6 tips for overcoming anxiety...

Are you wondering how to deal with feelings of anxiety?

Anxiety is your body's reaction to changes in the environment around you. During these changes, your body reacts both physically and emotionally with your thoughts. I am an NLP Coach and in my coaching practice I work with clients to eliminate feelings of anxiety, and this is what we call the mind and body connection. You see its what you tell your mind that your body reacts with the perceived appropriate response.

An anxiety attack effects your body in a multitude of ways. You may experience a quickening of your heartbeat, and a feeling of dread or sadness, or even an overwhelmingly negative feeling in your chest and stomach.

Believe it or not anxiety is natural and you rely on this process should you be in any sort of danger. You may have heard of the fight or flight response which saves your life in a crises, in this moment your body releases a surge of adrenaline into your bloodstream putting your body into high alert.

However what you need to do is learn to manage the feelings of anxiety so that you can have control over your response to normal events outside of your control so that you can keep perspective and a level head.

Here are 6 tips, that you can do, which will help you to deal with feelings of anxiety;

1. Breathe - Sounds obvious but take a long, slow breath in through your nose, first filling your lower lungs, then your upper lungs. Hold your breath to the count of "three." and then Exhale slowly. Repeat.

2. Form a Power Posture - think of a Super Hero - Stand up, pull your shoulders back, plant your feet evenly and widely apart, and open your chest. When you stand in a confident way then your mind and body connection will allow your body to remember its not in danger.

3. Remember the 3's - distract yourself and look for 3 things you can see. 3 things you can hear and 3 things you can touch. We call this a pattern interrupt.

4. Be Aware of your Thoughts! - Think back to what you were thinking about just prior to feeling anxious. Was it anything you have control over? Was it something in your future? Often we worry about things in our future, which have yet to happen, so being realistic how do we know if that is going to come true? We can only live in the present moment. Remember its our thoughts which create our feelings, which create our behaviour and then our eventual result. Empower yourself with positive thoughts to have a better outcome.

5. Face the Source - Whatever it is that you feel anxious about, look at what you can do now. More often when we do face events that we have worried about beforehand we find that we manage so much better than we imagined we ever would. What small steps can you take today?

6. Talk - Reach out and talk to someone you trust or indeed one of the brilliant organisations set up to support you through periods of anxiety. Remember you are not alone!

By following these actionable steps, in the moments of feeling anxious, you will allow yourself space to calm yourself and to move through these feelings. Remember YOU are more powerful than you realise!

Lisa Burdett Transformational Coach