Nine out of ten important events involve anxiety. A date, an exam, meeting a friend, going to the doctor - all this causes anxiety and a feeling of discomfort. Probably, each of us at least once in our lives has met a person who does not know excitement.

How did he achieve superiority over his own psyche without turning to calming bubbles for help? Dear reader, let’s try to figure this out!

By the way, it will also be useful to you. Unfortunately, not all of us are given the natural ability to keep our emotions and feelings under strict control. It depends on the person’s temperament, his upbringing, and character traits. However, many people are well aware that self-control is one of the main factors contributing to success in any field.

The feeling of excitement causes discomfort and prevents us from realistically assessing the situation. We are afraid of doing something wrong, and this applies to all situations, no matter where we are going. How to overcome anxiety and gain a sense of self-confidence?

Most often, anxiety arises from a lack of confidence that the event will go smoothly. To overcome anxiety and approach this issue competently, you need to follow simple rules of behavior

• Nutrition. You need to opt for carbohydrate foods, but not overeat them. These products contain serotonin, which is responsible for a person’s stable emotional state. Avoid large amounts of sugar.
• Use relaxation techniques. When you are alone at home, think about what you love to do most? How do you want to relax? Maybe the singing of your favorite artist can calm you down? Or classical music will become your best friend in a difficult and exciting situation. Take a deep breath, imagine the sound of the sea, the singing of birds. Give all your negativity to the sea, and leave yourself peace and tranquility.
• Keeping life under control. Someone will say that modern life full of surprises. In part, this is true. Constantly arising problems, seemingly out of nowhere, prevent you from fully managing your affairs, keeping everything under control and planning events for tomorrow. But some people manage to live by their own rules. Ask this person how he did it? Practical advice will not be superfluous. In any case, write down future tasks in a diary or notepad so that they do not seem like a surprise. When a person knows what awaits him and puts this question on paper, anxiety becomes less.
• Sports activities. During exercise, endorphins are also produced, nervous tension removed. The body works, the person gets tired. He will think about worry tomorrow, but now his body is resting from physical activity.
• Smile more often. Positively minded people are bolder and more determined. When you laugh, endorphins are released. Scientists have proven that they help relieve accumulated irritation, anger, and aggression. The anxiety subsides, the person gains self-confidence.
• Good sleep. When a person gets enough sleep, he is not susceptible to aggression and irritability. Feeling normal will help you overcome anxiety.
• Fight the fear. It is this feeling that causes excitement; it is associated with other emotional sensations that negatively affect a person. When he is afraid of everything, he cannot concentrate and make the right decision.

So, to cope with anxiety, you need to learn to be friends with it. And this means observing several postulates. They can be written down on a piece of paper, memorized, or placed in a prominent place in the house. These rules should come to your attention whenever a person begins to experience discomfort while getting ready for an important event. And so the rules:

• Excitement, I accept you.
• I start moving and playing sports.
• Trifles and troubles are not what you really need to worry about.
• I'm learning to do breathing exercises. And most importantly, they help me!
• I'm being positive. I'll be fine. And most importantly, I believe in it.

In order to stop worrying and get rid of it, and also begin to look at life more calmly, a wonderful

• "Balloon Breathing"

We sit down and close our eyes. Mentally, we imagine a tennis ball in front of us. Did it work? Let's move on. We take a slow and deep breath, as if pulling the ball in the direction from the stomach to the throat. Now the ball has rolled up to our throat and we have a few seconds to make a decision - where to put it? The decision is made, we take a sharp exhale. The ball rolled down, we parted with it, in principle, without regrets. Do this 10 times. This breathing exercise will help you overcome anxiety.

It would be nice if you imagined that this ball contains all the excitement that torments and interferes with a peaceful life. Look how dashingly you roll it around in your thoughts! Do the same in reality!

• Breathing exercise with counting

Starting position – sitting. The man's eyes are closed. Inhaling slowly, the person begins to count to himself, clearly pronouncing: one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three. The breath is held, but the counting of numbers continues: one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three.

The exhalation should be slow, in the middle of the exhalation we hold our breath again and begin the count: one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three. We exhale completely, then inhale again. This gymnastics is simple, but very effective, as it will allow you to adjust your breathing rhythm, put your thoughts in order, after which the person will finally relax and stop worrying.

