HOME EXERCISE TO RELIEVE ANXIETY

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR HEALTHY LIFESTYLE AND HAPPINESS

Table of Contents

BOOK DESCRIPTION

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: UNDERSTANDING YOUR ANXIETY

WHAT IS ANXIETY

SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY

CAUSES OF ANXIETY

Medical causes

Risk factors

IMPORTANCE OF ANXIETY

Self-Growth

Motivator

Safety

Makes for Good Leaders

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

CHAPTER 2: PHYSICAL EXERCISE AND ANXIETY

HOW EXERCISE AFFECTS MOOD

Exercise provides relief from stress.

Exercise increases the production of happy hormones.

It enhances self-confidence.

It improves cognitive function.

It has a calming effect.

It inspires productivity.

It helps you tap into your creative side.

It improves sleep.

It helps fight depression.

CHAPTER 3: ANXIETY EXERCISES

TAKING A MINDFUL WALK

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS EXERCISE

THUNDERBOLT POSE

BODY SCAN EXERCISE

MINDFUL BREATHING

V-UPS:

WRITING EXERCISE

EMOTIONAL MEDITATION

LOOKING UP EXERCISE

CHEST SQUEEZE ROTATION EXERCISE

CHILD POSE

LOOK OUT THE WINDOW EXERCISE

TOUCH MEDITATION

PULLUPS

LAUGH EXERCISE

AIR PUNCHES

DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING

TREE POSE

VISUALIZATION EXERCISE

THE CAT-COW POSE

READING EXERCISE

OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION EXERCISE

CORPSE POSE

RHYTHMIC BREATHING

PLANK RAISED LEG EXERCISE

IMAGINAL EXPOSURE EXERCISE

MINDFULNESS EXERCISE TO STAY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT

SEATED ARM STRETCH EXERCISE

CARDIO EXERCISE

HANDSTAND WALL PUSHUPS EXERCISE

COUNTDOWN EXERCISE

SIMPLE MEDITATION EXERCISE

LISTEN TO THE SOUNDS AROUND YOU

CHAPTER 4: HOW TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL EXERCISE PROGRAM

PITFALLS TO AVOID

Having unrealistic goals

Not breaking down a big goal into smaller, doable short-term goals

Nurturing negativity

Being inconsistent

Making exercise a last priority

WHAT MAKES AN EXERCISE PROGRAM SUCCESSFUL?

Combine two or more types of exercises

Choose a routine that you find enjoyable.

Make your schedule work for you.

Keep an exercise journal.

Keep your routines varied.

FINDING MOTIVATION

Start small.

Choose something you find enjoyable or interesting.

Focus on the positive feelings you’ll experience after exercise.

Get somebody who understands you to be your exercise buddy.

Forgive yourself if you do not meet your goals.

PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL EXERCISE PROGRAM

Keep it short, intense, and consistent.

Get a workout partner.

Look for a convenient time to exercise.

Work out during unusual hours.

Don’t overdo things.

Don’t use the excuse that you’ll get too exhausted to do other things.

Make exercise a habit.

Try out the different forms of exercise to find something you like.

CHAPTER 5: HOW TO ENJOY EXERCISE

CHOOSE AN EXERCISE THAT APPEALS TO YOU.

MODIFY.

MAKE EXERCISE FUN.

THINK ABOUT THE BENEFITS YOU GET FROM EXERCISE.

TRY VISUALIZATION.

TAKE A BREAK.

PRACTICE MINDFULNESS

CONCLUSION

Book Description

Are you tired of experiencing numb feet and fingers, sweaty nights, insomnia and other tiresome occurrences?

Is your friend, spouse, mother, father, sibling or anyone close to you suffering from uneasiness, heart palpitations and other symptoms associated with anxiety?

Have you been confusing anxiety with depression?

Do you feel uninformed about anxiety?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you should proceed with digesting the subsequent chapters of this book.

This workbook on anxiety embodies that practice in an easy, user-friendly format that will guide you through understanding your anxiety, knowing where it comes from, and seeing how to best approach it in a unique way that will work for you.

Every one of us is affected by anxiety at some point in our life. You may experience mild anxiety before taking part in a job interview or public speaking session. These types of anxiety shrink when the event is over. However, when the anxiety appears out of nowhere in the absence of any actual threat and interferes with our daily lives, we have to do something about that.

There is nothing to fear in deciding now to face your anxieties. They are a part of you, just like your arms or legs. You can’t remove your legs, neither should you amputate your anxiety. So, take a deep breath, turn the page, and meet your anxieties here and now. Get to know them, appreciate them, and learn from them.

This workbook is meant to be your companion. The more you practice it, the better your life will become dealing with your anxiety. Anxiety is not something that has to run your life instead of you. Anxiety should be something you learn to simply acknowledge as a dinner guest and move on without fear that it will start a food fight. That is why it is important to practice the exercises in this workbook daily. Write down your feelings daily. This is a day to day attack on anxiety in the fight for your freedom from it.

This book will show you:

- What is anxiety

- Importance of Anxiety

- Symptoms of anxiety

- Causes of anxiety

- Physical Exercise and anxiety

- Anxiety Exercises

- How to Create a Successful Exercise Program

- How to Enjoy Exercise

This book is a guide to help you deal with your anxieties in a productive way, and it contains many exercises for doing this; however, if you feel totally overwhelmed, you may want to combine the use of this book with professional counseling sessions. When used together, they will provide you with even more powerful guidance and help as you face and embrace your anxieties.

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Introduction

Anxiety is something that most people fear like the plague. Though it is not a disease to be cured, anxiety does need a remedy to help us manage it when it begins to threaten our sound daily existence. What has been misunderstood about anxiety is that it is not the enemy. It isn’t a mental weakness. Rather, it is a valuable mechanism that alerts us to matters that require our attention. When we ignore the initial signals of discomfort, we ignore the warnings that it has meant to issue us. At times, these warnings may not seem to have any meaning in our lives, but upon closer reflection, we begin to understand that anxiety is a mirror that reflects our own issues that we need to tend to.

This book will show you how to combat anxiety with exercise. You have the power to train your brain to not only make friends with your fear and anxiety but also reprogram your mind to remain in control when anxiety approaches and learn how to deal with it effectively, painlessly, and productively. Anxiety can be a wonderfully useful part of your psyche too. If you let it, it can show you where you need to focus in your life and where you can take action to improve your life. You can use anxiety as a compass for your feelings, but it does not have to dictate where you go. You are the master of your ship.

Everyone gets worried sometimes; we all wonder what tomorrow holds. The fear of the unknown keeps us second-guessing ourselves every day. This is not abnormal; worrying is what makes us human. In every attempt, we make to achieve more goals in life, we usually see and focus on the negativities and this causes us to achieve little or nothing.

This book is aimed at readers who want to create a peaceful mind and unshakable confidence by changing their perception of anxiety. Exercises included in this book will help the readers to go beyond their fearful thoughts so that they can find their own equilibrium and move forward in a much more positive manner.

Remember, anxiety can’t be cured overnight. It takes practice and persistence to become good at managing anxiety. So, stick to your practice and don’t give up. You’ll be surprised by the results!

