Here is a piece of information and from credible sources like WHO. 70% people out of the 7.5 Billion people in the world are facing a serious challenge of dealing with Anxiety and Stress. The number has moved up constantly without taking a dip anytime, since the time such research has being conducted. Around 50% of those 70% people have relationship and career issues. Almost everyone facing Anxiety issues are either hypertensive or heading towards it. Some credible Gynaecologists say that Anxiety and Stress are the biggest stake-holders in most of the miscarriages. There are evidences of this being hereditary as well, which means if we don’t get a grip on regulating Anxiety and Stress, our next generations aren’t going to be temperamentally in the right place. I can go on with these percentages and that is going to send a chill down your spine. Well, it should because apparently your posture is also affected because of the mental stress. So, your spine is bending and just above it, on the head, you are losing hair too.

I have no doubt that Anxiety and Mental Stress are one of the most underrated ‘diseases’ which are harming us. For me, they are as important as
cardiovascular problems, diabetes, cancer, kidney problems, liver cirrhosis etc. In fact, Anxiety can be seen as one of the root causes of these diseases. Sounds a little exaggerated, but we are seeing a lot of young people dying of heart attacks and a lot of them are not necessarily smokers or alcoholics or into some unwanted habit. It is just too much of Anxiety-based-burnout that is happening. Now, I have been delivering a lot of talks on Emotional Intelligence and Psychology to almost every age group. In every Q & A session after the talk, there would be a lot of queries of ‘How not to react but respond’, ‘How do we keep our Anxiety in check’, ‘How do we live a tension-free life’ etc. Well, your stress has a trigger which is either external or internal to your system (head or the brain). Most of the times, you don’t have any control over these triggers, hence you will be angry or you will feel stressed or face Anxiety. Remember one thing, these negative emotions are not necessarily ‘negative’. They are basically ‘e-motions’ which is a ‘call to action’. You get these emotions because your brain is sending you a signal to ‘act’ and change some things in your life. Having said that, we all need to learn to do something to calm our nerves before we can actually start the change work.

Let me tell you something about Mental Stress. I have always believed in the statement that ‘Mental Stress is due to lack of Trust, either in yourself or in others’. Think about it for a minute. It will make sense. Your boss (or anyone for that matter including ‘life’) gives you some overwhelming job, and you get stressed. Why? Self-doubt, isn’t it? “Will I be able to do it”? “Will these people be able to do it”? Trusting other people is totally situational and subjective but one person you should always trust is definitely you. Back your strengths. Who else is going to trust you if it is not you yourself? I think half the stress will be taken care of if you call yourself a credible person to make things happen.

Now, I have a few ‘Psychological hacks’ if I may call it, to deal with anxiety and mental stress. Some of them are not necessarily psychological in nature, but they will help you feel ‘right’ when you implement them.