• Breathing exercise for experienced anxiety fighters

Starting position – sitting. We close our eyes. We begin to count from 10 to 1, inhaling and exhaling on each count. The exhalation should be longer than the inhalation. When we inhale and exhale, we imagine that tension, stress, fatigue, negativity, apathy, and aggression disappear. The person takes control of everything.

We imagine that the air we breathe is colored in warm colors: pink, beige, light blue. With each exhalation, the air turns into several clouds that gently float around the room. Where are you? Try it, float on the clouds! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Don't open your eyes. Until your imagination has had enough of the journey, do not open your eyes. When this happens, your eyes will open to the world, without worries and stress. In this technique, it is important to find the desired counting rhythm.

To do this, you should breathe evenly, slowly, calmly, without thinking about the negative, imagining only positive things. This method is very relaxing, but it must be used regularly, gradually increasing the count: from 20 to 1.

Share this article with a friend:

Anxiety is one of the most unpleasant emotions we sometimes experience. Usually, a person gets excited before an important event for him. Examples of such events include passing an exam at school, university, traffic police, belt, or public speaking, presentations. Participation in competitions also makes a person nervous, castings - in short, we get nervous when the positive outcome of the event is important to us.

This is why the question arises - How to cope with anxiety? Is it really possible to stop worrying with the snap of a finger? After all, we don't have a button "stop worrying", by clicking on which we will stop being nervous. Here we need other techniques, more cunning ones. We’ll talk about them now, but I warn you that some techniques can only reduce the level of anxiety, and not get rid of it completely. After all, a lot depends on you, and on the importance of the event, and on something else that I don’t know about.

Why are we worried?

I have already said this above. We worry when an important event is coming. In general, worry means failure. Would you worry if the outcome of the final exam didn't matter to you? Would you worry before proposing to a girl if it didn’t matter to you that she might refuse you? Would you be afraid of public speaking if you didn't care what other people thought of you? NO!!! You definitely wouldn’t worry, because you don’t care about the outcome of this event. Therefore, remember, anxiety arises from the possibility of failure where it is important for us to win.

Some people worry about criticism, not failure. Not everyone takes criticism well, although it exists everywhere. Your every gesture, every word, every action is evaluated by others. Therefore, no matter what you do, you are still evaluated and criticized. In addition, people are prone to criticism. They cannot live without criticism. But that's not what this is about. If you didn’t care what people thought about you, you wouldn’t be afraid of criticism, which means you wouldn’t worry. I hope you understand where the excitement comes from.

How to cope with anxiety?

I’ll say right away that motherworts and other sedatives are unlikely to help you. I strongly advise against resorting to alcohol, as it dissipates, and it is very necessary if you are taking an exam, speaking in front of a large audience, etc. In addition, I have noticed many times that I worry before an event, and not during the event. For example, before a theatrical performance. Yes, I shake, but during the performance I feel quite calm. Hence the conclusion: alcohol and pills are not needed. It's better to use other techniques.

Movement helps to cope with anxiety. You have probably noticed more than once, both in yourself and in others, that exciting people constantly go here and there. Of course! It's hard to sit quietly when everything is tense inside! Therefore, before the exam or public speaking– move. This, of course, does not help to get rid of anxiety completely, but you still feel better.

Breath- an excellent technique not only to stop worrying, but also helps to get rid of the mental clutter in your head. All you need to do is take a deep breath in through your nose and release it through your mouth. Three times are enough for everything to return to normal in your head and the anxiety to disappear. You can do this exercise either sitting or standing. When an important event has begun, for example, you go on stage, perform this breathing technique.

There is a similar technique - meditation. This technique is not suitable for everyone, since not everyone likes to meditate, especially in the state. But if you love yourself and definitely want to cope with anxiety, this technique is for you! You need to start meditation with the same breathing, while your eyes should be closed. Focus completely on inhaling and exhaling. All that matters to you is inhalation and exhalation. Keep an eye on them. In 5-7 minutes you will feel better. Why, I checked, and I have the right to say so.

What do you think about set yourself up positively? After all, an exciting person intensifies the negative outcome of the event. Thoughts are spinning in his stupid head about what will happen if he doesn’t pass the exam, doesn’t get a promotion, and his wife kicks him out of the house. How can you stop worrying when scenarios like these are running through your head? The person will begin to worry even more, and then fail where he has programmed himself.

