how to deal with anxiety 31 day guide to a less anxious you download
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How To Deal With Anxiety:
31 Days to a Less-Anxious and More Focused,
Productive You!
“ Smile, breathe and go slowly.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
by Linda Esposito, LCSW
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Sunday
Theme:“Breathing/
Relaxation”
Monday 1 Tuesday
“Smile, breatheand go slowly.”
2 Wednesday“Feelings come and golike clouds in a windysky. Consciousbreathing is my
anchor.”
3 Thursday“Remember tobreathe. It is after all, the secret of
life.”
4 Friday“You are whereyou need to be.Just take a deep
breath.”
5 Saturday“When you wantwisdom and insight asbadly as you want tobreathe, it is then you
shall have it.”
6Theme:“Mindfulness Practice”
7“The little things?The littlemoments? Theyaren't little.”
8"Learn to appreciatewhat you have beforetime makes youappreciate what youhad."
9“The past and futureare just thoughtshappening in thepresent.”
10“Learn to be stillin the midst of activity.”
11“The past and futureare just thoughtshappening in thepresent.”
12“Yesterday is history.Tomorrow is a mystery.Today is a gift, and that’swhy it’s called thepresent.”
13Theme:“Change NegativeThoughts”
14“Negative thoughthealers prevent self-doubters, toxicinfluencer's, andnight-crawling dreamstealer's.”
15“Nobody ever diedfrom their feelings.”
16“Over-thinkingleads to negativethoughts.”
17“When you think your life is so bad...pick upthe newspaper andread the front page.”
18“Haters never winbecause negativeenergy always costsin the end.”
19“Let’s not benarrow, nastyand negative.”
20Theme:“Boundaries”
21“The key tohappiness ishealthy
boundaries.”
22“A narcissist cannotinvade your mindunless you open the
door.”
23“Sometimesfences make thebest neighbors.”
24People lead verybusy lives, so be judicious with their
time.”
25“I don’t have time”is the cousin of,“You’re not
important.”
26“Drama is bestleft for the
stage.”
27Theme:“Exercise/ Meditation/ Yoga/Tai Chi”
28“‘I really regret thatworkout,’ are wordsnobody says.”
29“My grandmother started walking fivemiles a day when shewas sixty. She's 97now, and we don'tknow where the heckshe is.”
30“An early-morningwalk is a blessingfor the whole day.”
31“Yoga has a sly, clever way of short-circuitingthe patterns that causeanxiety.”
Yoga has a sly,clever wa of
January 2013 Daily Anxiety Buster Quotes
www.talktherapybiz.com*Random quotes--please Google for authors. “Boundaries” quotes from yours truly :).
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January 2013 Weekly Anxiety Buster Guide
Week 1: Breathing/Relaxation
Week 2: Mindfulness Practice
Week 3: Changing Thoughts/Emotions
Week 4: Boundaries
Week 5: Exercise/Meditation/Yoga/Tai Chi
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This outline serves as a guide to help you manage your anxiety, so it does not manage you. Although Istructured the weekly themes sequentially, feel free to jump around and experiment if you have a handle onone or more areas.*Please note that Week 3 is the hardest and will require the most effort.*
If you’re just starting out on your quest to reduce anxiety, I suggest you follow the weekly themes and focuson adopting each theme as a habit before moving on.
Caveat: One week will probably not be enough...which is fine. To paraphrase Leo Babauta of Zen Habits,it’s wise to 1) focus on one habit at a time, 2) start small, 3) know your triggers (for anxiety), and 4) have apositive reinforcement for doing the habit, and a negative reinforcement for not doing the habit. Also, it’shelpful to find a buddy, or a group of friends to hold you accountable and keep you motivated. To hear Leo,click the link below.
How to Create Healthy Habits: An Interview with Leo Babauta of Zen Habits
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Week 1: Breathing/Relaxation
Step 1--Sit down in a chair or on the floor on a folded blanket or cushion. Keep your back straight from thebase of your spine to your neck. This creates a straight path for energy to flow up your spine.
Step 2--Place your hands on your thighs with your palms face up or down. Rest your feet flat on the floor if you are sitting in a chair. Cross your ankles or legs if you are seated on the floor.
Step 3--Close your eyes to prevent your mind from being distracted by outer objects.
Step 4--Breathe normally in and out through your nose for about one minute, observing your breathwithout judgment. Close your mouth and relax your facial muscles.
Step 5--Allow your breath to slowly deepen as you inhale and fully inflate your lungs, counting silently tofour. Feel your ribcage expand forward and to the sides as you breathe in.
Step 6--Exhale to a slow count of four as you pull your navel point toward your spine. Make your in-breathand out-breath the same length. If thoughts or emotions arise, let them go and bring your attention back toyour breath.
Step 7--Continue deep breathing meditation for three to five minutes or for as long as you can sitcomfortably with a calm, steady breath.
www.talktherapybiz.com**Click here for a 7-minute Breathing/Relaxation mp3 --> http://www.talktherapybiz.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/TalkTherapyBiz-Passive-Muscle-Relaxation.mp3.mp3
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Week 2: Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness is bringing awareness to each moment, interaction, and situation throughout your day.It’s about living in the here-and-now, rather than living with anxiety about the future, or living withregret of the past. Mindfulness is essential for bringing focus to your endeavors and goals.
