Anxiety, worry, and criticism

Image by dadaworks from Pixabay

Methods to help us deal with anxiety abound, and many work. You might find something that works for you in these 10 methods to soothe anxiety, and in 10 tips to help counter the worrying habit – changing your surroundings, your attitude, breathing, burning off energy, visualizing, and taking small practical steps to simplify your life.

But you might consider worrying smarter rather than trying not to worry at all – scheduling time to be with your worry, to get to feel your anxiety in your body, to let it be.

This series of anxiety and depression comics might help you befriend yourself and your emotions.

Mindfulness can also help with stress at work and burnout.

As Richard Schwartz from Internal Family Systems describes, your anxiety, or worry, or inner critic are all parts inside the body.

We begin by recognizing it, bringing it into the conversation. Then we notice where it is in the body and see what it wants, even say hi to it, letting it speak. This can only be done inside the container of a welcoming space – a watchful witness who can see and listen without judgment. When we have that available, we see if our worry wants to say anything, how it tries to protect us, and how we can start to accept it and include it as a component of who we are as a whole.