But if you begin to set yourself up positively, then the excitement begins to fade. You tell yourself that you will pass the exam, that you will pass the interview, that you will be promoted, and then you explain to yourself why this will happen. For example: “I will pass the interview because I have extensive experience in this field, a huge amount of knowledge and because I am a sweetheart”. Or like this: “I will be promoted because I am the smartest and most qualified candidate for the position. I worked harder than anyone, and the boss will appreciate me.”. Even if this is not true, lie to yourself. It helps to calm down.

How to stop worrying?

Some people manage to worry during an interview, a speech, or while taking an exam. This anxiety is much worse than the anxiety before the event. It’s unlikely that a person will remember you if you mumble under your breath, don’t speak clearly, answer questions stupidly and behave like a complete cretin... or idiot.

So how to stop worrying during something significant? As always, physical actions will help you. Let's say you are speaking in front of a huge audience. Pick up something (for example, a folder) and perform with it. When you have something in your hands, a person begins to feel more . If there is nothing in your hands, then your attention goes to where to put them. Here I suggest you roll them behind your back. Your palms are not visible, and you can, for example, fiddle with a pen or finger. After all, physical action helps to cope with anxiety, don’t forget about it. Here I will advise you to move around the stage. Again - action. Standing still, you will want to move around a lot, and when you move, your attention switches to movements.

During the interview you are unlikely to be able to move, but you will definitely be able to pick something up. At least hold the bag close to you, it will at least help somehow. And if the interviewer sees that you are worried, most likely he will understand you. Besides, he himself is no less worried.

Switching attention, perhaps one of the most effective ways to get rid of anxiety. It's like breathing. There you switch between inhalation and exhalation, plus, your brain begins to work at lower frequencies, which is why you stop worrying. Here I suggest you listen to music, switch to communicating with another person, read something. While you are busy with other things, thoughts about the upcoming event fade into the background. Just don't do that during an event. Otherwise, I can imagine what will happen if, during a public speech, you come out with a magazine "Cosmopoliton", or with headphones, or you won’t go on stage at all because you chatted with the cleaner. Don't overdo it.

And if all this does not help you cope with anxiety, well, then you will get rid of it after the completion of this event. Remember this. Your anxiety is a temporary state, and you shouldn’t run away because of it. On the contrary, face your fear face to face, show it who is in charge.

By the way, humility over a negative scenario and the development of events also helps to overcome anxiety. When something is not important to you, it is not needed. If you accept defeat and find a plan B, then the anxiety will subside. Why? Because you have a plan B.

How to cope with anxiety, How to stop worrying

	Like

Every person experiences anxiety many times throughout his life. Which manifests itself both with an event that can change your life, and with a little thing that is simply not included in the plans. For some people, this turns into a serious problem.

Scientists from the UK suggest coping with anxiety in the following way. Let's say you have a serious meeting planned that causes a lot of anxiety. On the day of the meeting, get enough sleep, this will help reduce your anxiety by 2-3 times. After that, carefully think through the meeting, what you will communicate about, how you will structure your behavior, imagine and analyze in detail the place in which everything will take place. Imagine that you are already there and everything is going as smoothly as possible.

This method will help you feel the atmosphere of the upcoming event, soak in its energies and get rid of unnecessary anxiety about it.

2.From the psychology course

In psychology, they use a method called emotional acceleration; this exercise helps to keep anxiety under control. Imagine yourself as a destructive force, let it be a fire, a tsunami or an avalanche. Feel how this energy pulsates in your veins, imagine how you move and what destructive power you have. Hear the roar of a rushing avalanche and the sound of a raging tsunami, feel the fire in your chest and how this fire bursts out, causing everything around to light up. Visualize every detail. Exciting, isn't it?

This psychological technique is used to control anxiety, as well as to communicate confidently and relaxedly. The downside is that this method requires regular repetition, since we do not have a long action time.

3.In the world of sports

Athletes also experience anxiety and have techniques in their arsenal to combat it. I'll tell you about a couple of sports secrets that will help in life.

When a person begins to fight with himself, he is already worth something

Archers say that the main source of excitement is thoughts about what is happening around. To overcome anxiety, focus on the goal and give your best, regardless of other people's opinions and the current situation.