If you or someone you know is suspected of having an anxiety disorder, know that help is out there. With proper understanding of the condition, one can take the first step towards taming anxiety so that it does not take over your life. There is no need to suffer in silence. You are not alone; we all walk this journey with you.

Chapter 1: Understanding Your Anxiety

What is anxiety

Anxiety is the general term for extreme feelings of nervousness and panic, which worsen overtime. Once the anxious feeling becomes aggravated, irrational, haunting, uncontrollable, and interferes with a person’s daily life, it has developed into an anxiety disorder and requires attention.

Whatever the reason may be, anxiety disorders are not a pleasant experience for either the sufferers or their close ones. Therefore, good knowledge of preventative measures, causes and the symptoms is important in order to keep the disorder in check or avoid it altogether.

Anxiety – that uneasy feeling when your nerves and fears get the better of you, inhibiting your clarity of thought and clouding your rational judgment. It is perfectly normal to feel anxious and distressed when finding yourself out of your comfort zone, such as before a job interview, a medical examination, an important public speaking event, when confronted with something you fear, or any critical situation. In a very real sense, anxiety can be extremely helpful in our lives. It prompts us to prepare for important events, and when necessary warns us to get out of harm’s way by acting on our reflexes and making us take the appropriate action in a fight-or-flight situation.

Anxiety disorders have an adverse effect on almost every aspect of a sufferer’s life and therefore it is crucial that help is sought to manage the condition as well as possible. If left unchecked, other mental and physical health conditions may start to creep up as one’s anxiety worsens. The biggest concern for anxiety sufferers is the development of a more insidious mental illness: clinical depression, which often occurs alongside, or resulting from, anxiety disorders.

Anxiety can let us know when we don’t feel comfortable in a situation or with a certain person. It can alert us to aspects of our psyche that require further development, and in small doses, it improves our mental functioning–allowing us to score better in tests and tasks that require heightened focus.

Symptoms of anxiety

Difficulty Swallowing: During an anxiety or panic attack, a person may notice that they are unable to swallow; they try but nothing is going down, this could make them more anxious.

Dizziness: This creates a false impression that the patient’s environment is spinning and he or she is about to fall, this may either cause them to freeze or scream. In anxiety, it could cause panic but in panic, it will worsen.

Dry Mouth: It is not wrong to assume that the salivary glands stop functioning during an Anxiety or Panic attack. The mouth suddenly becomes dry; this contributes to difficulty swallowing and may lead to choking.

Rapid Breathing and Shortness of Breath: Hyperventilation occurs because of increased heart rate.

Fatigue: After an attack, a person is drained and tired just as it happens with panic attacks. This is why rest is recommended, especially if the anxiety was caused by stress.

Headaches: This doesn’t happen with everyone, but most people experience severe headache before and after an anxiety or panic attack.

Inability to concentrate: The entire focus of the patient is either on how to survive the attack or the cause of the attack, so it becomes difficult to focus on other activities, as important as they may be.

Irritability: This is common with both disorders.

Muscle Aches: It happens because of the stress of the attack.

Muscle Tension: This is due to the fatigue that comes with anxiety or panic attacks.

Nausea: Irritability and fear have a way of creating a feeling of vomiting and for persons who are scared of vomiting, this could worsen their anxiety.

Sweating: When a person is under any form of attack, physical, psychological or emotional, perspiration may occur.

Trembling and Twitching: It is an indication of fear and happens during and after panic or anxiety attacks.

Causes of anxiety

In treating anxiety, understanding the cause is a major step and that is what makes this section important. Anxiety disorder is not necessarily a decision a person makes; no sane person consciously decides to experience it.

Medical causes

Being a medical cause does not necessarily mean that the solutions will involve the prescription of medication. For instance, withdrawal from the drug may treat anxiety caused by drug abuse, and psychotherapy without any medication can help too.

The medical causes include:

- Menopause

- Seizures

- Mental retardation

- Thyroid problems like hyperthyroidism

- Mitral Valve Prolapse

- Prostate cancer

- Diabetes

- Drug misuse

- Heart disease

Chemical imbalance: an imbalance of certain neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has been discovered to be a major cause of anxiety.

Risk factors

Some risk factors are:

- Change : Strange as it may seem, change (albeit positive) can cause anxiety in a person. A new job, home, environment, promotion, or even marriage can cause anxiety in the person experiencing the change.

- Stress induced by illness: Serious health conditions, especially terminal illnesses, can cause significant worry about issues like the unlikelihood of a cure, what the future holds and how the people they leave behind when they die will survive.

- Accumulated Stress: An accumulation of smaller, stressful life situations, for example the death of a family member or loved one, stress from work, or ongoing worries about finances and other life situations may bring about excessive anxiety. It is okay to worry, but it is wrong to make it the order of the day. Excessive worry is one of the causes of anxiety.

- Trauma : People who experienced abuse or trauma during their growing years or any time in their past are more prone to suffer anxiety disorders at some stage in their lives than those who had a happy childhood. For people who suffered trauma, it is important to see a shrink immediately after a traumatic event so that the healing process can begin.

- Genetics : Anxiety disorders could be hereditary such that if a person has a family member who has suffered or is suffering from an anxiety disorder, chances are that they would experience it too. While we cannot choose the families we are born into, we can decide what we make of the unfortunate things we inherit from our progenitors.

- Emotional Stress : Pain or trauma from a failed relationship, crisis in a marriage or long-term disagreement between family members or friends can cause extreme anxiety. “No one is worth the stress” is a popular saying among tough girls. This does not mean that you shouldn’t feel bad when your relationship with others begins to go south, but rather than worry, why not do something to salvage it?

- Drugs or Alcohol Abuse and Addiction: The use of, misuse of or withdrawal from drugs and alcohol can trigger or worsen anxiety in the persons involved. While some alcohol is good for the body, too much of it can cause both anatomical and psychological harm. Some researchers see drug abuse as inherently bad and withdrawal from both is not an easy process.

- Pregnancy : During pregnancy, women usually experience hormonal imbalances that cause mood swings, strange and epileptic appetites and cravings, etc. Pregnant women also worry about things as little as the temperature of the water they drink to big things like being a great mother or having a safe delivery.

Importance of Anxiety

Self-Growth

Anxiety can help you learn about yourself. It can make you more aware of people, places, and situations that make you uncomfortable. We are often in denial about what we feel throughout our day, and if we keep avoiding an inconvenient truth about how we feel, anxiety tends to crop up to draw our attention back to that avoidance.

Motivator

You can use the energy of anxiety to become more motivated. Like the early humans were able to get that extra boost of energy to run away from predators, you can use the energy to increase your mental awareness, physical alertness, and thinking skills. However, if you let anxiety overwhelm you, it will lead to draining your motivation and can trigger depression. That energy has to go somewhere, so it’s better that you channel it constructively.

Safety

Healthy amounts of anxiety keep us alert to potential dangers in life. It is what makes us look before crossing a road, and it helps us to avoid situations that could cause us harm. Being utterly fearless would lead us into situations and places where we will likely be injured and seriously harmed. In this sense, small amounts of anxiety are equivalent to common sense. It helps us realize that something is dangerous before we are hurt. Fosters Empathy

Makes for Good Leaders

Healthy amounts of anxiety can lead to being cautious, considering what happens, and what could happen. This stimulates effective planning and responsible decision making. In excessive amounts, anxiety can make leaders act obsessively and take decisions based on unrealistic fears, though many highly passionate leaders throughout history have displayed the traits of anxiety, which might explain some controversial decisions that they made.

