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Most of us experience anxiety at some point or another in our lives. In fact, it is very common to experience it routinely, and a lot of people do struggle with that. If you are concerned about your anxiety levels, or you are feeling as though you would like to be done with it once and for all, there are many things you can do to help. It’s important to bear in mind that you should never feel it is out of your control. No matter how bad it is, there are effective ways to manage and control anxiety. Let’s take a look at how to do this. Noting It & Naming It One of the most important things you can do here is to make sure you note anxiety when it arises, and that you name it for what it is. This is essentially a kind of mindfulness which you can bring to your anxiety in order to spot it when it arises as clearly as possible. Doing so is powerful, and it actually works to remove much of anxiety’s power, especially if you normally feel that you are in the grip of it. Note it, name it, and watch what happens to it. Pay attention to your body, especially to your breath. Breathe in for three seconds, hold for four, and breathe out for seven seconds. Repeat five times, more if necessary. Also, understand that anxiety is normal and most humans will experience anxiety more than once during their lifetime. Changing What You Put In Your Body Be aware of what you put in your body. If you are struggling to overcome your anxiety, it might time to look at your nutrition. Believe it or not, nutrition has a lot to do with our mental health. What you eat and otherwise consume is all going to affect how you feel, and how capable you feel in dealing with anxiety, or decisions in general. So make sure you avoid, or minimize your intake of foods known to worsen anxiety, such as caffeine and fried foods. Some natural supplements found to help are Ashwagandha, GABA, and 5HTP, just to name a few. Additionally, some have found that using a tincture such as this one from caduceusscience.com or something similar has also helped some with anxiety.  Staying Grounded If you sometimes suffer from anxiety attacks or panic attacks, you are going to need to have some methods in place for how to deal with those when they arise. The breathing exercise we mentioned earlier is one of them. Another simple and effective method is to try and stay grounded by calling out five things that you can see, five things that you can touch, and five things that you can hear. Whether or not you can really hear five things is not important - the act of looking out for those stimuli keeps you grounded and stops you going over the edge. Additional information can be found at verywellmind.com. Sleep & Exercise Finally, sleeping and exercising more are basic and essential to your mental health, especially when anxiety is at a high. The better you sleep and the more you move around, the more of a chance you have of keeping your anxiety under wraps. Vitamin D is essential for your mental health and spending time outdoors is an effective, simple, and free way to do it. Remember, when in doubt take a breath and know that anxiety is normal.
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Looking after your mental health is important, as you probably already know, but for some reason, people seem to forget about this when it comes to putting it into practice. It’s easy to talk about staying healthy mentally, but the reality of it is a lot more complicated. However, there is a whole range of hobbies that are great for your mental health, and we’re going to be looking at some of them in this article. If you want to know more about what these hobbies are, then keep reading down below where you will find a few of them. Sports The first hobby that we’re going to look at is sports. One of the reasons that sport is so good for your mental health is because it’s good for your physical health. When your body is healthy, your mind is more likely to be healthy because you know that you are looking after yourself. Running around is excellent for keeping fit, and when you start to feel that burn in your legs, your body is going to release adrenaline and endorphins to help you deal with this and keep you going for longer. Endorphins are a natural mood enhancer, which automatically helps you to feel better. Another reason that sport is so great is that it keeps you mind off any problems you have in your life at that point, even if only for a little while. Sometimes all you need is that one thing that you can do, and it takes everything else away. In those moments, nothing else matters, and that is good for your mental health because it gives you a break from all the stresses that you face every day. Arts and Crafts  Another hobby that is great for your mental health is arts and crafts. Now, you don’t actually have to be good at either for it to be therapeutic. This gives you a way to express how you’re feeling, or just a way to let everything out that you have been bottling up. You don’t even have to create anything specific, just whatever you are feeling at the time. You have seen art, so you know that some pieces don’t actually look like anything, but they are expressions of what the artist felt when they painted them. It’s just something to get all your thoughts out that you can’t express words for, and it’s a great feeling when you’re done. Gardening You could also look at gardening if you’re looking for a new hobby. For some reason, gardening has a bit of a reputation for being for older people, but that’s simply because it is so calm and relaxing. It doesn’t take anything that is taxing physically unless you are going to be doing a whole renovation in a short time frame. Things like planting flowers, tending to weeds, maybe even having a vegetable patch are also simple gardening activities, but they can be a lot of fun. It’s nice to see something beautiful that you have created once you’re finished, and then you get to tend to it. There are a number of new things that you can add to the space to make it look as good as possible. For example, you could add garden rocks, a path, maybe a pond, flowers, and so on. So many opportunities and different ideas for you to take into consideration, so if it’s something mellow you’re looking for, this could certainly be it. Blogging  The next thing that we’re going to look at is blogging. This is another way that you can talk about how you’re feeling and nobody has to know it’s you. Your blog can be anonymous for readers, or you could even set it to private if you’re worried that someone is going to recognize something about your life. It’s entirely up to, but it’s like the online version of writing in a journal. It’s personal, you don’t have to tailor what you say, and it can feel really good to get all those thoughts and feelings out of your head. The good thing about this hobby is that it’s just something that you can do as and when you have time. It’s not as if you have to stick to a certain schedule, and you don’t even have to write something every day if you have nothing to say. It’s yours to do with as you please, and there are no restraints or limitations on it. Reading If you’re looking for an escape into a new world, then reading is an excellent way to do this. Pick up a book and get lost in the pages for hours as a way to calm down, or simply relax from the day that you have had. There are so many books available that you are never going to run out of things to read, which is one of the best parts of it. The different types of books that you can read, some funny, some romantic but there is always going to be something for you to discover in those pages. Reading is excellent for your mental health because it keeps your brain active, and it helps you slip somewhere else for a little while. Music  Finally, music might be just what you’re looking for. Whether you are listening or creating, it can be a great way to hear your feelings without having to say them out loud. Music is soothing, calming, but it’s also like a therapy to you. When you hear the words and know that you’re not alone in how you’re feeling, or you simply feel the music, and it boosts your mood, it’s like nothing else in the world. That’s why so many people turn to music when they feel like they can’t turn anywhere else. We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now know some of the hobbies that are great for your mental health. Try some out and see what’s good for you.
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August 2023
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