“She questioned 139 women of all ages (the median age was 37), who were divided into three groups: one practicing yoga, one doing aerobics, and one doing neither. Those involved with yoga not only felt better about their bodies than the other two groups but also had a better sense of what their physical selves were experiencing from moment to moment (for instance, they knew when they were starting to feel tired or sick, sometimes a difficulty for people with body-image problems). Daubenmier also found that the longer the women had practiced yoga, the higher their body esteem.”
“If you don’t know where you’ll be career-wise in the foreseeable future, apply self-confidence, set big goals and be ambitious about figuring it out. Make career exploration your job, and jump in full-force rather than leaning back.”
— Not Sure What You Want to Do With Your Life? Lean In Anyway
“seeing a therapist really helped give me better tools to deal with it as it comes. I still feel like I’m more anxious than the average person, but it doesn’t bog me down like it used to. So last I wanted to add some things that I feel like really helped me.
Therapy. Literally, this is the number 1 thing that helped.
Keeping a regular sleep schedule.
Meditation, on a regular basis and as-needed when I start feeling the anxiety creep up.
Keeping a journal. Writing down my anxious thoughts helps get them out of my head. And then, it’s easier to challenge those thoughts and turn them around.
Finding things to look forward to. I expended a ton of energy on negative things, so I have been trying to replace it to positive things. I plan short day trips to new places. I look up fun diy projects that I want to do. Little things still count!
I drink a lot of hot tea. Sometimes specifically “relaxing” or “anti-anxiety” labeled teas. But I honestly also just enjoy the process of making and drinking tea. I have my own little teapot, and I sit down with it and keep pouring myself tea. It’s lovely = )
Exercise. Even just walking. It always felt to me like I was burning up some sort of anxiety chemical along with the calories.
Podcasts. I love podcasts. Mental Illness Happy Hour[1] is a great one that specifically addresses mental illness, but in an easy going, often comedic way. I also really love You Made it Weird[2] . It’s much more comedy focused, but the host Pete Holmes often talks about his experiences with therapy, and sometimes the guests do as well. Just hearing people talk about it sort of normalized it for me, and made it seem less scary. Plus Pete Holmes is hilarious, and laughing always makes me feel better!”
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This advice from a Redditor on r/anxiety rings true for me as well! I’d also add minimizing caffeine.
“For me, the key to changing my life toward one that felt successful was finally sitting down on the meditation cushion. Once I sat down, I realized I’d been running from parts of myself for years. There were parts of my soul and personality that I’d been trying to control, suppress, deny, or just avoid. They all sat with me. I suffered with this. I hated it. These parts squirmed and shouted and complained. Then my relationship to myself began to change.”
“IF I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.”
— 6. “If I can stop one heart from breaking.” Part One: Life. Dickinson, Emily. 1924. Complete Poems
