In keeping with my desire to be more transparent with this blog as oppose to just doling out devotional/advice I want to share a bit of current and past experience with anxiety attacks. So let’s start from the beginning.
I remember the first time that I experience an anxiety attack. I was making my way back to Atlanta after my grandmother’s funeral and out of nowhere I felt a intense sense of panic /anxiety. In my case my anxiety attacks also affect me physically and can sometimes be uncomfortable or a bit painful. So experiencing this for the first time where my muscles were tensing up and my breathing was labored coupled with the panic, to say the least it freaked me out. We ended up pulling over to a Wendy’s and I got out the car walked to the restroom to calm myself down. At that point I knew what it was to be nervous or depressed but a full blown anxiety attack was a whole new ball game.
In 2007 I lost my father and aunt to cancer, my grandfather passed suddenly and several other family passed on as well. Now tack on to that the stress of moving to a different city and it was just A LOT! It was one of the hardest years of my life.
Now fast forward to where I am currently in my life at this point with being unemployed, my mom being diagnosed with breast cancer and everything that comes along with that, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed.The good news is I’ve experienced something similar and I’ve learned over the years what to do when I am experiencing an anxiety attack and how to reduce the frequency of them happening and I want to share a few tips with you.
So how do I push through my Anxiety Attacks?….
- Prayer: This is my first and BEST line of defense. Find a space that is quiet, do whatever you have to do to get there and spend some time with God. If you need to go to a restroom, another room in your house or even sit in your car take that time to pour your heart out to the Lord.
- Exercise: This has been one of THE key things that has reduced the frequency of my anxiety attacks. You can google the specifics of why working out regularly helps. For me it has been an tremendous tool in battling anxiety attacks because working out energizes me and elevates my mood.
- Breathe: While you’re experiencing an attack breath in deeply through your nose and out slowly through your mouth. For me this helps me refocus and push through some of the physical effects of anxiety attacks that I experience
- Diet: Try to steer clear of overindulging in a lot of processed and fatty foods. The food practices these days aren’t the best so it is better overall that your diet is cleaner and filled with whole foods that build your body up
- Talk about it: Find someone who you feel comfortable with and tell them what you are going through. The last thing you need to do is isolate yourself and hold all of your anxiety inside.
- Caffeine: Yes caffeine, It winds you up and can trigger anxiety so avoid sodas with caffeine and switch to decaf coffee; Yes decaf you’ll be fine. If you are looking for boost in the morning to take the place of the jolt of caffeine try swapping it for a green smoothie.
Lastly remember that you are not alone and you WILL get through this. God knows where you are and is eager to get you through this so lean on Him and He will give you all the tools you need to win this battle. Don’t ever give up our breakthrough is on the way so keep fighting!
Love, Lesli