Spend 15-30 minutes each day quietly thinking about what goal you want to achieve. Think career,
relationships, personal development, or training for a 5K. Pay attention to this moment, and what you’refeeling, and thinking. When you find yourself getting distracted and going away mentally, calmly bring yourself back to NOW. You can also use this time to read resources on mindfulness.(http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/mindfulness )
•Make mindfulness a part of your daily routine to develop true psychological insight, including awareness of your thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
•Mindfulness increases your ability to “read” others and to register how you come across to them.Mindfulness can lead to true and lasting happiness, as long as you’re committed to paying attention to thepresent on a daily basis.
•The hard part is to remember to be mindful, and to resist the urge to become distracted by checking emails,your phone, and social media sites, etc...*Breathe*
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Week 3: Change Negative Thoughts
It has been estimated that we have anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 thoughts a day. If your mindset is predominantly negative,you generate thousands upon thousands of negative thoughts daily.
•Know that it is possible to control the quality of your thinking. Thinking contributes more to how you feel than any other factor.Change your negative thoughts--and your emotions, and behaviors will improve.
•Keep track of how many negative thoughts you have daily. You can keep a thought journal and at the end of each day jot down asmany instances of negative thinking as you can remember. "I thought I was too fat." "I hate my boss." "I hate traffic jams." Includeinstances in which you call yourself a name such as "idiot," or think of yourself (or someone else) as worthless. Note any kind of pessimistic thinking, any focusing on problems rather than on solutions. Record thinking in which you feel yourself to be a victim, even if you have been genuinely victimized.
•Jot down thoughts of feeling helpless or hopeless. Be especially aware of making sweeping generalizations from one specific badevent so that your whole future appears to be terrible. "I got fired from this job; I'll never have a good job again." "This relationship brokeup; I'll never find a partner." Listen for words that are extreme—always, never. Notice black-and-white thinking.
•Develop a partnership strategy. Ask a trusted person to point out your instances of negative thinking, and then record them. After youget a fix on the kind of negative thinking and its frequency, identify the situations that trigger such thinking. The act of writing downinstances of negative thinking is an exercise in focusing that helps make you aware of the triggers. In all likelihood, certain types of events are particularly likely to set off a chain of negative thoughts. For some, it's an act of being rejected or ignored or not responded to
by another person. For others it might be a negative remark or a setback at work. Tell your trusted person that you're sounding toopessimistic and you want to be more optimistic; ask them to help by alerting you when you are negative and then asking you to convertthis to a positive statement.
•Change negative to positive thinking by reframing the situation in a more positive and realistic light. "I'm too fat" vs. "I've never been more fit." "This plan will never work" vs. "I have some suggestions that will help get this plan off the ground." "I'm too old" vs. "I'mgetting better with age." Constantly flip the switch from down and dark to up and light.
(Adapted from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200308/depression-doing-the-thinking .)
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Week 4: Boundaries
What I can afford after essentials:
What I cannot afford tospend $ on:
How I’ll know when I’ve crossed thatfinancial line...
~Dining out twice per week~A new outfit once per mo.~Small gifts
~Tutoring for my kids~Etc...
~Meals over $35.00~Clothes from Nordstrom~Large gifts ($50.00+)
~Online tutorial programs~Etc...
~My monthly expense log will beoverdrawn
~I’ll have trouble sleeping at night
~I’ll feel angry/stressed that I don’t havemore self-control
~My heart will race when friends call tosocialize~I’ll dread the monthly credit card bills~I’ll stress eat~Etc...
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Boundaries are essential to keeping your sanity. Think of boundaries as invisible circles that you drawaround your body to delineate what’s acceptable (anything outside the circle) and what’s notacceptable (anything inside the circle).
Boundary categories are numerous: Physical, emotional, spiritual, sexual, moral, financial, etc.
Here’s an example of assessing Financial Boundaries:
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Week 5: Exercise/Meditation/Yoga/Tai Chi
Gain confidence. Meeting exercise goals or challenges, even small ones, can boost your self-confidence. Getting inshape can also make you feel better about your appearance.
Take your mind off worries. Exercise is a distraction that can get you away from the cycle of negative thoughts thatfeed anxious thoughts and behaviors.
Get your social interaction on! Exercise may give you the chance to meet or socialize with others. Just exchanging afriendly smile or greeting as you walk around your neighborhood can help your mood. If you’re suffering from socialanxiety, remember to take baby steps. Just ‘get out’ already...Even if that means you just walk past Starbucks for now.
Cope in a healthy way. Exercise can distract you from addictive habits like drinking, popping pills, hitting the pipe,shopping, over-eating, raging, etc.
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Why Exercise?
Exercise releases feel-good brain chemicals (neurotransmitters and endorphins), reduces immune systemchemicals that contribute to anxiety, and increases body temperature, which can have calming effects.
Exercise also helps to:
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