Small Steps You Can Do to Better Manage Your Anxiety

Anxiety is a regular and predictable part of life; however, if you suffer from an anxiety disorder, your anxiety can quickly take over your life.

The good news is that there are small steps that you can take to help manage and minimize your anxiety.

Here are some small steps that you can take today to help you better manage and hopefully overcome your anxiety.

Take a Deep Breath

Breathing deeply through your diaphragm triggers your relaxation response and helps you to switch from the fight-or-flight response to a more relaxed and balanced state of being.

Inhaling slowly to the count of four and holding your breath for a count of four, before slowly exhaling to a count of four can significantly increase your state of relaxation and calm your anxiety symptoms.

Get Physical

One of the most critical things you can do to cope with your anxiety is to participate in a regular cardiovascular exercise.

If you're not in the habit of exercising, you can start by taking a walk.

Take some time and create a list of physical activities that you enjoy and place them on your weekly schedule.

Get Enough Sleep

When you don't get enough sleep, it can trigger your anxiety. If you find sleeping a nightly challenge, try engaging in a relaxing activity right before you go to bed.

If your brain starts to buzz right before you go to bed, try jotting down your worries for 10 to 15 minutes, earlier in your day.

Say an Encouraging Affirmation

Reciting positive, accurate statements to yourself can help you put things in perspective.

You can try telling yourself that anxiety is just a feeling, like any other feeling, to help you gain perspective over your anxiety symptoms.

Avoid Caffeine

Managing your anxiety is as much about the things that you do as it is about the things that you don't do.

There are some substances, like caffeine, that can significantly exacerbate symptoms of anxiety.

The last thing you need to do, if you suffer from anxiety, is drink a substance that makes you feel more excited.

Take a Break

Building breaks into your daily schedule can be beneficial. Breaking from concerted effort can be incredibly refreshing.

A simple change of scenery or pace or switching to a different task can be constructive.

Anxiety can be incredibly overwhelming and can make you feel as if you are being weighed down.

Taking these small steps can help to minimize your anxiety symptoms and help you effectively cope.

If You Suffer From Anxiety Avoid These 5 Foods

You are probably already aware that your emotions can significantly influence what you eat.

However, did you also know that what you eat can dramatically affect your mood? If you didn't already know, some foods could worsen your anxiety. According to research conducted by Harvard

Health, simple food choices can make a difference in how you feel. Here are five foods that you should avoid if you suffer from anxiety.

Wheat Bran

Even though experts have been touting wheat bran as a superfood with its high fiber content and complex, nutty flavors, it can significantly increase your anxiety, thanks to its high concentration of phytic acid.

Phytic acid binds to essential mood minerals like zinc and limits their absorption by the body. People who suffer from anxiety need adequate levels of zinc to keep their symptoms at bay.

Soy

Soy products, while packed with lean protein, is also packed with protease and trypsin inhibitors, which are enzymes that make digesting the protein difficult.

Soy products, like tofu, are also high in copper, which is a mineral that has been linked to anxious behavior.

If you have to eat soy, get rid of the tofu and veggie burgers, and try fermented varieties like miso and tempeh, which are much easier to digest.

Coffee

Coffee is one of the highest concentrated dietary sources of caffeine which can make an anxious brain even worse.

Research has shown that people with anxiety disorders are particularly sensitive to feeling the nervous side effects from small amounts of caffeine.

Caffeine can also impede the absorption of vital mood-balancing nutrients like B vitamins and vitamin D.

Whole Wheat Bread

For many anxious people, gluten is a sticking point, especially with patients who have celiac disease.

Most non-organic wheat is treated with an herbicide called glyphosate, which has been shown to cause a nutrient deficiency of mood-stabilizing minerals.

Apple Juice

Unlike whole apples, apple juice is devoid of the slow-digesting fiber and are often packed with refined fructose.

This results in blood level spikes that can trigger a flood of adrenaline and result in symptoms that look a lot like an anxiety attack.

Fructose can actually alter how the brain responds to stress on a genetic level.

Anxiety isn't a fun condition to have to deal with. However, you can reduce your symptoms and overcome your fear by avoiding these anxiety-inducing foods.