Hey guys,
So from most blogs I've seen a lot of bloggers (including myself) have to deal with the A word.
What's the A word you might ask? Well It's an annoying and sometimes a horribly scary thing called ANXIETY. (sorry if these is a REALLY REALLY long post)
Because of my recent post I have had people emailing me asking if they have anxiety and how to deal with it, so it came to my mind that instead of telling you all separately I would post abut it. So I have for you are exercises on how to take away anxiety. (WARNING this will be a long post)
*THESE ARE NOT IN MY OWN WORDS BUT FROM SHEETS MY OWN DOCTOR HAS GIVEN ME SO YOU KNOW THEY ARE FACTUAL AND TRUTHFUL*
RELAXATION EXCERISES- WHY DO THEM?
Muscular relaxation exercises and deep breathing are two common techniques to help people to relax and combat symptoms of anxiety. they may also help to ease symptoms of depression.
Some people relax with sport, exercise, listening to music, watching TV, reading a book, etc. However, some people find it helpful to follow specific relaxation exercises. This information gives you two commonly used routines- muscular relaxing exercises, and deep breathing exercises. These two techniques are particularly useful to combat two common physical symptoms of anxiety- muscular tension and over-breathing. there is some evidence that they may also help to ease symptoms of depression
Muscular exercises-
Planned times for regular positive relaxation
Find a quiet warm place where you wont be disturbed. Choose a time of day when you do not feel pressured to do anything else. Lie down on your back, or sit in a well- supported chair if you are not able to lie down. Try to get comfortable and close your eyes, if you want you can lie on a firm of some cushions. The routine is to relax each of your muscle groups.
hands- clench on hand tightly for a few seconds as you breathe in. You should feel your forearm muscles tense, then relax as you breathe out. Repeat with other hand.
Arms- bend an elbow and tense all the muscles in the arm for a few seconds as you breathe in; then relax as you breathe out. Repeat with the other arm.
neck- Press your head back as hard as is comfortable and roll it slowly from side to side; then relax
Face- Try to frown and lower your eyebrows as hard as you can for a few seconds; then relax. Then raise your eyebrows (as if you were startled) as hard as you can; then relax. then clench your jaw for a few seconds; Then relax.
Chest- take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds; then relax and go back to normal breathing
Stomach- tense the stomach muscles as tightly as possible; then relax
Buttocks- Squeeze the buttocks together as much as possible; then relax
legs- With your legs flat on the floor, bend your feet and toes towards your face as hard as you can; then relax. Then bend them away from your face for a few seconds; then relax.
Repeat this routine 3-4 times. Each time you relax a group of muscles, note the difference f how they feel when relaxed compared to when they are tense. Some people fin it eases their general level of 'tension' if they get into a daily routine of doing these exercises.
BREATHING EXERCISES
Many people have a tendency to breathe faster than normal when they are anxious. Sometimes this can make you feel a little dizzy, which makes you more anxious and you breathe even faster, which can make you more anxious, etc. If you practice 'deep breathing' when you are relaxed, you should be able to do this when you feel tense or anxious to help you relax.
try the following for 2-3 minutes. Practice this every day until you cando it routinely in any stressful situation.
Breathe slowly and deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth in a steady rhythm. Try to make yourself breath out twice as long as you breath in. to do this, you may find it helpful to count slowly 'one, two' as you breathe in, and 'one, two, three, four' as you breathe out.
Mainly use your lower chest muscle (your diaphragm) to breathe. Your diaphragm is the big muscle under your lungs. It pulls the lungs downwards which expands the airways to allow air to flow in. When we become anxious we tend to forget to use this muscle and often use the muscle at the top of the chest and our shoulders instead. each breath is more shallow if you use these upper chest muscles. So, you tend to breathe faster, and feel more breathless and anxious, if you use your upper chest muscles other than your diaphragm.
* you can check if you're using your diaphragm by feeling just below your breastbone (sternum) at the top f your tummy (abdomen). if you give a little cough, you can feel the diaphragm push out here. If you hold you hand there you should feel it move in and out as you breathe*
Try to relax you shoulders and upper chest muscles when you breathe. With each breath out, consciously try to relax those muscles until you are mainly using your diaphragm to breathe.
I really hope this helps you all because it has with me and I have been feeling better from these tips. I hope you can one day push through the terrible times and can be happy and not constantly feel down.
Some websites to help you with anxiety and also depression as they can hand in hand is
www.childine.co.uk and also
www.NoPanice.org as these have been extremely helpful websites to me.
Till next post ma friends
Online Girl xx
