The 3 Main Ways I Handle Anxiety

Today I want to chat about the little ole word- anxiety. That feeling that has the power to keep you up for hours, staring at your ceiling while asking an infinite number of questions that no one has the answer to. I’ve been very open over the years about struggling with anxiety and working on different ways to deal with it.

In the past, anxiety has kept me from truly enjoying wonderful moments in my life. The thing about anxiety is that for the most part it’s completely invisible to the naked eye. It’s not like when a person with anxiety walks into a party, the DJ stops everything, picks up the mic and says, “Everyone please be extra kind to this person because they are anxious for reasons unknown to us and at times, themselves.”

Can you imagine? Yikes! But at times I’ve wondered if someone perhaps would’ve handled a situation differently if they knew someone was struggling with anxiety due to past trauma, or maybe just due to the fact that being a human is straight up hard.

Today, I’m sharing the three main ways that I personally deal with my anxiety. Different things work for different people so if what I list sounds like it might not work for you, that’s completely okay. Just always remember to be gentle and kind with yourself. You will eventually find what works for you!

1. Daily Exercise

I know, I know…cliché. You’ve heard it before, I’m sure. But this truly was a game changer for me. I think in the past I've underestimated how powerful the chemicals released during exercise can be. We’ve heard about this all our lives but it wasn’t until I put this into consistent practice, that I saw how big of a difference it made. When you exercise, not only is your brain releasing feel good chemicals, but it’s also getting rid of chemicals that make you stressed and anxious. It’s science! Look it up!

When I say “daily exercise” you might be thinking that I’m saying you must exercise literally every day. Which let’s be honest, is unrealistic. Even committing to exercising twice a week can help anxiety immensely!

2. Journaling

I have journals upon journals that date back all the way to 8th grade! What started as something I would do while on church mission trips, has become a huge outlet for my frustrations and anxiety. Journaling has been proven to; relieve stress, calm the mind and help identify negative thoughts and behaviors. Effective journaling is something that can improve your quality of life and really help you pinpoint what exactly is causing you to be anxious.

On a side note- I think my favorite part about journaling is that I get to go back months or years later and read about what past Izzy was dealing with. On those old pages is where I can see concrete growth. To me there’s nothing better than clearly being able to see how far I’ve come from past journals.

3. Meditating

I grew up in a household where meditating was a misunderstood term that meant you were wanting to clear your mind of everything which in turn would leave your mind open to evil influences. It wasn’t until after college that I truly started practicing mindful meditation and started to research about it’s benefits. Meditating not only helps reduce anxiety but it also helps increase patience, gain perspective and helps you focus on the present.

Now we are going to get a little sciency, that’s a word right?

So inside each cerebral hemisphere is an almond shape mass called an amygdala. The amygdala plays an important role in our memory but it is also associated with our fear and stress responses. When we feel scared or threatened the amygdala activates our flight or fight response which tells our brain to release stress hormones.

A hyperactive amygdala can make us more susceptible to neuropsychiatric disorders like; uncontrolled anger, eating disorders, depression and ANXIETY.

All of this tells us that when we are anxious, our amygdala is over stimulated which in turn gives us more anxiety. Go figure!

During meditation, the brain cell volume in the amygdala decreases, causing us to experience less stress and anxiety. People often think that a person has to meditate their whole life to gain something from it. But studies have proven that meditation can change our brains for the better in 11 hours. That means if you were to make the commitment to meditate for 1 hour, 11 days straight, your brain would be positively influenced.

These three practices that work for me, where not just randomly revealed to me. It took years of trial and error and a lot of frustration in between. I hope that through reading this you can maybe get the idea to try one of the above things (if you haven’t already) but I also hope that it can give you some relief in knowing that you are not alone.

Millions of Americans suffer from anxiety and it is a topic that I think everyone should discuss further. Even if anxiety isn’t something that is affecting you, I guarantee there are several people in your life who suffer from it.

If you too suffer from anxiety and are willing to share, I would love to know below what are some ways that you deal with it?

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