

4. Eat healthy meals - choose nutritious foods, and limit your sugar, alcohol and caffeine intake
As stress and anxiety are physiological, stimulants such as sugar, coffee, alcohol etc may have a significant impact on stress levels and sleep quality.
 
5. Focus on the good, joyful stuff in your life
Building a set of neural pathways so that your brain begins to default to feelings of joy/calm and relaxation comes from training your mind to go to nice places and good feelings. It requires repeated practice. As you repeatedly train your brain to focus on good feelings (through this recording, for example), it will notice them more and more often. So whenever you notice yourself feeling particularly good, take a moment to acknowledge how good it feels and simply say out loud: “I feel good!”. 

6. Shift your focus 
Shift your focus onto something else for a few moments. It can be a good way to fend off any sudden symptoms of anxiety. It can allow you to step back from the situation.
Practise any one of the techniques below for a few minutes and you will find that sudden symptoms will dissipate.

Select the technique you prefer:

1. Visualise being in your favourite place/favourite holiday destination, close your eyes and imagine every aspect of that place - what it looks like, sounds like and feels like to be there (the recording will help with that)
2. Count backwards with your eyes closed from 300 in 3s (300, 297, 294 etc) - if you forget where you were, simply pick up where you think you left off or start again, and allow your mind to wander to wherever it chooses
3. Engage in an “Active activity” i.e., having a walk, or creative activity, like drawing or painting

7. Listen to a relaxation recording such as that on this website. It is designed to help your mind and body calm down and will retrain your nervous system to slow down.