Managing Anxiety

I’m staring up at the bird on the ceiling.  I’m on his wings flying off  to Somewhere.  Blue sky and puffy clouds surround him.

This is all a great visual while I sit in the chair, my jaw hurting as I hold my mouth open as wide as I can during a painless root canal procedure.  Yes, you read it right – it is painless because my endodontist has the gift of golden dental hands.  Having said that, it’s still not the most comfortable half-hour, breathing through a rubber dam while two people are working in my mouth with all kinds of instruments and foul-tasting sprays and medicines being used.

And so I try hard to defocus on what’s going on in my mouth and concentrate on the beautiful ceiling, clearly designed as a calming factor in a typically anxiety-provoking situation.  Let’s face it, going to the dentist is not a pleasure-producing experience.

In yoga, we’re told to pick a spot to focus on while doing balancing poses.  It helps keep us grounded and connected.  So while I’m not exactly balancing in my chair, ‘my’ bird is my focal point as I try to maintain a calm flow of breath and stay connected to that rather than to the tightness in my body.  If I’m lucky, I can even lose myself in flight along with Mr. Bird.

Next week when I begin my visits to my general dentist for the crown work to be done, I will be staring at a plain white ceiling and imagining the beautiful sky and bird as my mind will have to work a bit harder at visualizing my flight to somewhere.

I manage this specific anxiety through breathing, visualization and a form of meditation.  This generally works for me.

I do the same before I give a presentation.  Deep breathing, then quiet breathing as I close my eyes for a few minutes,  and then an affirmative pep-talk gets me calm, focused and psyched.  I talk to myself en route to the presentation and then allow for 15 minutes in my parked car to do my quiet calming exercises.

Generalzied anxiety, as my recent interviewee, Priscilla Warner suffers from, is much harder to handle.  She’s worked on it for years and only recently has found more natural ways of managing it, in conjunction with medication.  When anxiety interferes with one’s overall functioning, it can be debilitating.  Where it’s more localized to specific situations, it can be coped with in {even} some fairly creative ways.

On vacation recently, I met a woman who has tremendous anxiety over flying.  Since she’s  a lover of travel and won’t give that up, besides the knock- out pill-popping solution before getting on a plane,  she has started taking a ship across the Atlantic.  For someone who has the extra time and enjoys cruising, what a great solution.

Antidotes to Anxiety:

Think out of the box.  Seek creative solutions so you can attain your desired goal.

Conscious breathing.  It really does slow down your whole system.

Visualize positive outcomes or something you love.

Make friends with your anxiety.  Recognize the signs and then begin the calming strategies.

Talk to yourself.  Positive self-talk goes a long way in flipping the channels of the mind.

For pervasive and generalized anxiety that compromises one’s quality of life, it’s important to understand the underlying root and possible causes.  Working  through the issues with a good therapist can go a long way in bringing someone to the point of then managing it with {the above-mentioned} behavioral steps.

No one is alone with anxiety.  It is part of the human condition.   The differences lie in degree and ability to manage.

How do you cope with your anxiety?  How big is it in your life?  Share your techniques and ways of dealing with it.  It may help others. 

Thanks for stopping by and reading this.   Hope you’re building in fun this summer season.   Oh and by the way, fun is a great anti-anxiety defense.  In the midst of fun, there’s little room for anxiety to enter.