61 Coping Tips From 24 Experts To Help You Beat Anxiety
When I interviewed 24 health experts for the anxiety support summit, I asked almost all of them one question:
What are your three biggest tips for someone struggling with anxiety today?
So, nice guy that I am, I spent a little time this week aggregating their tips in a nitty-gritty-punchy article just for you.
Short. Sweet. And to the point. Look out for recurring themes. If something lacks context, I have tried to provide a brief example or explanation in brackets beside it. And with that said, I'll shut up.
Here are 61 Coping Tips From 24 Experts To Help You Beat Anxiety
Eat well. Include plenty of healthy fats and no processed sugar or as little as possible.
Understand it's possible to care about the world without it hurting you.
Introduce healthy stressors to the body (examples would be fasting, cold plunge, or sauna).
Take time for yourself every day.
Be OK with the fact you’re experiencing anxiety.
Be kind to yourself.
Stop trying to fight your anxiety.
Practice self-observation without engaging.
Connect to your breath.
Practice daily movement (examples would be yoga, stretching, tai-chi, etc.)
Journal your thoughts.
Take a deep breath.
Recognise we are all connected.
Connect with yourself.
Take action (anxiety is destroyed by action).
Practice deep breathing.
Get good sleep.
Bring laughter back into your life.
Find an inspirational character in your life (an example of an inspirational character would be me, Nicky Cullen. See the previous tip).
Always choose gratitude.
Use your breath to create space.
Allow yourself to be supported (try not to shy away from those who want to — and can — help you).
Always be kind to yourself.
Trust that it will get better (not to put a dampener on this, but I can tell you from experience it can also get significantly worse. Trust that it will get better once you are willing to make the required changes).
Step away from Google. Your anxiety is different from everybody else's.
Be curious. Not critical (anxiety is always trying to tell you something).
Your superpower is being a human being. Embrace it.
It's OK to be lost in it. It will pass. Trust.
To loved ones, be human. Sit, listen, and try to understand.
Don't try and fix it. Get curious as to what's going on.
Move your body.
Meditate.
Explore your relationship with certainty (an unhealthy relationship with certainty can cause tremendous anxiety).
Acknowledge you are human, and no feelings are permanent.
Enquire within your body.
Ask it a question and unravel what it is trying to tell you.
Start developing self-awareness, especially looking at your dark side (your dark side would be the shit you don't want to look at).
Implement routines and rules to dictate your life.
Take full ownership and responsibility.
Boundaries. Boundaries. Learn to set them.
Change your temperature to bring you back to your senses (hot/cold).
Practice coherent breathing.
Bring colour into your life.
Spend some time learning to feel OK when everything is OK.
Following the above point, spend time developing the ability to feel OK when things are not OK.
Notice what exacerbates it, and limit your exposure (examples might be coffee or social media).
Pay attention to your sleep cycles.
Have a daily grounding practice (could be yoga, meditation, or journaling).
Read books to acquire knowledge (the best place to start if you can't afford support).
Stop asking what's wrong with you and instead ask what happened? (This is a more inquisitive approach as opposed to assuming something is wrong with you. Specifically when dealing with complex trauma).
Although the symptoms are extremely uncomfortable, know they are harmless and are just trying to get you to listen (so start listening).
You're not broken or damaged. Remind yourself you are OK.
Show yourself compassion.
It's OK not to want to be afraid. Nobody wants to be afraid. You can train yourself to be less afraid through compassion.
Examine fear in your life. Use it as a compass and look at where it is telling you to go.
Try to approach fear from a different perspective and use it to drive you.
Look at your environment and change how you approach your fear.
Be kind to yourself.
Understand this is your protection system overreacting.
Understand you are the boss, and where you put your attention will determine your reality.
Always remember the power of breathing and recognize you can completely change your state through diaphragmatic breathing.
And there you have it. I hope it helps. You can watch all interviews for free here.