How to Manage Anxiety

<p>Anxiety and I go wayyyy back...</p><p>I can remember these mild OCD tendencies and weird tics I had as a kid, like blinking all the time or not wanting to step on cracks in the sidewalk or needing things to be symmetrical. And I freakin’ <i>loved</i> counting things!</p><p>Over time, I learned how to manage my anxiety, but I still get waves of it.</p><p>A lot of us (nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States) are living with anxiety disorders, and women are more than twice as likely to develop anxiety than men. </p><p>So, let’s talk about it…</p><p>In the latest Rebel Buddhist podcast episode, I share some tools that have helped me over the years—not to <i>get rid of</i> anxiety, but to <i>deal</i> with it. </p><p> </p><p>Newsflash: getting rid of anxiety altogether would actually be a bad move. Why? Because our anxiety has something to tell us. Just like all emotions, anxiety is something we humans need to give us information. For me, it gives me information that things are out of alignment in my life. That I need to pay attention to something.</p><p>That—or that I drank <i>wayyy</i> too much caffeine.</p><p>Anxiety has served us well in our evolution, helping us react quickly, assess the safety of a situation, and heighten our senses so we could pay more attention to what was going on. </p><p>But, these days, it’s not something we necessarily <i>need</i> as much for safety. It’s often triggered by things like overflowing inboxes and traffic jams: far from an actual threat to our lives. But we’re still having the same response to it. </p><p>So, let’s make like the marvels of evolution that we are and...adapt!</p><p>The good news? Anxiety in and of itself is harmless. It’s our <i>reaction</i> and our <i>resistance</i> to it that causes problems. And <i>that’s</i> within our power to change.</p><h2>In this episode, you’ll learn:</h2><ul><li>what anxiety actually <i>is</i> & how to recognize its symptoms in your own body & mind</li><li>the game changing mindset shift to move from resisting & reacting to your anxi