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Simple Solutions to Reduce Anxiety and Stress
http://www.therapist-psychologist.com/psychology_article/articles/65/1/Simple-Solutions-to-Reduce-Anxiety-and-Stress/Page1.html
Jennine E. Estes, M.A.
Jennine E. Estes with a practice working mostly with couples and helping people learn more effective ways to communicate and connect with one another. She helps couples build trust, learn how to recover from infidelity, and help them get back on track. For more information, please visit http://www.EstesTherapy.com or her blog at http://www.sandiegocounseling.blogspot.com. She is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern (IMF#47211),supervised by Mark Kaupp, Psy.D., MFC#33213 in San Diego. 
By Jennine E. Estes, M.A.
Published on April 3, 2008
 
Do you ever feel overwhelmed, stressed, or maxed out?  Is your anxiety destroying your social, work, and/or love life?  Do you wish you had the ability to form new relationships with people, but are too nervous to introduce yourself?  Anxiety/stress feels terrible and can be brought on by many situations, including the pressures of work, deadlines, the weight of time, the reluctance to meet new people, etc...  Uncontrolled stress and panic attacks can cause sleep disturbances due to racing thoughts and can keep people up at night and lead to problems staying focused during the day.
Here are a few simple solutions to help reduce your anxiety and stress.
  1. Get off the “hamster wheel.”  Anxiety can make your mind go over the same thoughts in a continuous loop.  Cyclical thinking doesn’t get you anywhere and is counter-productive to eliminating stress.  For example, you might notice thinking the same thing, such as lying in bed and repeatedly thinking of your “to-do list.” Continuing these destructive mental cycles only increases the stress levels, fostering more negative thinking.  The continuous thoughts increase the anxiety and keep the stress heightened.  Be aware of your thoughts and get off the wheel.
  1. Don’t forget to breathe.  When people get stressed and overwhelmed, their breathing tends to become shallow and their muscles tighten up.  Take a few moments to breathe and relax.  Regulating your breathing in times of stress helps your body to calm down by ensuring you take in the normal amount of oxygen.
  1. Let out some steam.  Imagine you have a balloon in your body.  Now, imagine stuffing emotions down into this balloon every time you get irritated and frustrated.  Just as helium balloons pop when they get full, so do the emotional balloons within us.  The overwhelming feelings of anxiety and panic attacks are side effects from the popping of our emotional balloons.  Talk or write about your frustrations and anger so you can let out the air of the balloon and prevent it from popping.
  1. Work-it-out.  Exercising, working-out, and physical activities are healthy ways to release anxiety and stress.  During physical activities, our bodies release “happy chemicals” (neurotransmitters, such as endorphins and serotonin) which help calm the body.  When you feel stressed or overwhelmed, go to the gym or take a walk around your neighborhood.
If you are struggling with anxiety and you notice your relationships are being impacted, you can benefit from working with a therapist.  As a therapist, I provide individual, premarital, couples, and family therapy in San Diego to help people create healthier relationships and feel increasingly satisfied in their lives.   For more relationship and personal advice, please visit her blog at http://www.sandiegocounseling.blogspot.com or her website at http://www.estesetherapy.com.