Ease Your Anxious Mind With These Tips
By Brandi Goodman
It can be difficult to think about anything else when your mind is anxious. Your anxiety takes over and your negative thoughts consume you. With a few tips, you can help to ease your anxious mind and learn to distract yourself with something positive.
Create Something New
Turn your anxious thoughts into something beautiful. When you choose to use creativity to combat your anxiety, you allow yourself to get your feelings out. You'll be focused on creating something new so you won't have time to think about the negative thoughts that were once swirling around your head. Paint a picture. Draw something. Find a craft project to make. Sew. There's always something you can try to get your creative juices flowing.
Move Your Body
Sometimes you just have to sweat it out. Move your body and get exercise so your brain releases endorphins that make you feel good. Your heart will be working hard. Your muscles will be on fire. You'll be sweating out all the bad thoughts on your mind and finish your session feeling better than ever. Exercise is a great distraction from whatever's bothering you.
Hand Wash
The act of washing something can be cleansing for your mind. You get to watch as the dirt falls away and the clean surface beneath is revealed. This can help to ease your mind because you're focused on what it is you're washing instead of what was in your head before. Find something you can wash by hand, such as the dishes, some laundry, or even a bike or car outside. Really let yourself focus on the sudsy water as it drips away and imagine it taking your anxiety with it.
Get Silly
Sometimes the stresses of life can just be too much to handle. Get silly! Act like a kid again and do something silly and fun that can get you out of your head. Dance around the house. Play a funny game. Go outside and splash in a puddle or jump into a pile of leaves. Give yourself a silly distraction to put your mind at ease.
Whether you're just having an anxious moment or you deal with anxiety all the time, knowing ways to cope can help. You can focus on something else so your negative thoughts aren't building. Try one or more of these options and see which ones help you best.
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