You Are Not Alone

One of the biggest challenges to you if you suffer from anxiety is that you probably believe you are the only one who is dealing with those nagging worries, negative thoughts, cold sweats, sleep deprivation, numbness, nausea, and a whole list of other embarrassing and painful symptoms. You probably feel like a massive failure and a loser. News flash–you are not alone.

Since anxiety is a normal emotion, we all “suffer” from it from time to time. Suffering from anxiety is, however, your choice. You can choose to think of it as the enemy; or you can accept that it is normal, we all have it, and you can learn to control and use it. It may be painful to initially make that mind shift but once you do, it will vastly improve your approach to life, and the way in which you think about your fears.

In knowing yourself, making peace with your feelings, and accepting your needs, as well as meeting them holistically, you can overcome the fear-driven behaviors of anxiety.

Chapter 2: Physical Exercise and anxiety

Remember the physical education that you enjoyed very much at your elementary level of education. How did it feel breaking that monotony of staying in a classroom glued to that board? Moreover, the soccer game and other physical game that you played with your friends. Probably you played until there were drops of sweat. However, one disturbing matter is why you stopped playing such games as you kept growing up. It is sometimes embarrassing to find adults playing the games where people will think they are acting childish. Moreover, others will view exercising as a waste of time. Please if you are in that category, know that you are wrong because physical training is beneficial.

You do not require that big space or pitch to play around. You can even exercise at your own apartment or bedroom. There are also a series of training tutorials that you can use to calm your anxiety. These may include the press-ups, pushups, jogging, skipping, and many others. Playing also enables one to relieve stress.

Vigorous training will improve your health consequently as you get used in the activities. That is where your mental and physical body is coordinated to facilitate proper exercising. Since stress is a psychological condition, this attitude will be reduced through the physical training you have. It is advisable to make it a routine in following up training sessions, and in time, you will make this program a habit. The following are some of the ways where these workouts maintain anxiety revilement.

First, it ensures the release of the endorphins forms the mind. These are 'happy' neurons initiated as the endorphins. Therefore, when you exercise frequently, you feel excited and influenced to perform the task repeatedly. This feeling will nourish that pain you carry, and you feel a sense of relieve. Therefore, it is natural that when you feel excited, you will forget all your troubles.

Physical activity helps one to meditate while in motion. Mediation and mindful thinking will neutralize that disdainful feeling you have. Therefore, when training you will realize you have forgotten about your problems and you have other essential issues to think. Just as like mindful thinking, you can control your breathing rate when running. Remember that controlling and mastering your breath help in releasing some terrible attitudes in mind. Consequently, when you make the activities as a routine, you will feel calm and engaged in productive activities.

These games will help you realize your goals. That means you will discover the talents you have in a particular sports or training activities. Sometimes you feel low of yourself as you presume you do not have any value. You may not realize it, but this feeling may culminate into desperation and stress.

Bodybuilding and physical fitness are some of the virtues of vigorous training. You may be that an obese person who is always distressed. However, you will be happy after releasing the number of pounds you may have a loss. Doing exercises also reduces the shameful case of being diabetic, cancer, and obesity. Therefore, it is upon you set a program of when you want to jog for the betterment of your health.

How Exercise Affects Mood

Exercise has the amazing power to affect moods. It helps improve your mental and emotional condition in the following ways:

Exercise provides relief from stress.

If you had a rough day at home or at the office, one of the most effective ways to get relief from all the accumulated tension is to go for a walk or to head for the gym. Studies show that you reduce both physical and mental stress when you exercise and work up a sweat.

Exercise increases the production of happy hormones.

Working up a sweat help release endorphins, hormones that create a happy buzz and make you feel lighter and happier. These hormones attach to the receptors in your brain that opioid drugs also attach to. They are the cause of “runners high” and are released by the body to help numb pain.

It enhances self-confidence.

Exercise enhances self-esteem; it gives your self-image a boost.

Even if you still have a long way to go to achieve your ideal weight or level of health, the mere act of exercising helps to make you feel strong and capable. It empowers you and elevates your self-worth, particularly when you stick with a workout program and see what you can achieve with dedication and focus.

It improves cognitive function.

Age weakens brain cells and promotes cognitive decline. Exercise helps to strengthen the brain. It helps the brain produce chemicals that support brain function. It strengthens the hippocampus, the part of the brain that facilitates learning and memory. It boosts brainpower and sharpens memory, higher-thinking, and decision-making.

It has a calming effect.

People who exercise often feel relaxed and calm after working out. Exercise releases chemicals that make you feel warm, fuzzy, and tranquil. It helps patients with anxiety disorders feel less restless or nervous. It promotes a calm, quiet, and serene disposition.

It inspires productivity.

People who take a quick jog or go for a short walk often come back from their exercise feeling energetic. They are usually more productive and energetic compared to peers who are more sedentary. If you have a full workload, take a few minutes off for some simple exercise. You are likely to come back recharged and ready to work more efficiently.

It helps you tap into your creative side.

You get your creative juices flowing when you work out. If you need inspiration, take a quick break and go for a run, hit the trails, or do some jumping jacks. You refresh not just the body, but the brain as well.

It improves sleep.

People who exercise find that exercise helps them sleep better. Exercise helps to normalize sleep patterns. Working out in the morning or afternoon predisposes you to sleep better at night and therefore reduces your risk of stress, anxiety, and depression.

It helps fight depression.

As you can see from this list effects, exercise can be a powerful tool when fighting anxiety or depression. Keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive and there is still research being done on all the ways that exercise affects our mood. We don’t understand all the ways that exercise impacts our brains yet, but everything we know from the research is very positive.

Chapter 3: Anxiety Exercises

Taking a Mindful Walk

Anxiety affects our balance. Individuals with severe social anxiety become so worried about how they walk that they may sometimes lose balance and stumble when passing a group of people. Walk disturbance is very common in social anxiety.

Leg weakness or jelly leg is also a common symptom of social anxiety. If you have this anxiety symptom, your legs will feel so weak that you’ll think that you might not be able to walk or stand. You may also feel that your legs or knees are too stiff that they won’t move as you would like them to. If you fear of losing balance or have walk disturbance symptoms, the following exercise is for you. If you don’t experience these types of symptoms, this exercise is still for you. Because mindful walking connects you deeply with your body, it slows you down and helps you to restore balance. While social anxiety makes you immobile, mindful walking counteracts this tendency and channels your anxiety and nervous energy into physical activity.

It is recommended to practice this exercise in a quiet environment. You can consider doing it in your backyard. Choose the place with the least visual distraction. Avoid crowded places or heavy traffic. You will be needed to feel secure.

Before you start this exercise, take a few deep breaths to steady the mind. Stand in a relaxed posture with your feet evenly carrying the weight of your body.

