Stress-free September: 5 tips to avoid axiety

In today’s second entry of #StressFreeSeptember I will be sharing tips on how to avoid anxiety. It is not always easy, but there are a fews ways to prevent the horrible feeling. Now, I am by no means an expert on this topic but am simply sharing what works for me (usually). 

Avoid being alone

Also what I consider to be the easy way out. When I am surrounded by people, I feed of the positive energy and tend to completely forget that I was feeling like absolute shit an hour ago. Although it can take quite some effort for me to actually get up and go out, or socialise even in my house share, once I do it all the negativity just stops for a while. 

Why I said this is the easy way out is because it doesn’t actually solve anything. As soon as I am back in my room by myself, the negativity starts coming back and it is almost as if you’re back in square one. But with that being said, I do think that is important to know that you can still go out and have fun. These moments will make you realise later on that maybe you shouldn’t stress as much and that life can be really fun and amazing 😊 

If you hit a low and start to have panic attacks, you might end up isolating yourself which will lead to you getting stuck in a certain pattern of thoughts. In this early stage you need to force yourself to get up and go out with people, it will not solve your problems but solutions often come to mind when you are not actively trying to find one. 

Treat yourself

I know I aaaaalways find a way to mention this, but come on, treating yourself is so so so important! If you don’t love yourself, who’s gonna love you?! You need to build a relationship with yourself, take yourself out to things that you like to do, buy things that you love even if it is just your favourite chocolate. If you like taking baths take them as often as you can, if you like dancing like a maniac go for it! Life is too short to worry about what other people think, to wait until other people are ready to join you or to deny yourself those things that bring you happiness. 

So when you are feeling anxious, remind yourself that someone (YOU) loves you. Prepare yourself that lovely bath, stock up on that delicious chocolate and play your favourite songs on repeat. These little things will give you such a warm, loving feeling when you are at a low point. Mental health might not have a literal prescription for a cure, but I am pretty sure that self love comes pretty close… 

Distract your mind

Similar to my first point, if you really can’t be with people right now the next best thing is to stay busy. Distract your mind so that you don’t give the negativity and stress a chance to pop up again. This is definitely much more difficult than surrounding yourself with others, as the distraction is completely dependent on yourself. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it. 

What usually helps me is blogging, but if you don’t write a blog then I also like to throw my to-do list out and watch Netflix all day. When I watch series and films I tend to dive into that fiction world and completely loose sense of reality! The same thing happens when I read a book and get really invested. Again, this doesn’t necessarily solve any problems but it is a good temporary solution that can cancel out anxiety. 

Write everything down

Writing things down is truly therapeutical, somehow once the ink has touched paper the thoughts are gone from your mind. I used to keep something like ‘diary’ in which I would write about my experiences. It has been so long since I last wrote in it, but I love reading what I wrote before. It just shows you how much you grow as a person without even realising it. 

Even if you don’t like the idea of keeping a diary, just write your thoughts on paper and throw that note away. At least you get to write down what is bothering you, how you are feeling in that moment and hopefully it will help you to let go and release some of the anxiety and negativity. 

Try to tackle the problem

Personally, I am very radical in the sense that I will always try to dive head first into whatever is bothering me. I don’t really like to avoid situations, because I know that the build up will only cause me more anxiety. When I am going through a more depressing time, I do allow myself to feel whatever it is that I am feeling, but after a while I try to pick myself back up and figure out what it is that is bothering me or causing me to feel that way. 

You obviously can’t always be happy, so don’t feel bad whenever you are going through a bit of a low. But don’t get stuck in it, there is really always light at the end of the tunnel you just have to keep walking to find it. If you can’t pinpoint what is wrong on your own, don’t be afraid to ask for help either. Sometimes, another perspective can really make all the difference. 


How do you try to avoid anxiety?

Lots of love,