Climbers who have repeatedly conquered mountain peaks say that the emotional state directly depends on the physical one. Therefore, measured, deep breathing and muscle relaxation will allow a person to cope with anxiety. Climbers believe that by relieving physical stress, anxiety also subsides, so before each exciting situation they do a breathing and muscle warm-up.

Use these methods when there is a sudden surge of excitement. For example, you need to complete a task in a busy place, take a deep breath, lightly stretch the muscles of your neck and shoulders, and forgetting that there are people around, move towards the intended goal.

4.Public opinion

After viewing social surveys, it becomes clear that there is a fierce opinion in society that there is one effective way to combat anxiety. 70% of respondents use it daily. This method is simple; when you feel growing excitement, count to 10 in your head. But is this method so effective? This method affects each person differently. Therefore, answering the question is difficult for some people.

But among the respondents there was also an elderly man with an interesting way of thinking. The method he proposed sounds like this. If before a performance or communication with a stranger, excitement and embarrassment begin to appear. We set a goal to convey information to listeners. Don’t think about what the opinion or reaction will be, just convey the information. It’s like in case of a fire, would it be embarrassing or exciting to shout to the whole street about what happened? No. Because information is conveyed.

Remember this method before public speaking.

5. The word belongs to the author

How to overcome anxiety? Why fight it if you don't have to worry? I believe that life should be seen as a game.

Life is a game, if you are a child in it, you will have much more fun...

No, you shouldn't get mad and play the fool. Take everything easier and perceive each new event as a game from which you will emerge victorious. Play with words, facial expressions and experiment in communicating with people.

And most importantly, believe in your strength!

Anxiety can manifest itself in different ways. Some people blush, others' hands shake, others' voices begin to tremble, and others cannot utter a word at all. If you believe the statistics, then in most countries of the world fear of public speaking is in first place in the ranking of phobias. Both timid and shy people and those who are experienced speakers are worried. It often doesn't matter much whether you have to give a presentation to three well-known colleagues or lecture to several hundred people. Effective ways to deal with anxiety have been formulated a long time ago.

Photo by Shutterstock

Method No. 1

If you are afraid of speaking in front of people, then do it as often as possible. You can start with your own family. Gather your family around the table and read the report to them. Close people will tell you where you lost your thoughts, where you forgot to switch the slide in the presentation, and so on. The next stage is to increase the number of performances. Don't refuse the opportunities presented to you, practice. Controlling your voice, body, and your own emotions is a skill that can be developed.

Method No. 2

To feel confident when you have to speak in front of other people, prepare for the upcoming event. The materials you plan to present must be verified down to the decimal point. Show printouts of your speech to your colleagues, they can give valuable advice. Think about what you will wear at the performance, what hairstyle and makeup you will wear. You must look perfect. Anticipate possible incidents. Bring spare tights to the performance; if the ones you’re wearing suddenly start to crease, put a second lipstick in your purse. The slightest nuances are not noticeable to others, but any woman behaves more confidently if she feels her own attractiveness.

Another stage of preparation is rehearsals. You can practice in front of a mirror. But it is difficult to read and analyze at the same time. Don’t be lazy and film your performance rehearsal on camera. After reviewing the recording, work on your mistakes. Consider what questions your audience might have and prepare answers to them in advance. If you do this, the risk of ending up in an awkward position will be reduced to almost zero.

Method No. 3

The vast majority of people experience severe anxiety about making a mistake in front of other people. Nobody in the world is perfect. And you included. You won't get fired and the world won't turn upside down because you slip up or drop your pen. Think about how to behave if you do make a mistake. Watch news anchors on national TV channels. Even they don’t always get it right the first time difficult word. But then they apologize, smile and continue reading the text further. Take this technique into your arsenal.

Method No. 4

Imagine that you have to speak not in front of department heads or skeptical business partners, but in front of friends. True friends will listen to you with interest and forgive you minor mistakes. Your audience is not a hostile force, but people who want to learn new information.

You shouldn’t have a big lunch before a performance, but you shouldn’t go hungry either. It is better to limit yourself to a light snack that can satisfy your hunger.

Method No. 5

Psychologists recommend not to think about the white monkey. No, no, this is not a game of a fevered imagination at all. If someone tells you not to think about the white monkey, all your thoughts are bound to be about him. It's the same with anxiety. Everyone around you will try to support you, encourage you and, of course, tell you not to worry. This is exactly what can throw you off track. Nod, say “thank you,” and move your thoughts to another topic. Think not about your emotions, but about solving the tasks at hand. When your head is occupied with numbers, terms and definitions, you will simply forget about fear of the public and emotional anxiety.