Now start your walk. As you walk mindfully, you will notice a series of nine actions:

In the first stage, you are in the standing position relaxing the body and paying attention to the breath.

As you start your walk, you lift the heel of one foot (let’s say the left foot).

Now the toes of the left foot are in contact with the ground. You become aware of the contact and of the feeling that arises from the contact of the earth. You also notice that when the contact changes, the feeling also changes.

In this stage, you lift the left foot off the ground.

The left foot is moving forward, and you realize that feeling of standing faded away as soon as you lifted the foot off the ground. Likewise, the feeling of lifting the foot is no longer there as you place the left heel on the ground. When the left foot is off the ground, you balance your body on the right foot. As you move the foot, you experience subtle thoughts like — “This is the foot; this is the movement; this is the forward motion; this is the change.” These thoughts appear, stay briefly then pass away. During the movements, at every stage of walking, you experience a new feeling.

Now the forward motion of the left foot stops.

The left foot is lowered.

The left foot is placed on the ground.

And in the final stage, you press the left foot against the ground.

The same cycle of movements, feeling and thoughts occur as you move the right foot.

Breathe normally, feel the movements of your leg-joints as you walk slowly and mindfully. Feel as your calf muscles and hamstrings stretch and contract with every movement. Feel the rhythm from heel to toe.

Feel the gravity and stay in the present moment. Feel relaxed as you walk, accept the feeling as it is. Feel the temperature, the breeze and stay with your walk. Be with the rhythm and continue walking. Walking meditation is not a substitute for a mindfulness meditation exercise. Practice this exercise for ten minutes every day.

It consists of taking conscious walks, while focusing our attention on the sensations of our body, on the Sun, the sound of nature itself, the emotions that all this generates, etc.

Mountain Climbers exercise

How:

Get into pushup position (body parallel to the ground arms straight, back straight.

While keeping your left leg planted and straight, move your right foot straight inward bending at the knee until your thigh is almost perpendicular to the ground and your leg makes a 90 degree angle.

Touch your toe to the ground at this point and return your leg to starting position. Then repeat with the left leg while keeping your right leg planted.

Breathing: This is a continuous exercise so you may find it difficult to coordinate your breathing. Some may find it easier to exhale as they move their leg inward and inhale as they move it back to start position. I prefer to focus on just taking very deep controlled slow breaths throughout.

Best Practices:

Keep your back straight or slightly arched outward.

Try to get your knee as far up as possible touching your toe as far up the floor as you can

Be fast and continuous. This exercise is meant to be vigorous and continuous.

Thunderbolt Pose

Sit on your heels, make sure the soles of your feet have positioned on either side of your anus and your knees and feet must be slightly apart.

Your thighs will rest on your calves with your hands resting on your thighs. Keep your spine and head straight. Look straight or close your eyes. If you are having difficulty sitting like this, you can use a folded blanket to sit on. Breathe normally and focus. This pose can be practiced as a part of your yoga practice or immediately after a heavy meal (lunch and dinner) to accelerate digestion. If you are practicing after a meal, try to stay in this position for at least fifteen minutes and drink a glass of water afterwards.

Body Scan Exercise

This is a widely known home meditation exercise. It is about reviewing the different areas of our body mentally, focusing our attention on the sensations that each one produces.

However, body scan meditation is a bit different because you are not tensing your muscles or trying to change your current state of tension in any way. You’re simply becoming aware of the tension in your muscles.

To practice body scan meditation, try these steps.

Find a place that’s quiet where you can sit, lie down, or even stand. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, as long as it’s quiet and you’re still. You should allow for thirty to forty minutes to perform this meditation.

Close your eyes to allow yourself to focus, but if you can’t, you can always just lower your eyes and half-close your eyelids.

Bring awareness into your body by practicing deep breathing. Notice how your body is making contact with the ground beneath you. If you’re standing, your feet might be touching the floor while you’re wearing shoes, or perhaps you decided to take your shoes off. If you’re sitting, notice how you are sitting and where there are pressure points as you sit. If you’re lying down, notice pressure points along your legs, feet, spine, neck, and head as you lie down. Investigate the different areas of your body as you go through this practice.

When you’re ready, breathing in intentionally and bring your awareness to a part of your body that’s particularly tense. It might be your neck, shoulders, forehead, hands, legs, feet, or your abdomen. Do not try to change how that part of your body feels. Just bring your awareness to it for however long you like.

At some point, you’ll notice your attention wander. This is normal, so don’t be upset with yourself or alarmed. Take note that it’s wandered and bring it back to what you were doing. Keep doing this. You will need to train yourself to pay attention to your body and what you’re doing, but don’t be forceful about it.

At the end of your exploration of your body, spend a few minutes expanding your attention to feel your entire body again.

Open your eyes, if you had them closed, and move mindfully into the present moment.

It is an exercise to connect with the body, to self-observe it without judging it, accepting the information and the sensations that it provides us. Normally, what you do is start with the toes, and continue upwards (up to the head).

Mindful Breathing

It is normal that, if we have never meditated, at first it is difficult for us to control our breathing and concentrate for so long.

So, the first step is to focus on the breath, and try to forget about the rest of the distracting elements of the environment. When thoughts appear in your mind, don't get carried away by them, just let them flow without stopping paying attention to your breathing.

This is one of the best places to start. When you are anxious, your breathing speeds up, and your body goes into distress mode. Using your breath, you can slow everything right down and diffuse anxiety-driven behavior. Initially, you may want to find a quiet place to sit for this, but once you get better at doing the exercise, you will be able to engage in mindful breathing anywhere you are, even in the midst of rush hour on the subway when you are about to go into a complete fear driven meltdown. Try the following:

For a moment, become aware of your body in space. Are you sitting, standing, or lying down? Feel the weight of your body as it rests on your feet, your chair, or on your bed. Close your eyes to cut out the distractions or stressors of the outside world. Focus on the area around your nose and mouth. Draw in a lingering breath through your nose. Feel the sensation of coolness and calmness as the air enters your nostrils and moves past your nasal wings. As the air moves into your lungs feel the expansion of your chest and the sensation of energy that fills you. Become aware of your lungs expanding upwards and outwards.

Pause for a moment and then slowly exhale through your mouth, feeling a warm sensation as the used-up air is expelled in a natural process. Breathing in and breathing out are your body’s natural rhythms and is something that we all share. Slowly repeat this process again, allowing yourself to picture the inhalation process to be accompanied by light and promise, while the exhalation process is accompanied with heat and tension. As you breathe in, you inhale potential and hope, while you breathe out all the tension and worries that have been plaguing you. You inhale joy and contentment, and you exhale stress and inadequacies.

While you are busy inhaling, you can feel your spine lengthen and a sensation of weightlessness settles in your mind, expanding to fill your head. This is followed by your chest forming a compression to push out the old air that you no longer need as well as the worries that you no longer desire. It may be helpful to place your hands on your belly and concentrate on drawing the air right to the very bottom of your belly, allowing your navel to rise upwards and outwards. This shows that you are using your lungs to full capacity, and it is a very relaxing way to breathe. It is how babies breathe when they are very young–from the belly.

