Anxiety Tip #1

For those of you who have followed me for any amount of time you know I have worked hard to move past my anxiety. After years of letting it build, it took a long time, literally years undoing all the unhealthy, negative self-talk I had in my head.
First, you should know, anxiety shows up for all of us. Even after you have worked on it, there could be something that sparks you or perhaps, health reason because you added edginess. The difference is when you have worked through it you have the chance to redirect it a lot faster. Before I started turning things around, it is fair to say I had a certain anxiousness about me almost all the time. Through time I was able to shake it off after a couple hours, and now, I can generally turn it around within minutes. I say generally my friends, we ALL have bad days.

I decided to start a round of Anxiety Tip blogs and will keep it going for as long as I have tips to share. You will get at least one a week, at times more. Hoping these mini tips help turn your anxiousness/anxiety to build a happier, healthier YOU!! You are worth it my friends.

Start a journal, I know what you are thinking but stay with me a minute.

One very important thing to determine before you can turn it around is when it shows up. Even for me, someone who had anxiousness almost all the time, I needed to pinpoint when/why it was showing up. Of course, there are different things that spark anxiety, at least for me, but there is usually one underlying cause. For me it truly was a lack of self-confidence and positive self-efficacy.

In your journal I recommend the following:

• How do you feel when you wake up? Are there certain thoughts that come to you in the morning? Just pay attention to what naturally shows up and make a quick note in your journal.
  
• Throughout the day pay attention to things that “spark” your anxiousness/anxiety and write them down. Include as many details as possible in this one. Who you were with, where you were, etc.…?
  
• After meals make a note if it sparked anything, if it did, also note what you ate.
  
• At the end of the day before you go to bed, make another note, reflect on the day. If there were any other points that sparked your anxiety, write it down.
  

Give yourself a good week, then look back and note any commonalities in your days. Write down if there are foods that spark your anxiety. Make a note if there are certain people that get you anxious. Look at the times, are there patterns? Once you have these triggers noted you will be better able to change what you need to.

I recommend continuing to journal at least until you start seeing the patterns shifting. After that point, I still highly recommend it but adding in more then just when anxiety was sparked.

Till the next tip my friends…

Jen