1. Holding an ice cube in your hand: San Diego based psychotherapist Edie Stark says in an article that holding on to an ice cube can be a quick and a helpful way to fight acute anxiety. “By holding the ice cube, your system will want to focus on the coldness in your hand rather than whatever may be causing the panic. The discomfort of the cold will also act as an intentional distraction. I would probably go further with that advice and ask you to wrap ice in a soft cloth and gently move it on your forehead while you are lying down on the bed. This definitely acts like a coolant for your ‘engine’.
2. Playing with a pet: Now, I know some of you might not be very comfortable with animals in your house or have never had any opportunity to pat a dog. Maybe, some of you must have had bad experiences in your childhood to start of with; which is why you have consciously kept yourself away from pets. And I am sure, some of you are great fans of keeping your house very clean with no cat hair or parrot droppings. All these are valid points and I would agree on that. However, I would still recommend playing with a dog or a cat for at least 5 minutes every day. You don’t have to own it. Find a friend who has a pet and be a fun uncle or aunt for that pet. I strongly believe that animal contact is very good for the heart. It is an amazing stress buster. If you are phobic to animal contact, I would then recommend you follow pages like ‘The Dodo’ or ‘The Pet Collective’ on Facebook. You will feel the ‘release’ when you watch the pet videos on such pages.
3. Meditation and Breathing Techniques: Researchers have found that people practicing 30 minutes of meditation everyday increased the amount of grey matter density in their hippocampus, which is a part of the brain linked to self-awareness, compassion and introspection. Hence, that helps in managing anxiety and stress. Once upon a time, I used to find meditating very difficult. I just couldn’t keep my mind still and there were distracting thoughts all the time. I couldn’t meditate even for a minute. But I found a good way of meditating and a great solution to deal with my stress through it. So, when I meditate, I focus only on my deep breathing. I pay great attention to feeling every bit of air going into my system and my thorax expanding and also contracting when I exhale. In fact, my exhale is much stronger than my inhale because I imagine that all negativity is going out of my system when I exhale. That thought feels very good, doesn’t it? Breathe through your belly. You can also do shallow breathing for 2-3 times, then do deep breathing and focus on exhaling to feeling better. Hold your deep breath and exhale through your mouth. Hold it again. Take your time, no need to breathe too fast. You can do this in a stealth way during anxiety.
4. Adult colouring Books: ‘Express yourself through colours’ they say! And you are not expressing to any person as such. It is just a good outlet to let go of unwanted emotions and energies. You get these books in almost all book-stores or stationary outlets these days. Looks like the demand is on the high side. But let us say, you don’t get the specific adult colouring books, just buy any colouring book for kids and be a kid sometime. Being a kid also helps like magic. Another way of expressing yourself on paper is writing down your feelings. Writing blogs also helps. You will be amazed with the intensity with which people with a lot of stress and anxiety can write on various topics. Its just that, if you are going to publish anything, you have a bit careful with the impulsive and socially sensitive thoughts. But just maintaining a diary also helps.
5. Using essential oils: Essential oils particularly lavender, has been used for centuries around the globe to help reduce anxiety and maintain a calm balance in the body and mind. But lavender isn’t just a pretty flower that we like to put on our coffee table to brighten the room, it also has many healing benefits that will help you in the reduction of stress. Lavender has been proven to improve symptoms such as restlessness, disturbed sleep and somatic complaints, and has a positive impact on general health. Carry a small bottle of lavender with you and inhale the scent deeply when you are feeling stressed or dap a little oil onto your wrist. You may also choose to use an essential oil’s diffuser in your house to create a calming atmosphere throughout your home.
6. Chewing gum: This is another way of relieving your stress or anxiety, similar to points 1 and 4. It is just that, don’t chew too hard for the sake of your teeth. Continuous chewing will help in enhancing thought process as well.
7. Cuddle: This helps those who are kinesthetic and require that reassuring touch from the people they believe and trust. Cuddling definitely helps in noticeable relaxation by dealing with negative emotions inside your system. I was actually shocked to know that there is a person who works as a ‘Professional Cuddler’ in London and people hire him to just cuddle for some time and pay him by the hour. It sounds a bit weird but it is true. Google ‘Professional Cuddler’ and you will get to see a video about this person. YouTube also has a few videos on this. Obviously, I am not suggesting you hire this person. But you can also cuddle your family members or a friend etc.
8. Listening to music: I am sure no one will disagree to this. Music not only helps in bringing down stress levels but also helps in rewiring your brain for a better temperament. Kids should be exposed to music at a very young age for this reason specifically.
9. Role-model technique: This is one technique which I personally like a lot. Whenever you are facing any overwhelming situation, just thinking of your role-model and how s/he will deal with the same situation. You will definitely get an answer of what needs to be done. Just replicate the thoughts and there you are, a resourceful person.
10. ‘10 years ahead’ technique: This is similar to ‘Role-model’ technique. It is just that you are the Role-model in this one. Again, when you are facing any overwhelming situation, just think of 10 years ahead in time when you are looking back at the same situation which you faced. Go totally into that time and think what you would say to yourself about how you should have handled the situation. In a funny way, I call this technique as upgrading yourself by going into the future and then advising yourself in the ‘now’.
11. Gardening: Point number 2 talks of playing with a pet. If you feel patting animals is definitely not your thing, then just treat plants as your pets or kids. Take care of them. Doesn’t matter if you live in a small house which doesn’t have a garden. Just have 2 pots of plants and take care of them every day. That connect with the plants on day-to-day basis is also a good stress buster. When they grow well, there is a sense of accomplishment. And of course, green colour is soothing.

I think 11 is a good number to conclude. There are many such techniques and I could just go on and on. Maybe in some other blog. But some of these
techniques will help you and some may not. Just go with what works for you. Of course, you can always connect with me for more on this or refer to more blogs on my website which I hope can help you. I hope you have liked this one.