Handling Anxiety And Worry

By Reid Peterson

Isn't the world we live in amazing? Especially when you think of all the paradoxes and polarities we experience! This world is quite the mystery and living in it is filled with so much wonder, and these days, worry and anxiety.

If you intently listen to people talk these days, what comes out of their mouths’ are words charged with anxiety and worry. Listen to the way a parent talks to their kid at Starbucks or how a customer speaks to a clerk at the supermarket. How about two business people working out a sales deal? Literally, anxiety is everywhere!

What are we to do about this? Granted, we’re not going to be any better off, or live healthier lives, if we continue to live like this.

Many people in the health and wellness industries are claiming that now is the time to be more in touch with ourselves. Better known as spirituality, we are being told to become more self aware, have more gratitude, practice affirmations, and meditate.

Can our anxiety and worry decrease if we do thing like these? Absolutely! In doing activities that draw a focus to our inner selves, we gain better control of our reactions to the external madness affecting our lives.

For example, let’s say you’re running late at the start of your work day. You get in your car, hoping traffic will be steady and flowing. But it’s not. It’s bumper to bumper stop and go traffic. You begin to think about the potential trouble you’ll get into. You can’t stop thinking about who’s going to notice and who’s going to ream you for being late.

What you don’t realize is that your shoulders are now in line with your ears. You have completely stressed yourself out because your mind is too busy thinking about your future. You’re more than likely raising your blood pressure because you’re thinking into the future is creating so much stress in the present.

If you were more present to your inner self, you wouldn’t have such a strong reaction. And even if you did have a strong reaction, with self awareness, you would be able to do things to calm yourself down. Things like, deep breathing, sighing, stretching, etc., would help you relax and reduce your stress!

In this crazy world, anxiety may always be there to test you. But you have the power to choose how you react to it. Being more self aware is the way to gain power over your reactions that create stress.

To become more self aware, start practicing meditation. If you already meditate, start teaching someone else. This will deepen your practice. By practicing meditation, your self awareness will develop and that will help you master your reactions to anxiety and worry; the culprits of stress.

Reid Peterson is has a C.M.T. certification (certified massage therapist) and is a AMTA associate member. You can also find out more about Reid by visiting www.manifestcreations.net and reading his blog at http://www.manifestcreations.wordpress.com

Click the links below for more article reading -