8 Simple Ways to Manage Stress and Anxiety

Occasionally feeling stressed or anxious is a normal part of life. However, excessive and frequent feelings of stress, anxiety, panic, and fear can significantly affect your well-being. These unhealthy feelings can be strong and overwhelming, preventing you from functioning normally. As a result, your quality of life may be impacted. To reduce these effects, try these simple ways to manage stress and anxiety:

1. Exercise

One of the best ways to manage stress and anxiety is physical activity. Exercise is an effective stress reducer and can have a huge impact on your mental health. Not only does physical activity keep your body and brain healthy, but it also improves mood. When you experience stress and anxiety, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline to create the fight-or-flight response. Exercising allows your body to burn up these stress chemicals, promoting relaxation for both your body and mind. Try to do some form of physical activity at least three to four times per week.

2. Eat a Balanced Diet

Certain vitamin deficiencies can contribute to stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. A deficiency in magnesium, vitamin B12, or calcium can cause or worsen anxiety symptoms. A great way to manage stress and anxiety is to eat a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals. Make sure your daily diet includes leafy green vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy to provide your body with the magnesium, B vitamins, and calcium that it needs.

3. Practice Mindfulness and Gratitude

Practicing mindfulness and gratitude is a great way to help manage stress and anxiety. You can try meditating, deep breathing, and journaling to bring your attention back to the present and focus on positive thoughts instead of unhealthy ones. Try challenging your fears by asking yourself if they are true and see where you can regain control of them. This can help break the cycle of anxiety-inducing thoughts.

4. Avoid Caffeine, Nicotine, and Alcohol

If you want to manage stress and anxiety, a great step to take is avoiding stimulants like caffeine and nicotine. These substances cause your body to release the stress chemical adrenaline, increasing feelings of stress and anxiety. Limit or eliminate your intake of caffeine in things like coffee, energy drinks, and tea, and quit using products that contain nicotine. Alcohol can also worsen anxiety and has been known to trigger panic attacks, so avoid this as well. If you need help quitting a substance, you can seek help from a healthcare professional or support group.

5. Spend Time with Loved Ones

Having a social support network is vital for your mental health. Studies have shown that those with less support from family, friends, and significant others tend to experience higher levels of stress. Spending time with loved ones and talking about the things that make you feel stressed and anxious can provide much-needed relief. If you don’t have family or friends who you can depend on, you can try joining a club, sports team, or volunteer group to spend time with like-minded people.

6. Practice Self-Care

A great way to manage stress and anxiety is to practice self-care. This doesn’t have to be elaborate or complicated. It simply means tending to your own happiness and well-being, which has been shown to lower stress levels and improve quality of life. Some examples of self-care may include going for a walk, reading a book, taking a bath, getting a massage, preparing a healthy meal, stretching before bed, practicing a hobby, or other activities you enjoy.

7. Go Outside

Spending as little as 10 minutes outside can help you manage stress and anxiety. Go for a walk or a hike or simply sit outside and breathe in the fresh air. If possible, try to soak up some sunlight as well. Sunlight provides your body with vitamin D, which can improve mental health symptoms. Even if you live in an urban area, try to seek out green spaces. These may include local parks, botanical gardens, arboretums, etc.

8. Create Boundaries

If you want to manage stress and anxiety, try setting boundaries. Be selective about what you take on and learn to say “no” to things that add unnecessarily to your load. Create boundaries with people who add to your stress levels. This could be as simple as taking a rain check on plans when you’re feeling overwhelmed or asking a family member or friend to not stop by unannounced.

Test Your Stress Hormones

Your hormones can have a huge impact on your mental health and mood. Hormone testing can tell us if your stress and anxiety are being influenced by a hormonal imbalance. A number of hormones can be involved in triggering or worsening anxiety, including cortisol, thyroid hormones, serotonin, estrogen, testosterone, and others. 

Here at Proactive Functional Care, we offer hormone testing and other functional testing to find the root cause of your health concerns, and then we work with you to formulate a personalized plan to help you attain and maintain optimal health. Reach out to us to schedule a no-cost discovery call today!