Method No. 6

Before a public speech, you can hide in some secluded corner and do a few physical exercises: - move your lower jaw, because this will help relieve tension in the facial nerves; - clench your hands into fists several times, and then sharply relax your hands; - rub your palms together , massage your fingers (such simple gymnastics for the hands affects the reaction speed, relieves nervous “paralysis” of the speech apparatus); - jump in place, do a couple of bends to the sides; - stand on your toes, stretch up, shake your hands.

Excitement provokes the release of an extraordinary portion of adrenaline into the blood, and physical exercise stimulates the production of lactic acid. When these two substances react in your body, the stress situation will fade into the background. You will begin to think faster and want to act actively.

Before going out to the audience, take 4-5 deep and slow breaths and exhalations.

About the excitement before important event I know firsthand. I get excited every time I speak in front of an audience. Over time, I figured it out and understood where it comes from and how to deal with it.

But anxiety doesn’t only arise before a public speech. It comes before an interview, or when you need to make an important decision, pass an exam, or ask for a salary increase.

In my article I want to offer several ways to help cope with anxiety. I would like to note right away that some techniques will not solve the problem completely, but partially, since the reasons for anxiety are different for everyone. To neutralize them completely, you need.

Why are we worried?

The first and main reason for anxiety is, of course, fear. Fear that you will be refused, that you will not be understood, that you are not needed, not worthy, and so on. Fear, in turn, arises when a person is not sure of a positive result and is afraid of not achieving the final goal with a plus sign.

One way to combat anxiety is through careful preparation. It will help you calm down on the eve of a speech, a conversation with your boss, or an exam.

But what if preparation doesn’t help? What to do when anxiety chills your body and prevents you from breathing at the most inopportune moment? I offer several effective techniques.

6 techniques to help cope with anxiety

Technique #1 - movement

Movement helps cope with anxiety. For example, you are speaking in front of an audience, talking on the phone, or waiting for your turn to draw an exam card - move.

Walk around the audience, room, go out into the corridor, go get a cup of coffee - any movement will help you calm down and come to your senses.

Technique No. 2 - transformation

As a rule, if you are confident in your knowledge, then anxiety arises before the performance, and not during it. Such anxiety can be dealt with using a simple technique.

Take any object in your hands, a hair tie, a pen, a hairpin, a marker, whatever, and mentally ask this object to be your excitement. Put it aside and go do what you have planned. Don’t even doubt the effectiveness of this technique.

Technique #3 - breathing

Smooth and calm breathing will relieve stress and help you make important decisions. Quite often we subconsciously hold our breath in moments of tension and great excitement. This is fundamentally the wrong way. About 5-7 minutes of even and calm breathing (inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth) greatly saves you from anxiety.

Technique No. 4 - shifting attention

Shifting attention. Women are distinguished by the fact that over and over again they replay events in their heads that have not even happened yet.

Take a break and take the level of importance off the event. At a minimum, you will be surprised to notice a lot around you interesting people and other interesting events.

Technique No. 5 - relaxation

Tense behavior not only constrains your body, but also the flow of thoughts in your head. Tension is the cause of irritation in the body, feelings and thoughts, and this is not at all an effective way to deal with anxiety.

Relaxation, on the contrary, will allow the body to rest and unconsciously prepare for the important. For example, for a performance.

Technique No. 6 - “mental dialogue”

There is an expression: forewarned is forearmed! How can you calculate the situation in advance? So, imagine yourself and the person standing in front of you with whom you are about to have an important conversation.

Now mentally move into his body and head as if you can feel, hear, see the way he does. Now try to understand what this person expects from you? What actions? What solutions? What words? Now return to your body and head again and tell your interlocutor everything that he expects from you.

If you need to continue the “mental dialogue,” then repeat it until you realize that everything will happen in the best way for you.

Technique No. 7 - positive

They now write about a positive attitude on the Internet, talk about it at lectures and broadcast on TV screens. This is one of the best ways to stay resourceful and also feel calm, balanced and stable.

Think about the upcoming exciting event as something not very important, and if it happens, well, if not, then the best is definitely ahead of you!