Seconds in to minutes, minutes in to months and months in to moments. A lifetime of joy, lucky in love with moments of magic. Highs of happiness,infected torment of a modern world. Life is humble, life is pure, what we become when the world is scorn.
What could have been maybe should have been. Hope, despair, addiction, recovery, disability, faith and the dream of a simple life. We all carry a burden, the burden to become what society demands and anything less creates a vacuum of despair. They want despair, they want control, filled with pills and pumped with poison. How to unlock the madness of a modern world when all around conspires to intrude and begrudge the very basics any one person should need.
Anxiety can be an exhausting nightmare, it can consume every waking moment of your life and has a variety of symptoms that range from mild to severe. It can creep in to your life even when you don’t feel particulary stressed and regaining control of your mental health may take a complete change in lifestyle.
People suffer for many reasons, be it work, family, pressure and often resulting from years of pent up emotions and difficult times. Getting treatment from a doctor or professional can be both timely and expensive depending on the nature and urgency of treatment needed.
In a modern world where mental health has never been more prevalent than it is now the surge in anxiety related illness and death can’t be overlooked any longer and here we look at some ways to try and combat the issues causing this misery.
(1) DIET CHANGE
Changing your diet can be a great way to reduce the symptoms of anxiety. Cutting out the bad stuff that helps strengthen anxiety such as coffee along with the reduction of other stimulants like sugar will work wonders. It’s worth noting that if you are suffering with anxiety this is the body’s way of telling you its had enough and needs to be cared for in a different way. Including better foods in to the diet such a fresh fruits and vegetables and plenty of water will increase the bodies over all health.
(2) EXERCISE
Now you don’t need to be a gym bunny in order to exercise, in fact people with anxiety will often feel worse when surrounded by noise and people so a busy gym isn’t ideal to start off with. Often a simple walk can do wonders for the body and mind but if you live in a busy metropolis area it may pose similar issues much like the gym so you can do some simple exercise in doors. There are some fantastic yoga programs that can be done from indoors which will both exercise the body but also relax the mind.
(3) MEDITATION
Meditation can be a brilliant antidote to anxiety and stress, it can be as simple as spending a half hour in a quiet area trying to clear the mind and think of nothing. Often with anxiety people complain of not being able to control thoughts but a good bit of advice for this would be to rather observe the thoughts as though you are a third person. Don’t judge the thoughts that enter you mind nor apologies for them, simply observe them as though they belong to somebody else and you needn’t take responsibility for these. Often we can’t control our thoughts and as such shouldn’t punish ourselves for what’s going on in them. Many people have found great comfort in combing the meditation with crystals and using this moment of quiet to work with different crystals to great affect. Looking up crystals and there uses is quite fascinating and much can be found online these days.
(4) ACCEPTANCE & HABITS
We live in a modern world where unpleasant news seems to be in our faces 24/7 be it on social media, the radio or the news. We are exposed to anger and hate in the real world also, on the commute to work or in the car etc and these moments register in our subconscious. The current events of the world which are on the news, radio etc can often feel like great injustices and the options available to most of us are limited. We live in a world where seemingly corruption and crime pays while trying to survive with kindness and compassion are seen as a weakness. We must accept we can not change the world alone and sometimes we need to make an effort to step away from current events in order to regain some control of our own lives. In a world that would seem filled with hate and resentment its difficult to avoid but with empathic tendencies we must limit whats in our eyes view. Change the habits and and spend far less time on social media, far less time reading the news and more time doing things you enjoy. Read a book, watch a nice movie, listen to a non news related pod cast of something you have an interest in. Doing this will reduce the noise in your mind and lessen the anxiety.
(5) HOBBIES & INTERESTS
Try taking up an interest or hobby, you may have something you are interested in and this is a great way of refocusing your mind on to things you enjoy. It doesn’t need to be spectacular or expensive but something that will allow you a moment to escape and do what you enjoy. This isn’t always easy with our busy lives, we may have a hectic schedule or children commitments but try and find a few moments a day doing something you like. Maybe reading on a specific subject or maybe taking some pictures. Whatever you enjoy you can look in to with out spending money. Often there are communities on platforms like youtube where you will see like minded people talking about the same interest. You could try watching one our two of these videos while in the kitchen cooking if you are pushed for time but try and get some of these interests in your daily routine.
In conclusion what we are trying to achieve here really is a step back away from what has lead you to this moment in the first place.
Try and enjoy a much simpler life and appreciate the smallest things you have. There may be many things you don’t have but there will always be something you do have and be grateful for that. Try and squeeze in some gratitude for the good moments you have even if its just once a day and with the reduction of the clutter in your mind that has been haunting you it will make a positive change in how your body treats you.
This isn’t something that will go away over night, in most cases we have spent years and years putting ourselves through stress and this change in lifestyle will need to become who you are now and forever more. It’s not an illness that can be fixed right away and will take time, look on to this moment as evolving from who your were to what you are becoming.
Every day the smallest step is a step in the right direction. Sure you will fall, you will get angry and things will upset you, that can’t be avoided but how you react to these moments and how you move forward can be the way to a brighter future. Accept you can’t control everything that happens to you during the day, nor what you see or read but you can have some control injecting some happy moments to help fight this. You can’t control the world and all the bad things that happen everyday, you can’t stop people doing whats wrong but you can make sure that your anger and frustrations are not feeding the hate.
Every moment you spend away from this world we live in and in your own happy moments is a victory and with this new approach you will reduce the noise in your mind and live a much happier kinder life.