It’s the day before your appointment with Northwest Surgery Center and you start to feel anxious. Anxiety is our body’s natural response to threats, and it can easily disrupt our daily lives. That’s why we’re offering a list of 5 healthy ways to cope with anxiety.

Let’s get into it.  

Practice Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation is a great antecede to relieving symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety usually involves compulsive and negative thinking either about the past or the future. This is where mindfulness meditation intervenes, as it brings your awareness back to the present moment. Instead of ruminating on unwanted and intrusive thoughts, you’re able to look at them objectively. You see them from a place of compassion and nonjudgment. In turn, this helps you to stop identifying with your thoughts which results in a clearer, more positive state of mind.

Reach Out to Loved Ones

If you start to feel anxiety creep in, it’s always a good idea to reach out to a loved one for emotional support. Sometimes all you need is to hear a soothing voice on the other line to pull you from the grip of your anxious thoughts. Talking with a loved one also helps you to externally process what you’re feeling. Instead of being trapped in your own head, you let the feelings and thoughts out. This can cause instant relief and peace of mind.

Spend Time Outside

Nature is not only beautiful, but it offers a plethora of benefits to our mental health. Research shows that spending time outside can almost instantly put you in a more positive mood and relieve anxiety. Stepping out in nature allows provides you with an abundance of healthy external stimuli from its sounds, feelings, and sights.  When you’re able to focus on these sensations, you’ve pulled away from the incessant, anxious thinking that’s causing you trouble.

Do Something Active

While the last thing you might want to do is a workout if you’re feeling anxious, you might try and give it a shot. When we exercise, our bodies release a hormone called endorphins, which are responsible for increasing our positive emotions and relieving stress. This is what makes physical activity an efficient way to ease our anxiety. You don’t have to be up for a marathon, even a simple 10-minute walk can help calm your racing thoughts.

Practice Grounding Techniques

When you struggle with anxiety, it often means that you aren’t aware of your surroundings. Instead, your entire focus is on the chaotic, negative monologue racing in your mind. Grounding techniques can help you to disengage from the overwhelming amount of thoughts and focus on your surroundings. A good way to practice grounding is to notice 3 tangible objects of a certain color, 2 things that you can feel, and observe what your nose is picking up.

Final Thoughts

Anxiety is a common and troublesome disorder that we’ve all experienced at least once in our life. However, if you find that you continuously experience anxiety or it has influenced your overall well-being, it’s advisable that you reach out to a mental health professional.