7 Holistic Ways To Crush Your Anxiety So You Can Actually Enjoy Life

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 40 million adults between the ages of 18 and 54 have an anxiety disorder. While medications can be an effective line of treatment for some, abuse and addiction can often result from prescriptions such as benzodiazepines. In an age when holistic treatments are being considered as effective as medical ones, what can you do to reduce anxiety without the use of pharmacology?

Labels have a powerful way of affecting how we feel. The now-classic Zimbardo experiments are a great illustration of this phenomenon. During the study, college students were assigned to play the role of either a prison guard or a prisoner. And while each participant knew this label was just "play," both groups started adopting the roles so intensely that the researchers had to stop the study much earlier than planned.

Rather than seeing what you are feeling as anxiety, view it as excitement. In psychology we call this anxious reappraisal, and it has been shown to be an extremely effective way to curtail anxiety.

Consider this: Think about a time when you fell head over heels in love with someone (maybe your first real crush) or you were really excited about an upcoming event (concert, wedding, vacation). How did your body feel? You may have experienced butterflies in your stomach, increased heart rate, trouble sleeping… And yet, aren't these similar symptoms to what you experience when you feel what you used to call anxiety? Eustress (positive stress) and distress (negative stress) have similar physical manifestations.

This is a phrase I coined to describe the habituation experience that happens when you try something new and don't give up. Let me explain. Imagine putting your foot in a hot tub where the water is really hot. You may dip your toe in then immediately pull it out because it is so hot. But if you keep your foot in for a little while, it eventually starts to feel good. As time progresses, you put more of your body in until you're fully immersed in the hot tub, and it feels wonderful. I call this the hot tub phenomenon, in which your body starts to habituate to the warm water.

Anxiety is often caused by worrying about the future. Thoughts of "What if this happens" or "What if that doesn't happen" can prevail. "I won't be able to handle it." "It will be so often unbearable that I can't stand it." In psychology we call this fortunetelling—predicting the future negatively, and catastrophizing—making a mountain out of a molehill. One way to overcome this type of thinking is to focus on the present instead of the future. That is, be more mindful of the present.

Stop for a moment and determine how often you use the word "should" as in "I should do X" or "I should be able to do Y" or "I shouldn't do Z." The word should is like a big judgmental finger wagging at you saying "You are not good enough" or "You messed up." It can cause disappointment, stress, and anxiety.