This simple mental hack could help you overcome anxiety

This simple mental hack could help you overcome anxietyThis simple mental hack could help you overcome anxietyImagine youre doing something that gives youanxietyor causes you stress. Maybe youre about to have adifficult conversationwith your boss, or perhaps youre getting ready for a party where youll bump into people you havent seen in ages. If your heart is starting to beat faster, youre elend alone. But what if a simple perspective shift could help you manage the clammy hands and racing heartbeat that come with your anxiety - and even help you to be a little thankful for what youre feeling?When it comes to negative emotions like stress, anxiety, and even depression, your perception matters Theres scientific evidence that how wethinkabout our emotions drastically affects how wefeel. Have you ever noticed that focusing on how stressful something is makes it feel even mora stressful? The reverse can be true too. By focusing on the positive parts of an experience, you can actuallyred uce stress.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe concept is called cognitive reappraisal, and the gist is that by shifting our perspective on emotions, we can actually reduce the duration and intensity of feelings like sadness and anxiety. A2014 studyfound that reappraising anxiety as excitement helped people with wertmiger zuwachs anxiety more than merely focusing on staying calm.Another study from 2010shows that emotional regulation, another term for cognitive reappraisal, can help reduce symptoms of depression.While cognitive reappraisal has been extensively studied with conditions like clinical anxiety and depression, the same principle could hold true for everyday stress, saysElizabeth Cush, LCPC, an Annapolis, MD-based therapist. How does it work? Rather than focusing on the negative emotion, Cush recommends turning the table with a simplemindfulness exercise. The first ste p Pay attention to how you perceive your anxiety. If you view stressful emotions as the enemy, Cush says its likely youll try to outrun them - which can result in even more stress.People go to great lengths to avoid feeling or being anxious. Busyness, exercise, perfectionism, meditation, substance use and self-criticism, are just some of the strategies people use so they dont have to deal with the anxiety. Ironically, it turns out that all the strategies we commonly use so we dont feel our anxiety can actually make the anxious feelings more intense. As a result, you might even end up experiencing panic attacks, Cush says.Instead of thinking about your anxiety as your enemy or as something that shows up to make you suffer, try thinking of your anxious feelings as a healthy reminder that something might need your attention, she says. Maybe youre feeling sad or lonely. Maybe youre struggling to meet your own emotional or physical needs. Maybe youre afraid youll make a mistake and be j udged. No matter what is making you anxious - and the reason might not be clear - remind yourself that youve felt this way before and that it will pass.Then - and this is the important step for re-framing your anxiety - talk back to it, whether you simplyjournal mindfullyabout how youre feeling or actually speak to yourself out loud.Try telling the anxiety youre happy that it showed up, because now you can pay attention to your needs, Cush says. By tuning into and welcoming the anxiety, youre creating the space to feel the feelings beneath the anxiety with openness and without judgment. And that trick lessens the intensity and power of the anxietyThis article was originally published on Brit + Co.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an intervie w, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong peopleThis simple mental hack could help you overcome anxietyImagine youre doing something that gives youanxietyor causes you stress. Maybe youre about to have adifficult conversationwith your boss, or perhaps youre getting ready for a party where youll bump into people you havent seen in ages. If your heart is starting to beat faster, youre not alone. But what if a simple perspective shift could help you manage the clammy hands and racing heartbeat that come with your anxiety - and even help you to be a little thankful for what youre feeling?When it comes to negative emotions like stress, anxiety, and even depression, your perception matters Theres scientific evidence that how wethinkabout our emotions drastically affects how wefeel. Have you ever noticed that focusing on how stressful something is makes it feel even more stressful? The reverse can be true too. By focusing on the positive parts of an experience, you can actuallyr educe stress.The concept is called cognitive reappraisal, and the gist is that by shifting our perspective on emotions, we can actually reduce the duration and intensity of feelings like sadness and anxiety. A2014 studyfound that reappraising anxiety as excitement helped people with performance anxiety more than merely focusing on staying calm.Another study from 2010shows that emotional regulation, another term for cognitive reappraisal, can help reduce symptoms of depression.While cognitive reappraisal has been extensively studied with conditions like clinical anxiety and depression, the same principle could hold true for everyday stress, saysElizabeth Cush, LCPC, an Annapolis, MD-based therapist. How does it work? Rather than focusing on the negative emotion, Cush recommends turning the table with a simplemindfulness exercise. The first step Pay attention to how you perceive your anxiety. If you view stressful emotions as the enemy, Cush says its likely youll try to outrun them - which can result in even more stress.People go to great lengths to avoid feeling or being anxious. Busyness, exercise, perfectionism, meditation, substance use and self-criticism, are just some of the strategies people use so they dont have to deal with the anxiety. Ironically, it turns out that all the strategies we commonly use so we dont feel our anxiety can actually make the anxious feelings more intense. As a result, you might even end up experiencing panic attacks, Cush says.Instead of thinking about your anxiety as your enemy or as something that shows up to make you suffer, try thinking of your anxious feelings as a healthy reminder that something might need your attention, she says. Maybe youre feeling sad or lonely. Maybe youre struggling to meet your own emotional or physical needs. Maybe youre afraid youll make a mistake and be judged. No matter what is making you anxious - and the reason might not be clear - remind yourself that youve felt this way before and that it will pass.Then - and this is the important step for re-framing your anxiety - talk back to it, whether you simplyjournal mindfullyabout how youre feeling or actually speak to yourself out loud.Try telling the anxiety youre happy that it showed up, because now you can pay attention to your needs, Cush says. By tuning into and welcoming the anxiety, youre creating the space to feel the feelings beneath the anxiety with openness and without judgment. And that trick lessens the intensity and power of the anxietyThis article was originally published on Brit + Co.