As you continue with this mindful drawing in of air and mindful exhaling of air, you may want to accompany this with a slow opening of your eyes with the inhalations and a slow closing of your eyes with the exhalations. When you inhale, you draw in relaxation and calm, which you can feel as a cooling presence that starts with your nose and moves throughout your body. As you exhale, you push out the heat of tension and the concerns that have been causing you to feel isolated and alone. You are not alone, since we all breathe in, and we all breathe out. Breath is life, you are alive, and you are vital as you focus on your inhalations and exhalations.

Once you feel calm and in control of your body and mind, you are ready to continue with your day. You should slowly open your eyes, allow your breathing to become normal, and then rise gently, giving yourself enough time to become readjusted to the world around you. When you feel fully present in the space around you, you may then go about your day.

V-ups:

How:

Lie flat on your back on a mat or on carpeted floor.

Simultaneously raise your upper body and legs stretching your arms in front of you for balance.

Keep your legs and back straight as your body forms a “V” or “U” shape, while you stay balanced on your lower back.

Clench your abs as you curl your body into a “V,” then lower your legs and upper body until you’re flat on your back again.

Repeat for the rest of the set.

Breathing: Exhale as you curl your body up, and inhale as you lower your body back to start position. (You may want to hold your breath at the height of the exercise while you’re clenching your abs).

Best Practice:

Stretch your arms out straight in front of you to help with balance (reach for your feet)

Writing Exercise

Anxiety begins in the mind, but its effects manifest throughout our bodies. If we could stop the process before our hearts start racing, and our palms become sweaty, we would be able to truly control our anxieties and use them for what they were intended–to make us aware of a situation, person, or place that needs our attention. In psychological therapies, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often used to do just this. It helps you to know what you are thinking, evaluate that thinking in terms of its helpfulness, and make an informed and realistic decision before your emotions run amok.

CBT is about changing the way we think, especially with our repetitive thoughts. Anxiety sufferers will often think things like “I am a failure” or “I have made another enemy” and “What’s the point of trying? I’ll just mess up again.” These thought statements are powerful and often flawed. With dedicated writing practices, you can reprogram your brain to nullify such negative and anxiety driven mental statements. You can replace negative or unhelpful thoughts with positive and life-changing ones.

In essence, we should be mindful of our thoughts, since we are always listening to them. You wouldn’t spend time with someone who constantly tells you what a failure, loser, and disappointment you are, would you? So, why allow your inner dialogue to tell you the same?

In writing about our thoughts, we can become aware of fallacious beliefs that have been adding to our anxieties and fuel our depressive states of mind.

Most of us have kept a diary at one stage or another as a child or adolescent, but we should invest in keeping a journal. It is a written record of our thoughts, a way to quantify the intangible ways that we feel. With our anxieties, it is like we are suffering a serious wound, but have no mark of it on our bodies. Journaling makes the wounds visible. It allows us to see where the problems lie.

Emotional Meditation

Yes, your mind and your emotions could actually work together. Some call this the act of rewiring one’s brain. Just imagine how life would be like if you actually get to control your emotions, and not succumb to them, simply by allowing yourself to get lost in them for a moment and then moving on.

Studies show that the emotional circuits of one’s brain are actually connected to the brain’s thinking circuits. In fact, cognition is also considered to have a lot to do with emotions—and that is why you definitely are stronger than you think.

The thing is, people have often been told that the mind and the heart are two different things, and that the mind controls the emotions. What people fail to realize is that the mind, especially the hypothalamus, is actually responsible for dealing with emotions!

The Aspect of Emotional Meditation

Basically, what you’re about to achieve with emotional meditation are as follows:

You get to recognize the emotions that you are feeling, and you also get to name them in your mind. For example, after watching a really heartbreaking movie, you start crying. This emotion could be called sadness. Or, when you see a friend you have not seen in so long and you feel like your heart is bursting with happiness, well, you feel joy.

You get to accept your emotions, but you do not let them take over your life. See, the problem with some people is that they do not like recognizing emotions. When they’re heartbroken, they go out, drink, party—without actually accepting the fact that they’re sad and heartbroken, and thus, the healing process takes a long time. When you accept your emotions, you’ll notice how easier life will be!

You get to become curious about your experiences, and so in turn, you get to investigate them, while feeling different sensations within you.

Non-Identification. Finally, you get to realize that no matter how painful or absurd an emotion is, it will pass. Everything is constant in this world, after all.

Meanwhile, here’s what you can do to practice emotional meditation:

Upon being aware of an emotion, stop, and feel it for a while. Let it consume you for a while. For example, if you’re frustrated because you feel like your hard work is not paying off, allow yourself to feel that pain. Allow yourself to be frustrated, or to get angry even. Do not inhibit your feelings or suppress them—things will get worse that way.

Next, identify the emotions that you feel. If you are heartbroken, feel it. Say you have been hurt badly, and that you hate what you’re feeling. Again, it’s always better to recognize the emotion rather than be numb or pretend that it is not happening.

Open yourself up to what you’re feeling. Don’t even think about what led you there anymore, or why things happened. Life is always that way, you know. You never really get to understand why things happen. For example, if a relationship failed, it’s not because you have not done enough. Things just happen. Period. Focus on what you feel and don’t try to dumb it down—so that someday, you can move on.

Realize that emotions are temporary. As you’re feeling what you’re feeling, remind yourself that it will pass, but while it’s there, ask yourself how you can help yourself get through it. Sadness could be channeled into poems or novels. Maybe, you could write your feelings out to exorcise them. It’s all a matter of introspection, you see.

Finally, when you are calm enough, and when you see that your emotions are real, you could investigate and see why they happened, or why you still feel them. If you are still in pain about losing someone form 3 years back, maybe, you still have not fully moved on. When you get to understand this, you also begin to know what to do to help yourself get out of that rut. Maybe, you need a new set of friends? A change of scenery? If you are still mad at the person who broke your heart, are you still going to confront him? Or would you rather just cut off all ties with him, and move on? It’s now the time for you to choose the appropriate response for this.

Be open to what happens next. Remember that your emotions do not have to define you—you can always move on from them, and now is the time to do so.

Emotional Meditation is one of the most important parts of this process. Once you begin to understand your emotions, it would be so much easier for you to understand yourself, get to know who you are, and be able to live in peace. In short, you have to come to terms with the emotions that you feel because only then would you be able to live life well!

Looking Up Exercise

This is a wonderful exercise in regaining some perspective and dissociating yourself from your concerns. It is remarkably easy to do and becomes a form of visual meditation. For the best results, choose something naturally impressive to focus on such as trees, the mountains, the ocean, or the stars.

When you feel panic start to tighten your throat and restrict your breathing, look up. Allow your eyes to settle on trees, the ocean, or the mountains. Focus on their movement; the trees sway gently in the breeze, while the ocean has the ebb and flow of the waves. The mountains do not move but feel their permanence despite the clouds racing above them or birds and planes flying over them. Allow your body to gently copy the motions that you see. Sway to the trees’ movement, or gently rock yourself to the ocean’s wave crests. Settle your weight with a permanence according to the mountains’ force. These things, the trees, mountains, and ocean have all weathered storms and faced the troubles of time, yet they still remain. Be soothed by their resolute existence and know that you are also a mighty tree, a vast ocean, or a firm mountain. Know that whatever comes your way, you will be here after it has passed. Once you feel grounded, you can allow your eyes to gradually drift back to the world around you. Take a deep breath and become present in this moment before continuing on with your day.

