5 Ways to Relieve Anxiety Without Medication

Anxiety has the potential to devastate careers, relationships, and lives. Every day, countless individuals grapple with anxiety and urgently seek assistance.

Here are five ways to ease anxiety without medication.

Regularly incorporating these five things can help keep anxious feelings away and lead to a happier, fuller life.

Regular Sleep Schedule

Getting the recommended 7- 9 hours of sleep each night is one of the best ways to keep your mental health in check. But sleeping those helpful 7- 8 won’t do it alone.

According to the National Sleep Foundation and just about any doctor you ask, the amount of sleep hours you get is just half the battle.

To get the full effects of a good night’s sleep, it is crucial for you to,

• go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
• Stick to a specific and relaxing bedtime routine.
• Put away all devices and t.v. at least an hour before bed.
• Refrain from eating enormous meals a few hours before bed.
• Avoid overthinking stressful or unfinished issues by writing them down in a notebook and coming back to them in the morning.

So, how does all this help eliminate anxiety? A lack of good, regenerative sleep leads to sleep deprivation, a major contributor to anxiety and stress. Waking up refreshed helps with decision-making and handling stress.

Regular Exercise

Many avoid the gym, walks, bike rides, and other activities with the over-used excuse “I’m too busy.”

However, it is a well-known fact that finding time to fit a little exercise into your week on a frequent basis can help eliminate the very stressors that keep you on edge.

Exercising is a great natural medication to treat anxiety for many reasons.

• It takes your mind off your stressors for a while.
• It decreases built-up muscle tension, reducing the physical contribution to anxiety.
• Increasing your heart rate produces beneficial neurochemicals.
• Regular exercise reduces negative emotions.

A little bonus tip: Try exercising outside. Mother nature can do wonders for your mood, so combining the two tools can assist you in your anxiety-free goals even more.

Excercises for Anxiety & Depression

Self-Care (Stress Less By Showing Yourself Some Love.)

Taking part in a little self-care at least once a week is one of the best ways to do away with anxiety naturally. Setting aside a little time to go for a hike in nature, read a novel beachside, or enjoying a bubble bath, or a mani-pedi might be just what the doctor ordered.

While doing large-scale self-care tasks can be great once a week, showing yourself a little love, every day is also important. Use affirmations and breath work for 5 minutes.

Overthinking causes stress, anxiety, and even depression.

In stress, we can see the relationship clearly.

For example, you have a deadline, and you’re running behind schedule.

Instead of focusing on the tasks you must complete, you dread the consequences of missing the deadline. You may start worrying that your boss will fire you for being late with this project. thoughts flood your mind, your heart races, tension increases, and sweat forms on your forehead.

It’s easy to see how your thoughts are causing the stress you feel.

Recognizing the thoughts leading to anxiety or depression is more difficult, but the thoughts are there.

Healthy Diet for a Less Anxious Lifestyle

Many people are unaware of how much a poor diet can affect not only your body but your mind. Maintaining a healthy diet is one of the best ways to assist you in your journey to becoming anxiety free.

What you put into your body influences your mood and your entire well-being. There are a few great tips out there that can help you start your day on the right foot and keep you feeling satisfied and stress-free.

• A protein-packed breakfast will keep you fuller longer and give you more energy.
• Complex carbs: Consuming quinoa, oatmeal, and whole grains may help increase serotonin levels and improve your mood.
• Limit caffeine: You can still enjoy your morning cup, coffee, or even two. However, too much caffeine can lead to jitters and will put you on edge.
• Watch out for food sensitivities.

Talking it Out

So many people are unaware of the positive effects simply talking with others can have on them. Everyone encounters stressful, uncomfortable, unfavorable, and negative situations all the time. Holding these events in instead of reaching out for help causes an immense amount of anxiety and depression.

Find someone you can trust, whether it be a friend, family member, neighbor, or therapist, and take some time to sit and talk. It can be small things like your new puppy won’t potty train or bigger problems like your boss putting too much pressure on you.

Expressing your feelings can be the best way to reduce stress, even if the person you talk to can’t answer all your questions.

Never Underestimate the Power of You

Although there is nothing wrong with taking anxiety medication if you need it, many people can relieve many of its symptoms all on their own. The most important part of dealing with anxiety naturally is having the confidence in yourself to work at it every day.

Establishing new habits can be challenging, yet with these five tips, you can see a change in your mood and stress levels.

This book gets it! It’s like the author is speaking right to your soul because they’ve been through it too. They know the struggle of dealing with anxiety and a busy mind firsthand. It dives right in with practical techniques that even a beginner can use to manage stress and calm the chaos in their mind. It’s like having a personal coach cheering you on.

Available on Amazon and Audible.

Un-monkey your Busy Mind is on paperback and audibook.

The book explains how quick relief techniques like S.T.O.P., cognitive reframing, and mindful meditation can stop overthinking and reduce or eliminate feelings of stress and anxiety.

Recent studies back up the book.

Daily meditation may work as well as a popular drug to calm anxiety, study finds

Read the article from NPR here:

Meditation as good as common anxiety meds

Un-Monkey Your Busy Mind-Reduce Stress & Anxiety

If you’re serious about breaking free from your anxiety, you need to find natural remedies. Medication doesn’t solve anxiety because it never gets to the root of the problem.

Medication Isn’t the answer

It may seem that taking a pill is a simpler solution to manage anxiety than other methods. You may believe that other ways to reduce anxiety won’t work in your case.

Here are some reasons that may cause you to resist proven methods of anxiety relief.

1. Negative thoughts can reinforce anxiety, making it hard to break free.
2. Avoidance behaviors are common in people with anxiety and can include avoiding new ideas. Avoidance may provide temporary relief, but it reinforces fear and stops you from confronting anxiety and overcoming it in the long run.

At some point, you will want to get off the meds. I think most people who struggle with anxiety realize this (it’s why this article is so popular!). So, How do you get off the medication?

You can’t just quit taking your meds.

No, seriously, DON’ T STOP TAKING your meds.

You can learn ways to reduce your anxiety and gradually wean yourself off the medications with the help of your doctor.

The best ways to reduce or eliminate anxiety

CBT-Cognitive Based Therapy

Mindfulness meditation

Quick stress relieving interventions.

Believe it or not, these are the techniques discussed in Un-monkey your Busy Mind.

Coincidence, I think Not :)