Are you An Anxious Andy or Full of Anxiety Annie???
Anxiety is a part of all of our lives in one way or another during one time or another. It’s unfortunately inevitable, the question is, how do we handle it? Today we will explore all the many ways we can stress out with anxiety. As well as the ways our body may be telling us we’re anxious without even knowing it. Sometimes anxiety can creep up due to hormonal imbalances, we’ll explore that too. By the end of this blog, we’ll have plenty of ways we can reduce our anxiety and feel the ZEN!
What Makes You Anxious?
- Sensory Overload
- Pandemics/Illness/Mortality
- Parenting/Caregiving
- Finances
- Self-Care
- Holidays
- Eating/Food
- Apologizing/ Admitting You Were Wrong
- Body Image
- Social Settings
- Workplace/Confidence
- Disorganization
We bet you can identify with one, two, three or 10 of these…
So how do we DEAL?
Take a Chill Pill…
If only it were that easy! Don’t get us wrong we understand that sometimes our anxiety can lead to depression and even worse. Therefor, medicine is necessary to help keep our symptoms at bay. But what if there were things you might be able to try in an effort to lower your anxiety? We know plenty of methods to help you relax and find your happy place as well as products that can do the same. Let’s get started…
Sensory Overloading Olivia
If you’re anything like Olivia, you can hear things that most people drown out. You can smell things that others don’t even notice. Maybe your eyes can’t handle certain bright lights or even the sun on certain days? There are also those with texture issues, maybe an itchy sweater makes you sweat with irritation.
What about heights or being on an elevator? This type of sensory overload actually leaves you feeling like your body in a particular space is in trouble. Food textures and temperatures can be a doozy for those with a touchy gag reflex.
Mysophobia is the hypersensitivity to certain noises such as chewing, smacking, keys jangling and/or slurping. Those Olivia’s that suffer from this become enraged upon hearing the endless noise and often have no idea why they feel so adverse to them.
We’ve all heard the term, claustrophobia, the anxiousness of being too close or touching people. Small confined spaces can send this sensory overloading Olivia into a tailspin.
SO, How Do We Help Olivia?
If we know we are about to be in a situation that could trigger sensory overload, pre-prep is key. It’s important to always attempt being prepared for any issue that could come up unexpectedly as well. A prep pack might include things like lavender or eucalyptus oil to soothe a smeller that is stinkin mad. Or dark sunglasses to cover those gorgeous baby blues when the sun’s a blazin and you’re on fire. Headphones have come a long way and some even cancel out NOISE. So, if your ears hang low when noise starts to flow, make sure you have some noise-cancelers nearby. One last way you can have an immediate download is to place something heavy across your shoulders. Like a long bean bag or soft fabric full of rice. The weight on your shoulders takes the weight off your shoulders…go figure!
Pre-Prep for a social setting that could get your senses all sassed up by taking a 30-minute quiet walk before you go. Meditate or pray while listening to soothing music to calm your nerves beforehand. If you ever do find yourself in a possible downward turn, just take a minute. Taking a break and walking away can do wonders for a person feeling anxious. Think back to your childhood, whenever a child in class wasn’t in a good place and showing it, the teacher removed the student. This can also be done in adulthood as well, you just don’t need your teacher to do it for you.
Pandemic Pat meets “It’s the end of the world?” Wally
We can ALL agree on one thing…a pandemic can most definitely cause some anxiety. 2020 brought on new ways to feel anxious from wearing a mask everywhere to being afraid to go to the store. The Coronavirus took the fear of germs to a whole new level and took physical touch away completely. Don’t get us wrong, we know the masks are a necessity, but no one REALLY loves wearing them, so they can cause a certain level of anxiety that we may have never experienced before. As well as not being able to hug and shake hands, physical touch is something we ALL long for. Not being able to experience as much of it can and has caused new levels of anxiety for some of us.
Often times hearing about things can cause our minds to create an, “end of the world,” mindset. We can tailspin into this horrible place of feeling like the sky is falling. People that struggle with this can often believe a sinus headache to be a brain tumor. Or a cranky kid to have low blood sugar and diabetes. In other words, they jump quickly to the worst conclusions. Nothing caused more reason than the recent Coronavirus for these anxious triggers to fire off in all directions. People that never struggled with a feeling of despair started to last year. The bottom line is, the issue is real and more real now than ever.
So, How Do We Help Pat and Wally?
People like Pat and Wally can simply do ONE MAJOR THING-
Keep Moving and looking FORWARD!!! Find the optimism in the future, what tomorrow will bring and what about it makes you happy? It could be as simple as knowing…the sun will come out, tomorrow!
