Feeling anxious from time to time is a common experience.

It’s actually something that has helped our species to survive and thrive during our existence, giving us cues to assess and determine whether a perceived threat is truly a threat.

Anxiety commonly crops up when we have events or tasks that may have a lot of pressure associated with them, such as job interviews, work or school presentations or family concerns.

Once the event or problem passes, so too do the feelings of anxiousness.

However, sometimes anxious feelings can occur without an obvious cause or linger and become regularly present.

When this happens, it can get the best of us and actually become an obstacle in being able to navigate through our everyday life.

Whether you occasionally experience feelings of anxiety, or you find yourself experiencing them often, there are a number of different things you can try to keep your anxiety in check.

5 Good Tips To Help You with Anxiety:

1. Stay in the here and now with mindfulness.

Often when you suffer from anxiety, you focus on future concerns or you overthink about past interactions and events.

It’s easy to work yourself up over something that has not happened yet when you think about all the possible outcomes.

One way to deal with this is by focusing on the present world around you.

While it may be easy to say to think about the now, it can be difficult in practice.

Something that can help you to stay in the present is by practicing mindfulness. There is emerging evidence that mindfulness helps in reducing the feelings of depression and anxiety.

Some ways you can practice mindfulness is with meditation, there are even apps available to help guide you in practicing mindfulness.

2. Snap back to reality with some fact checking.

As we mentioned above, you can easily become overwhelmed thinking about all the possible outcomes of a future event.

Often, the more we focus on something, the more we build it up and sometimes the things we become concerned about are just not realistic outcomes.

When you find yourself worried about something, try to take stock of your thoughts and work through the possible outcomes, and what is actually likely to occur.

You can do this by writing a list of all these outcomes to work through the likelihood of this, or talk to someone close to you, and discuss these worries. Sometimes all we need is someone else to bring us back to reality.

3. Channel your anxious energy into activities or exercise.

Taking part in an activity or getting your body moving can really help you in numerous ways when you suffer from anxiety.

Often anxious feelings can build up a type of nervous energy that can make it difficult to relax.

But by channelling that into another activity, it will not only help you use some of this energy, but also likely distract from your worrying thoughts.

The other benefit of getting your body moving is of course health related.

Your physical health is important, just like your mental health, and it can help protect your immune system and your mental health.

And let’s not forget about those endorphins that are released during exercise that make you feel good.

4. Stay connected with others.

This is a point that is important for everyone, not just those who experience anxiety.

Maintaining friendships and relationships gives us outlets to be able to voice our concerns and worries.

When those overwhelming thoughts are filling your mind, your network is a great place to seek advice and lean on to get through these times.

You also may not realize it, but by being open and honest about your concerns, feelings and worries, you may actually be helping someone else more than you realize.

Most of us struggle with similar problems, we just stay silent and think we are the only ones.

Sharing your problem might inspire others to be brave too. When you realize how many people struggle with anxiety, and believe us, MANY do, you will feel less alone with your problems.

5. It’s ok to seek professional help.

It’s important to be aware that you can’t solve every problem on your own, and often times the best people to help you are the professionals.

There is no shame in seeking professional help to work through your feelings.

Just like having a trainer, an exercise coach, or a teacher, it’s completely ok to have a personal psychiatrist, psychologist or a life coach that will guide you through the turbulences of life we all experience.

Anxiety is a common occurrence, and one that can be an overwhelming and exhaustive experience.

Ignoring your feelings and letting them boil over is how anxiety can ruin one’s life.

By practicing these tips, you may find yourself able to take your anxiety by the reins and be in control.