Are you feeling pressure in your life? That life may be crashing down on you? This may be a sign that a shift (change) needs to occur. There may be things that you have always wanted to do, but never done. When we feed into our anxiety it turns into fear. Preventing us from often doing the things that we want to experience the most.

Fear is anxiety shutting down action. Now anxiety can be a valuable feeling. It can be an emotion that keeps us safe. It can also keep us from living in our life.

Here are a few tips to help you push past anxiety:

1. DON’T LISTEN TO FEAR

Expose yourself to that which you are afraid of. If you are uncomfortable speaking in public, the more you do talk in front of others, the more comfortable and confident you become.

2. AFFIRMATION

Telling yourself positive affirmations can be a way of balancing out a teeter totter. All the weight is going to one side when anxiety is ruling over your mind. This is a way to help counteract that anxiety and bring yourself into balance.

3. ALLOW YOURSELF TO FEEL

Anxiety does not necessarily mean that we are in danger, but a way to heighten your body to perform. An actor going out on the stage has anxiety before, but this anxiety helps them to perform at a higher level. Learn to become comfortable with the feeling of anxiousness and not push it away.

4. USE ALL YOUR SENSES (MINDFULNESS)

When we go to fear it can be a tape recorder. We become lost and disconnected from the world around us. When we focus on all our senses it grounds us. Grab your favorite snack and notice how it smells. What does it taste like? How does it feel in your hands? What’s the texture? Of course, the big one that is always missed, what emotions are you noticing while you are having this snack? Does it remind you of the first time you ever tried it?

5. FOR WOMEN and FOR MEN

For women, talk to others about how you are feeling.

For men, do something physically or go out in the garage away from everyone else.

John Gray the author of “Men are From Mars and Woman are From Venus” discusses this in how men and women rebalance in difference ways. I would recommended reading his new book “Beyond Mars and Venus.”

6. CHANGE NEGATIVE BELIEFS

Negative beliefs often become established from an early age. When we are children we see the world in black and white. If you experience upsetting things, trauma, abandonment it has the ability of being the root of a negative belief. You can usually spot an issue with a negative belief when you continually try to make a change in your life but find yourself doing the same thing over, and over, and over again. Talking more about where this belief comes from and substituting it with a positive belief can have a profound change on your life.

Casey Bearss is a mental health therapist at Bolt Counseling Services located in the city of Gulfport. If you are looking to learn more about some of these issues or how to implement them into your life, then give us a call at 228-382-3138.