What is Anxiety?

Do you remember that feeling in the pit of your stomach that made you think twice about making a small or big decision in your life? This can often be described as anxiety or perhaps even stress.

Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time and although it is considered an unpleasant state of mind, it can be quite useful in helping you avoid dangerous situations, motivate solving everyday problems and improve performance. Anxiety varies in severity (mild to a startling panic attack) and how long it generally lasts (few minutes to a great number of years). However, if your anxiety is quite troublesome, this type of anxiety can interfere with your ability to do the things you want or need and can also interfere with the relationships that you enjoy having in your life.

So what can you do at home to reduce the level of anxiety within your everyday life? Self-care activities at home may allow you to short-term cope with anxiety. Yoga is a holistic approach that allows the body, mind and spirit to unit as one. It could help with the negative outcomes of aging, improve physical functioning, stimulate the brain and increase hope all the while reducing anxiety and depression. Listening to your favourite type of music can also provide benefits and reduce anxiety and depression in the short term.