Author: Adam Bolton

5 Tips For Reducing Anxiety and Stress

Introduction
We’ve come up with our top 5 tips for helping reduce stress and anxiety using our own personal experience. Use the table on the next page to track your progress. Do these 5 things daily and hopefully your stress and anxiety will improve as a result. Good luck :)

The top 5 tips
Work on your physical health: Physical and mental health are closely linked and being physically healthy can massively help boost your mood. Try to do as much exercise as you can, even if it’s just a short walk. Also try to eat well and go to bed at a regular time.
Access to nature and the outdoors: Numerous studies show a very strong link between access to nature and mental health. Try and find a local spot, a park, a river etc. and spend some time there whenever you can. You can combine it with your physical exercise to tick both boxes.
Hobbies: Having a hobby you enjoy can boost your mood and help distract you from anxious thoughts and help relieve stress. Try to engage in hobbies or start new ones.
Deep breathing: In periods of heavy stress or anxiety I find breathing exercises very useful. Take 2 deep breaths in through your nose and then exhale deeply through your mouth. Try to do this everyday or when particularly stressed.
Anxiety diary: Using our anxiety diary can help you identify potential triggers and find out what helps you the most. Try to fill this out daily and it should help you find better coping mechanisms that work for you.

Access to nature can really help boost our mood.

Day	Physical health: / What did you do to work on your physical health? It could be as simple as going for a walk or as complex as a workout at the gym.	Outside/Nature/Animals: / What contact did you have with the above? Access to nature, the outdoors and animals can help boost our mood.	Hobbies: / Finding something you enjoy can really help boost your mood and distract your mind from anxious thoughts. Write down when you engaged in a hobby and whether it helped your mood.	Deep breathing: / Breath in twice through your nose and then exhale once through your mouth and repeat. Try to do this for 5 minutes a day.	Anxiety diary: / Use our anxiety diary (available on www.daretotalk.org) to work out exactly what causes your anxiety and what helps improve it. Try to fill this out daily.
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