Finally, you could also improve your awareness of your reality and body in taking up other mindfulness practices such as yoga, tai chi, chanting, drumming, and guided introspection or hypnosis. Anxiety is often exaggerated due to our inability to fully and realistically grasp our realities, which is why mindfulness works since it strips away what isn’t there and focuses you on what is there in this moment. Your demonized boss might be a firm leader, but your own inequities have villainized him or her. While you may fear going on the subway because of a past trauma, you can be assured that you are prepared to face any challenges, and you need not fear this present moment that you wait on the platform for your train. Hence, by becoming mindful and real about what is actually happening around you and breaking things down to the smallest steps, you will begin to gain control, and avoid overreacting.

Chest Squeeze Rotation Exercise

How to:

Stand up straight with feet shoulder width apart.

Take a heavy book (such as a dictionary) and hold it like a pancake with your hands spread and flat gripping the front and back cover. (your palms should be facing each other almost as if you’re praying with a book between your hands).

Hold it out in front of you and start to rotate the book in a circle keeping a tight grip and pushing your hands as hard together as possible squeezing your chest muscles.

Rotate in circles (about the extent of comfortable arm’s reach) for the duration of the set. (the circle should be outward, circling away from your body).

Breathing: Take slow, measured breaths throughout.

Best Practices: Really focus on squeezing your palms together as tightly as you can (almost as if you’re trying to push through the book) and drive the force from your chest muscles. Squeeze your pecs together and hold.

For Added Emphasis: Perform a set clockwise, and then immediately perform one counterclockwise without resting between them.

Child Pose

Sit on your ankles and bend your torso from your waist. Straighten your hands and rest your forehead on the ground. Touch the floor with your palms slightly apart in a resting position; it is alright if your elbows touch the ground. You can also place your hands by your side with palms facing upward: choose either of the hand positions. Breathe in and out in this posture for at least 30 seconds.

Child Pose is supposed to be a very relaxing posture, although some of you may find it a little difficult in the beginning. It is important to pay attention while doing this posture. Don’t let your mind drift away; you can focus on your breathing.

Child Pose calms the mind and releases anxiety, and anger; it alleviates anxiety. This pose also relieves the practitioner from fatigue and dizziness. It also relieves back pain.

Look Out the Window Exercise

When you look out the window and observe what you see outside, you are using your visual system to bring your attention to the present moment, thereby using the tool of present-moment awareness. In the short term, this will shift your attention away from stress-related thoughts or worries, which activate the stress response. The more often you engage in bringing your attention to the present moment, the less overactive your stress response becomes and the more quickly your body will return to a state of equilibrium after encountering a stressor.

Here are the steps to follow:

- Sit in a comfortable position beside a window with a view and set a timer for five minutes.

- Try to invoke a sense of childlike wonder as you gaze out the window and simply watch the goings-on.

- What do you notice? What colors and textures do you observe? Is anything moving?

- As you continue to watch, do you notice anything you didn’t see at first glance?

- When the timer chimes, check back in with your mind and body to see if you are feeling an increased sense of calm.

Touch Meditation

Touch objects not only with your hands, but also with other parts of the body, such as your feet, your knees, your lips, your ears, your nose, etc. Then, see how you feel as each part of your body touches various objects.

Touch skin on various parts of your body and see how your body reacts with each touch. Tickle, scratch (lightly), rub, and do other things on your skin, and notice texture, vitality, oiliness, or how there is hair or not.

Touch objects with various kinds of temperatures. For example, cold water, a popsicle, a hot mug, etc. See how you’d react to each of them.

Touch furniture and other objects in the house and lose yourself in how each of them feels.

While doing household chores, try to focus on how you feel. For example, how does water and soap feel on your hands while washing the dishes? How much do you like aligning frames, or using wallpaper?

Collect various kinds of objects and fabric. (i.e., fur, nylon, velvet, plastic, steel, etc.) Feel how each texture feels and see how you’d react to them. What do you like best? What makes you feel queasy? What makes you feel great?

Let your fingers “explore” the various items you have at home and see how you’d feel about that.

Pullups

How:

Grasp the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and arm completely extended.

Now pull up towards the bar turning your hands and pull steadily until your chin touches the bar.

Keep in this position for 1 or 2 seconds and then slowly lower yourself back down until your arms are extended again.

Now go back to the starting position and do the above process again.

Breathing:

Exhale as you start to perform pull-up

Inhale while you are coming down

Best practice:

Try to pull with your chest and back muscles and don’t use momentum to swing your body up and down

If the bar is too low so that your feet are touching the ground, touch your feet behind you so that you’re not using your feet or legs for support.

Laugh Exercise

Laughter has been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, improve the function of the immune system, and release endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers, which are sometimes called “feel-good” hormones). Of course, what each of us considers funny and what makes us laugh is going to be different.

Whether it is watching stand-up comedy or talking with that friend who always cracks you up, with a few tries you should be able to induce some laughs.

- Set aside five minutes for some laugh therapy. Even if you don’t laugh out loud at first, try to get yourself to smile. You know your sense of humor best, but here are a few ideas to get you started:

Call an old friend and reminisce about something funny that happened.

- Watch a stand-up comedy clip from your favorite comedian.

- Replay a funny scene from your favorite sitcom or comedy.

- Look up “jokes” and “funny memes” on the internet and read a few.

- Watch silly animal videos.

- Once you find something that gets you laughing, keep it on hand for the future and try to find similar sources of humor that you can turn to during high-stress times.

Air Punches

How:

Stand up straight with feet shoulder-width apart

Move your right foot forward slightly and keep your knees slightly bent.

Maintain your position, hands up close to the top of your torso.

Start to punch your right hand forward, your elbows locked, arms straight and slightly turn your shoulder towards the opposite side. If you’re punching with your right arm, punch slightly towards the left.

The target of your punch should be straight ahead of you at shoulder height.

Pull your right arm back and repeat with your left arm.

Breathing:

Exhale as you push your hand out

Best Practices:

Air punches improve stamina and help you in losing weight.

Distribute your weight properly, balancing your body throughout the workout and keep your abs flexed.

Try:

Do at least 3 sets of 50 repetitions and keep movements swift & smooth but vigorous

Diaphragmatic Breathing

During anxiety, we unconsciously breathe in a very shallow, disordered pattern and often hold the breath even without realizing it. Diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing normalizes your breathing pattern by re-educating the brain’s breathing center and balancing the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the body. It also harmonizes your thoughts and emotions and brings a sense of inner stillness.

To practice diaphragmatic breathing, sit or lie down comfortably. Place your right hand below your belly button and left hand a couple of inches below your collar bone. If you are in a lying position, lie comfortably on your back. Use a flat and firm surface. You can place a pillow underneath your knees to feel more comfortable.

Now, close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose. Make sure your upper chest does not move as you breathe. Take the air inside your belly, and let your abdomen stretch and contract with every in-breath and out-breath. Ensure that you notice the difference between abdominal breathing and chest breathing. Inhale with your mouth closed. As you inhale, be aware as the air enters your nose.

