How to alleviate anxiety natually is a frequent question that we are asked. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 31.1% of adults experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. A common suggestion when you struggle with anxiety is to take medication to make it easier to bear. But not everyone has access to medication, and even if they do, not everyone wants that. But that doesn’t mean they’re doomed to live with intense anxiety forever.
If you don’t want to take or don’t have access to medication, that’s okay. There are still things you can do to make your anxiety easier to bear.  And because anxiety can be an important signal from your  body, it is important to cope with it, rather than mask it. Here are a few options to choose from when looking for ways to cope with anxiety naturally. You can even try all of them at the same time.
Using Exercise to Alleviate Anxiety Naturally
When you struggle with anxiety, movement can do a lot to help you through it. Whether it’s dancing in your living room for a little while or going on a walk around the block, you’ll see your anxiety become a little less strong. If you can try an exercise that’s a little more intense, like going for a jog or to the gym, even better. When you exercise, you actually help disperse the stress hormones that build up in your body. Thus, you naturally feel less anxious.
Exercise can help you both short and long-term. And when you constantly find yourself dealing with anxiety, this can be a relief, especially if you’re consistent about it.
Mind Your Drinks
A lot of people go for alcohol when they’re feeling anxious, or caffeine just to get through the day, but both these drinks make anxiety worse. Alcohol dehydrates you, which only makes anxiety more intense. As for caffeine, it can mimic symptoms of anxiety, which definitely doesn’t help. In fact, it is common for people to drink too much caffeine and begin having panic attacks which they confuse with heart attacks.
Instead, you can try something else to drink when you’re anxious. Chamomile tea is a good option. It’s a common drink given to people who struggle with anxiety, especially at night. So, if one of these nights, you struggle to sleep because of how anxious you are, give it a try.
Also, it doesn’t have to be at night. Whether you drink tea first thing in the morning, or early in the afternoon, as long as it helps you through anxious moments, that’s all that matters.
Get Some Sleep
Poor sleep can make anxiety harder to deal with. So, if you want to calm your anxiety, a good way to do it is to sleep properly. Mind your sleep hygiene. Keep the lights on low at night and brighten your day as much as possible, whether it’s by opening all the curtains or by keeping bright lights on during cloudy or rainy days.
Start a good nighttime routine, one that makes you feel a little more relaxed at night. As long as it helps you sleep well at night, it doesn’t really matter what you do. You’ll see as time goes on that your anxiety is much weaker than it used to be.
Breathe Well
When your anxiety becomes too intense and you’re not sure what to do next, focus on your breathing. For that, you need to try any breathing exercises that slow the way you breathe and force you to breathe deeply. You can try some simple breathing exercises or you can try actual meditation. Anxiety forces your breathing to be shallow and difficult. In return, you have to force it to slow down, make it calmer. You’ll see it has an impact on your anxiety.
Consider Counseling
It’s okay if you don’t want to give medication a try, or if you can’t for whatever reason. But something that can help you regardless is counseling or therapy. You might be a little wary, which is understandable. There is a lot of stigma around the practice, but it can truly help you cope with your anxiety. If these tips to alleviate anxiety naturally are not enough, therapy can help.
Our therapists at Awaken Counseling are stress and anxiety specialists. To get more information or to schedule a free consultation, reach out to us today.
