Tip #1 To Reduce Stress And Anxiety

Modern life has changed far more rapidly than our evolutionary process can.  Consequently we find ourselves living in a world that we have not had time to completely adapt to. 
Not so long ago we were only really aware of the world immediately around us.  News from further afield came only occasionally.   Newspapers changed things a few hundred years ago so that we got to read a couple of paragraphs about world affairs in a detached way.  These days however we have full modern warfare delivered into our living rooms on a loop all day.   Our brains are overloaded with extremely startling and disturbing images, it's no wonder Anxiety and Stress ​are on the increase!..

​When we’re driving from one place to another our radios are broadcasting doom and gloom in between pop songs and adverts on a 30 minute cycle.  It creates the impression that the world is being torn apart by war, that crime is rife and we aren’t safe anywhere we go.  Statistically the world has in fact never been safer, violent crime is down and there is less war and more democracy throughout the world and fewer people living in poverty than ever before in history.  However if we keep listening to the news messages being repeated over and over we’ll subconsciously feel that we are threatened, and that the events themselves are regular rather than the repetitious news slots. It has an accumulative and depressing effect in my opinion; the mind is receiving and processing bad news at an extraordinary rate, the mind uses repetition to establish patterns and habits, so it becomes habituated to bad news which inclines it to expect and look for more negatives.
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Today’s tip to reduce Stress and Anxiety therefore is to limit news intake to one quality newspaper or comprehensive non sensational news bulletin (e.g. SBS or ABC news) per day. This is sufficient to keep you informed without making you feel as though you’re under siege.  Instead of listening to commercial radio check out an App Like Pandora or Spotify and listen to some music that you really enjoy.  I’d forgotten until recently how great it is to listen to ‘my kind’ of music, how it can transport you back through different memories and phases of life!  Now I look forward to getting in the car because I can use that time to have the Pandora App select tracks based on a favourite band of mine, and I’m then taken on a really enjoyable musical journey. 

Instead of being fed a stream of doom and gloom every 30 minutes, I’m being uplifted and energised, I’m connecting back to that fun part of myself.   When I’m at home I’m making an effort to have music on more often, in the background when I’m working or even doing housework. I had gotten out of the habit of playing music to relax a few years ago because I guess I let it slip down the priority list and when my kids were young it became all about The Wiggles and Sesame Street, but I’m certainly glad to welcome it back in to my life now.   Music really can sooth and nourish the soul, if you feel inclined throw in some dancing to really lift your mood and release some tension.

I'll provide further tips on reducing Anxiety and Stress in forthcoming blogs, in the meantime I hope you get to enjoy some great songs!

If you think you'd like some help in managing your Stress or Anxiety levels please feel free to give me a call on 0435 923 817, we can arrange an appointment to discuss the best way of making positive changes for you.  Alternatively you can use the contact form at this link.

We tailor our Anxiety Programs to the needs of our individual clients to achieve fast, effective and long term benefits.

If you have any tips on managing stress and anxiety that you'd like to share please comment below, I'd love to hear from you.

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