AND have friends that are aware of the issue that can quickly remind you that every spring you have allergies and allergies cause headaches. It’s not a brain tumor.
Parenting Penny and Caregiving Carl
Ode to the empaths of this world, the compassionate feelers of our universe…these people have a gift. These people often see the gift of compassion and care…and want to throw it all out the window. It’s a hard day’s night, that’s for sure.
First you start off waking everyone up and making sure everyone is ready and out the door in time. Then, you head out the door yourself to either run kids to school or errands. After this, you may run to check on your elderly mother or a sick friend. You might stay home and cook for the new mom down the street. You probably made a costume or art project until midnight the night before and volunteered at the youth function too. Oh, and don’t forget that you also filed your taxes, went to work, made 24 muffins and bathed the dog. Yes, you do it all and yes, you sometimes feel overwhelmed and anxious. That’s ok and completely normal.
So, How Do We Help Penny and Carl?
- Help them let go of feeling guilty. Often times this type of anxiety can make us feel bad for FEELING put off. It’s A LOT of work caring for others and sometimes, it makes you wanna scream…so SCREAM for crying out loud. It’s OK!
- They need help admitting they can’t do it all and finding help. If you know a Penny or a Carl, you can encourage them to utilize services that can help take the load off. Meals on Wheels or Instacart can save caregivers and parents so many hours. Encourage them to just try one and go from there.
Show Me The Money!!!
We ALL Worry About The Benjamins …
Financial stress can really take its toll on the human spirit. Money makes the world go round and can honestly make a marriage or household go down. You may feel like it controls your every move in life, and maybe it does for the time being. That doesn’t mean you have to be a slave to the anxiety of financial stability.
What To Do?
Start with a plan and take one step at a time. There are countless books out there that can help you find your financial freedom. Dave Ramsey is a man that has developed a real understanding of how to manage your finances and get out of debt. If anything, start by listening to his teachings and do one big challenge at a time. Before you know it, you’ll be debt free and maybe even investing in a stock or two.
Self-Care, Eating and Body Image-
We decided to put all three of these in the same category because they all affect us similarly and fall under the same blanket. Stressing about what you need to be eating in order to lose weight and have a positive body image is enough to make you want to drown in a tub of blue bell. It feels like too much and an impossibility to find your happy self again. It IS possible…
First-
You have to learn to accept yourself and love yourself and STRUT your self around like you just don’t CARE! That’s right, we mean it…it’s ALL in the attitude and how you work it. If you’re walking around with your shoulders slumped, head down and heavy lipped…what good does that do? Head high, shoulders back, happy lips and swingin hips will automatically make you feel like you can seize the day.
Second-
Stop comparing and start living. Confidence is way sexier than comparison, and yes, people see it all over you. There is nothing more obvious than a person putting down someone else, it’s just bad form and ugly. But, when you are a person who builds others up …THAT LOOKS GOOD! Making others look and feel wonderful in your presence ONLY makes you look and feel better.
Third-
Make a goal and stick to it and don’t get crazy. Too often too many people do crazy things to lose weight or feel great. Just cut out the 10 cokes a day for starters…baby steps. Don’t cut out coke completely and go strictly to water. You’ll be back to Cokes in no time and you will add 3 more. Harsh restriction isn’t the answer.
How Elite Can Help …
We are going to take on Anxiety in two parts, so make sure and catch up tomorrow for the rest of the list. Anxiety can take over our minds and effect our bodies as well as our souls. Elite cares about each and every patient dealing with any type of anxiety and yes, we have a solution for most. For a list of our wellness products and peptides, please visit www.elitehealthonline.com for more information. Tomorrow, we will explore several of our products that can lead you to a happier, healthier and less anxious you.
Beyond Our Products:
Hopefully we’ve all loved someone in our lives. Now think about the way you speak to someone you love and care deeply for. Most of the time, we encourage, lift up and want all good things for the people we love. So, why don’t we act that way to ourselves? If your son gets his heartbroken, how do you handle his heartache? Or if your spouse loses a promotion they’ve worked so hard for, do you love on them or tear then down? It’s very important that we speak to ourselves the exact same way we would speak to someone we love dearly. It’s important as we all deal with anxieties to first love who we are.
Tip of the Day:
Did you know that Oranges can lift your mood? Try keeping a bowl of oranges in your kitchen or at least one on your desk at work. Just the scent of an orange has a positive effect on your brain due to the citrusy smell. Next time you need a quick pick me up, pick up an orange and give it a sniff! Orange you glad you read this? Cheers to Citrus!!!