As you exhale, do it slowly through your mouth. Exhale through pursed lips and tighten your stomach muscle as you do so. Again, breathe in through the nose and breathe out through the mouth.

Do it at least five times and when you are ready to stop, make sure to feel your entire abdominal area and be aware of any sensation of comfort or energy. Take time to allow this sensation to spread into all the cells of your belly.

Tree Pose

Stand firm on the ground with feet slightly apart. Bend your right knee and rest your right heel against the left inner thigh. Breathe in and lift your hand from your sides with palms facing each other.

Squeeze your palms together and breathe normally. Breathe 10-15 times, and then gently lower right leg and hands. Repeat on the other side. If you are having difficulty balancing your body while putting your weight on one leg, you can practice it close to the wall in the beginning. If you are comfortable with this posture, you can improvise a little by bending to the right and left a few times.

Tree pose increases the sense of balance, confidence, and control, which can be very helpful in reducing anxiety.

Visualization Exercise

Many of the above techniques in mindfulness combine really well with visualization techniques. This is about more than just dreaming that you are feeling better or hoping for a release from tension. Instead, you see yourself as being better, as being less stressed and free from doubts. The body has a natural inclination to maintain balance. If you lean too far forward, you will almost automatically take a step to stop from falling. The need is to create balance or equilibrium. Hence, if you visualize yourself living a life free from tension, panic, and any other symptoms of anxiety, then your mind will try to take the “steps” to match what you are visualizing.

You could combine breathing exercises with imagery such as seeing a deep golden light fill you with every indrawn breath and seeing a dull grey light leave your body when you exhale. When your body rises during inhalation, you could see yourself surrounded by a shiny halo of light, and when you gently soften downwards as you exhale, you could see yourself dim to a soft glow.

Your visualizations could also start to contain future visions, where you see yourself as being content, confident, well-spoken, and at ease in any situation. You could also practice situations that challenge you in your visualizations such as when meeting new people. In your mind, you could plan what you would say, how you would behave, and know what you would feel. When you believe these visualizations firmly enough, you have the power to make your mind believe them as if they have already happened, thereby increasing the likelihood that you will succeed where you had previously struggled.

The Cat-Cow Pose

Sit in Vajrasana. With your knees and toes touching the ground, bring your thighs in a position perpendicular to the floor and place your palms on the floor.

Knees apart and fingers spread, so your hands and thighs are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the floor, in a ‘table-top’ position. Breathe in, lift your chin and stretch your belly towards the floor. Chest up, gaze at the ceiling and keep breathing in. This is the Cow Pose (Bitilasana).

Now breathe out, lower your head and stretch your torso round-up towards the ceiling, so that it looks like a cat stretching out. Keep exhaling. This is the Cat Pose (Marjaryasana).

Again, breathe in and lower your belly (Cow Pose), breathe out and round-up your torso (Cat Pose).

Practice these two poses back and forth for a few more times.

The Cat-Cow Pose is a good warm-up exercise; therefore, you can add this posture to your warm-up session.

The Cow-cat pose is a posture for beginners and a perfect preparatory exercise before strenuous yoga postures. Apart from reducing anxiety, this exercise has other benefits including firming the back, chest, and belly, increasing the flexibility of the spine and maintaining overall physical and mental wellbeing. The benefits of the Cat-Cow Pose will be visible in a few days of practice.

Reading Exercise

In our digitized world, it is not uncommon to suddenly realize that you seldom read more than a blog post here and there while scrolling through social media. Sometimes part of the problem is that when we think about reading, we imagine cozying up with a book in our favorite chair for a few hours or leisurely reading a magazine on the beach. As wonderful and inherently stress-relieving as these scenarios sound, they probably don’t happen very often in our busy lives.

However, you can still benefit from even brief spurts of reading for pleasure. Because reading is mentally stimulating, it is associated with improved memory and concentration. Regular mental stimulation is also linked with a reduced rate of dementia. Reading for pleasure is also associated with reduced stress levels and increased feelings of calm because it can distract you from your worries and keep you engaged in the present moment.

Beforehand, choose something that you will read for pleasure. It could be a blog post, a magazine article, or a few pages of a book. Have it handy for your next five-minute break. When you need to calm yourself, pick up your reading material, set a timer for five minutes, and then enjoy losing yourself in the words until your chime goes off.

Objective observation exercise

It is about sitting with your shoulders and arms relaxed and letting the thoughts flow, in silence.

At first it will be normal to have a multitude of thoughts; we must focus on observing them, without intervening, without re-creating ourselves in them, without judging them. We will be spectators of them, and we must work so that, little by little, they pass, and we do not go with them.

A trick that can help you become more aware of your thoughts without judging them, is this: imagine that your mind is a river that is flowing, and that each thought is a trunk; you must visualize how the logs are passing, without getting on any of them or trying to stop them.

Corpse Pose

Traditionally, this pose is practiced at the end, but you can also practice it in the beginning to calm your mind. Here are the steps you have to follow:

Lie comfortably on your back with your hands by your side slightly outstretched, palms facing the ceiling and legs apart. Close your eyes. Take a slow, deep breath and exhale slowly, spend more time on breathing out. Do it a couple more rounds.

Now breathe naturally and let your body sink into the floor. Focus your attention from head to toe. Let your head relax with every in-breath. Imagine all your tension is leaving the body during exhalation. Focus on your neck, your chest, your back, your hand, your belly your hips your thighs, knees, sheens, calves, ankles and feet; spend five seconds on each part and breathe normally. Relax your body with each breath; pay attention to your breath. Stay in this position for ten minutes.

Savasana releases stress and anxiety, improves focus, stills the mind, normalizes cardiovascular activities and most importantly, it gives you proper rest.

Rhythmic Breathing

Also known as relaxing breathing, this is a technique where you breathe in for four seconds, hold the breath for seven seconds, and then exhale slowly over an eight seconds time span. The structure and the rhythm of this breathing pattern has the ability to unlock you from fixating on your worries or anxieties. It is particularly potent when used before going to bed as it improves your natural sleep patterns or circadian rhythms. The technique is fairly simple once you learn to stretch out the inhalations and exhalations. Start by sitting calmly and with a straight back to allow for maximum air capacity.

Next, breathe out until the lungs are empty, then breathe quietly through the nose, allowing yourself to experience the cooling sensation of the indrawn breath. Hold that breath and full sensation of your lungs having been filled to capacity for seven seconds. Then purposefully exhale and breathe the air out of your lungs by pursing your lips and blowing out the breath with a loud whooshing sound. You can repeat this until you feel settled and content in the moment. Natural drowsiness may be a result of this rhythmic breathing, especially if you repeat it regularly and at the same time every night. This is an excellent way to combat the sleep deprivation that is a known symptom of anxiety, and when you sleep better and feel rested, you will be less likely to overreact or feel overwhelmed during the day.

Plank Raised leg Exercise

How:

This is a variation of the regular plank (see the page on the plank exercise earlier in this section).

Instead of planting your feet on the ground, elevate them on a low chair or stool so that your body forms a straight line parallel to the ground. You will still be propped up on your elbows.

