sleep enough, meds, exercise, go outside, eat a frog

Things that help my anxiety:

1. Make sure I am sleep enough. When I’m tired, I lack emotional resilience.

2. Meds. For me, low dose citalopram helped me rebuild neural pathways that were not all panic driven. After five years on it, I’m taking a break but it’s wonderful to know I have this as an option.

3. Hard exercise. I love lifting—I get really in the moment, in the technique, in my body and in working so hard I concentrate only on what I’m doing. Afterwards, I have endorphins and the knowledge that I did something good.

4. Go outside. Often that means listening to an audiobook while weeding or going on a walk. Movement+outside helps.

5. Do something on my mental checklist, especially if I’m dreading it. My mom calls this “eating the frog”. Reducing the mental churning just a bit helps.