Self-Care Tips to Cope With Anxiety and Stress at Home

Hey lovelies, just a quick check in to see everyone is doing OK?

With the current state of the world, many of us are feeling increasingly anxious and concerned. The COVID-19 pandemic has no end in sight and political tensions have been growing across the world. To many of us, it seems like life as we knew it has gone and we're facing a very unsettling future, no wonder our mental state can suffer.

It’s important to take good care of your body and mind during these trying times, so here are some self-care tips for coping with anxiety and stress at home.

Set up a night time routine to get quality sleep every night

One of the most difficult things to achieve when you’re feeling stressed and anxious is a good night’s sleep. Whether it’s your thoughts keeping you up at night or napping in the day ruining your internal clock, there are lots of ways to ruin the quality of sleep you get at night. To remedy this, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep so you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day.

One of the best ways to achieve a good night’s sleep is to establish a routine. This helps your body get into the mood for sleep and also helps you prepare yourself for a comfortable night. Your routine should go something like this:

• Stop eating roughly 3 hours before bedtime, especially spicy foods which raise the body temperature and can affect sleep.

• Cut down (or preferable cut out) alcohol and caffeine drinks. Opt for a warm milky drink or a chamomile tea

• Turn down the lights so they’re not too bright.

• Stop using any electronics with a screen such as your laptop or TV. The blue light emitted from electronic devices stimulates the 'stay awake' response in the brain.

• Take a warm bath to relax your body.

• Keep your smartphone or laptop away from your bed to reduce the likelihood of checking it at night.

• Maintain a steady temperature in your bedroom by opening the windows, turning on a small fan or setting up your heating to turn on and off at specific times.

• Keep the lights low or off when you sleep.

• Use a 'white noise' device or app to block out distracting noise in the house.

By following simple steps like this, you can develop your own bedtime routine that will help ensure a quality night of rest.

Get moving and engage in physical activity daily

Physical activity is truly something magical, toning the body and improve the mood. Exercising when you're feeling down can feel like a huge uphill battle so try to set a specific time to work out and stick to it. Don't allow your mind to talk you out of your workout, just get changed and get moving. You mind and body will thank you later!

There are lots of ways to get active and stay healthy. Many gyms have re-opened or are still running virtual classes, you could start going on a jog every other day, or if you’d prefer to be away from people and stay indoors, then working out at home has been a physical and mental health boost for me during lockdown. If you want to incorporate physical activity into your everyday life, it’s important to find forms of exercise that you personally enjoy, and you'll be much more likely to workout regularly.

Eating healthy and well-balanced meals

Eating healthy well-balanced meals is essential to keep your body in good condition, and also motivate you throughout the day. Clean eating helps to cleanse the body of toxins, boost your immune system and energy levels and improve your mood.

If possible, avoid alcohol as much as possible and limit your caffeine intake to one or two cups of regular coffee a day. Try to 'Eat the Rainbow': eating a variety of different coloured fruit and vegetables ensures you are getting a wide range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Try alternative treatments that can help with stress and anxiety

There are a number of alternative treatments that could potentially help with your anxiety or stress. For instance, cannabidiol (CBD) oil can reduce anxiety and lower the chances of panic attacks. While CBD is typically associated with smoking or vaping, you can actually purchase CBD gummies for anxiety over the internet. They’re essentially the same as regular gummy sweets but contain CBD which can help reduce stress and anxiety.

Aromatherapy oils are a great alternative therapy for treating stress related conditions such a insomnia. Lavender, chamomile and neroli are wonderfully relaxing scents that can help ease anxiety and stress-related issues.

Surrounding yourself with positivity

While it can be hard for some people to surround themselves with positivity, it’s arguably one of the most effective ways to help you deal with anxiety and stress. By taking your mind off negative thoughts and replacing it with good ones, you’ll find that you spend far less time worrying about things and more time enjoying your day. Surround yourself with positivity by limiting your use of social media and news broadcasts, instead listen to music and uplifting podcasts

Accepting that you can only control so much

One of the keys to keeping stress and anxiety off your mind is embracing acceptance. Many people feel stressed or anxious about things that they can’t really change or have no say in. Overthinking and worrying can paralyse the mind, leaving you unable to enjoy the present moment . By embracing acceptance, you seek to gain a more positive attitude and live in the moment, with less worry and stress about factors that cannot be changed.

Acceptance doesn’t mean having a passive attitude to life, acceptance is about embracing the idea that you can’t change everything, that you should try to let go of the past and live in the present moment. Practising mindfulness can help you accept what is, and adapt to change that inevitably comes with life.

You got this!