547: How can I help myself when my anxiety gets triggered?
In this week's Anxiety Slayer podcast we're responding to the question: "How can I help myself when my anxiety gets triggered?"
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Notes from this week’s episode:
TAKE A STEP BACK AND PAUSE
When anxiety gets triggered, we can feel instantly overwhelmed and fearful that it’s going to stay this way forever. Often we are so caught up in anxiety that we forget there are things we can do to help ourselves feel more calm and grounded.
A good place to start is to think over the last few weeks and see what you think may have caused your anxiety to flare. Then make sure you are taking care of other possible triggers too.
Look out for triggers and reduce them
See if there is anything else increasing anxiety you that you can reduce in your life.
Anxiety triggers to look out for include:
Disturbing news
Caffeine
Violent, scary, or fast paced entertainment: music, movies, TV, video games.
Stress, social pressure, expectations, or confrontations
Keep a note of what you notice adds to your anxiety and see what changes you can make to reduce it's presence in your life.
Pay attention to things that help you feel safe and more relaxed.
For example: creative activities, yoga, walking, inspiring reading, breathing exercises, guided relaxation.
Practice focusing on whatever reduces your anxiety (even if it's only a little bit) and see what changes you can make to include more of these things in your day.
Next: Get back to basics
Make sure you are being kind to yourself and practicing self-care and and adding some anxiety calming practices to your day every day.