Tighten your core and flex your abs as you hold the position for the duration of the set.

Breathing: This is a continuous burn, so take measured consistent breaths throughout the exercise.

Best Practices: Try to keep your back as straight as possible (even arch it out slightly if necessary, to avoid drooping.

For Added Emphasis: Elevate your feet on a higher stool or chair so your body is slanting downward (your feet are higher than the rest of your body). This is basically a decline plank and will be more difficult.

Imaginal exposure Exercise

Imaginal exposure is aimed to reduce your fear of thoughts and images and prepare you to face your fears with confidence. Imaginal exposure will make you better prepared for the real exposure.

To practice imaginal exposure, sit comfortably and allow yourself to calm down. Now vividly imagine yourself in your target exposure situation. For example, if your target situation is a public speaking event, imagine yourself giving a speech in front of the audience. Make it an event of glory in your mind. Imagine vividly—look at the audience, make eye contact. Imagine that you’re speaking spontaneously, eloquently. Visualize yourself as an active participant, rather than a passive observer. Notice all the sights, smells, sensations and sound around you. Spend five minutes visualizing yourself being a center of attention. Imagine people are eager to listen to what you have to say. Imagine that people are getting inspired by your words. Imagine that your behavioral goal is achieved, and you are enjoying it.

Don’t try hard. If you can’t bring the image, don’t worry. Bring the feeling; the image will follow. Don’t over-practice; twenty to thirty minutes should be enough.

To get the most out of your imaginal exposure, practice it right before you enter the actual situation. If practiced correctly, imaginal exposure should produce many of the same feelings that are generated during the real exposure, although the intensity of these feelings would be lower. You can skip the imaginal exposure session if your target situation is mildly anxiety-producing and you are confident enough to face it unprepared.

Mindfulness Exercise to Stay in the Present Moment

Anxiety thrives by focusing on the future and the past. If you learn to anchor yourself to the present moment, the anxiety will disappear into nothingness. The best way to do that is to practice mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness will generate a sense of acceptance. When you truly become mindful of your thoughts, feelings, and sensations, you’ll embrace them without judgment and criticism.

This will diminish the power of your anxiety. The mindfulness meditation involves focusing on one or a combination of the following:

- Your breath

- Your senses

- Your thoughts or emotions

- Something that is most predominant in your awareness.

Find a quiet place. If the environment is not perfectly quiet, that’s fine. You can use noise and distraction as a tool for your meditation.

Now sit on a chair with your spine erect (not stiff) and chin up. Make sure to keep your legs uncrossed with your feet touching the floor.

It is good to meditate in the same place at the same time every day.

Touch joy and happiness while practicing mindfulness. To do this, meditate with a little smile on your face.

Now close your eyes and take a few moments to gather your attention by simply being fully present with your breath as it enters and leaves your body.

Focus on your nostrils where you feel the flow of the breath. Notice as you breathe in through your nostrils, you feel cool. As you breathe out, you feel warm. Stay with the feeling of coolness and warmth and at the same time, rest your attention on your breath.

The process of breathing should be effortless. Pay your attention to this spontaneous movement of your breathing cycle. Escort your awareness to the place in your body where you clearly experience the process of breathing. For example, you can direct your focus to your belly or chest and notice the expansion and contraction with inhalation and exhalation.

Thoughts will inevitably appear. Every time you feel lost in thoughts, remind yourself to reconnect with the natural rhythm—and gently drift back.

Breathe effortlessly and stay present throughout the whole sequence of inhaling, exhaling and pausing between breaths.

The process of paying attention should also be effortless. Your attention should not affect the natural pace of your breathing.

So, relax into each breath as you focus. Sustain your attention throughout the entire breath-cycle—one breath at a time.

Become aware of the sensation when each breath arises until the next breath begins. In this meditation practice, your breath is the anchor for your attention. Therefore, every time your mind moves away, escort it back to your breath.

Sometimes you’ll find the rhythm of breathing changing. The breath will be long, sometimes short, and sometimes shallow. Be aware of the change and allow it to be the way it is.

Now shift your awareness from breath to sounds as they spontaneously call your attention to them and away from your breath.

Be conscious of the sounds inside or outside the room. It could be the sound of a clock’s ticking or birds’ twittering or distant traffic—whatever it is, focus on the sound without bothering about the source.

There is space between sounds. Space is silence. Be conscious of the silence.

Expand your awareness to become present with the subtle sounds as they arise from all directions. Allow the sound to arise spontaneously in your consciousness.

There is no need to think about the source or cause of the sound, let the sounds be known spontaneously.

If you find yourself thinking about the sounds, gently shift your attention to their sensory characteristics such as loudness, pitch, and frequency.

Become aware of your reaction as a sound enters into your consciousness. Notice if the mind terms the sound as pleasant or unpleasant. You don’t need to change or resist anything. You only have to observe.

If you find a thought moving your attention from the sound to something else, identify the thought and move your attention back to the sounds as they rise and fall from one moment to the next.

Soon the sound will no longer hold your attention. When it happens, direct your focus on your bodily sensations. If boredom creeps in, return to the anchor—your breath.

Become conscious of the sensations you’re experiencing right now in your entire body. Move your focus to the quality of the sensation.

Is it a feeling of tension or numbness? Whatever it is, be present with that sensation.

Changes may occur from the moment you rest your attention on bodily sensations. Take note of the changes. Is there any clinging or avoiding tendency? See how accurately you can recognize each sensation as it enters into your awareness.

There is no need to judge the sensations. Just observe as they rise, peak, and fall.

Notice if the process of paying attention augments the sensation or weaken it or make it shrink.

Don’t make any effort to change the way you feel. The goal is not to change anything. Awareness is the goal. Sensations are short-lived. They will inevitably fade.

The sensations that arise during panic attacks are also temporary— they disappear as soon as you accept them.

Now expand your awareness to include emotion. Emotions will definitely arise in your consciousness.

As an emotion surfaces into your awareness, identify the emotion and accept it nonjudgmentally. Just stay in a receptive mood as you become aware of your emotional state. Allow yourself to be completely present with the emotion.

Your mind will perceive the emotion as pleasant or unpleasant or neutral. It will tend to cling to a pleasant emotion and push away the negative one. Whatever emotion you experience, simply let it remain in your awareness without pursuing it.

However, some emotions can be a bit tricky to navigate.

If an intense emotion enters your mind, open to a mindful inquiry, reflecting on the nature of the emotion itself, without becoming involved in the story.

Now label the emotions. For example, if you feel bored, label it “boredom;” if you feel irritated, you can label it “anger.” Allow yourself to fully experience the emotion. Contain the emotion.

When you learn to become mindful of the emotion, it changes your relationship with negative emotions. That’s why emotion-awareness is the most important part of your mindfulness practice.

If you can become mindful of anxious feelings, you no longer have to resist it. You’ll only accept it with a non-reactive awareness.

The final part of the meditation is “choiceless awareness.” Be conscious of everything that arises in the background of your awareness. Whether it is sound, thoughts, images, sensation or emotion. Let them remain there, focusing primarily on the flow of your breathing.

Notice what predominates the background of your awareness. If it’s a sound, make it a focus of your attention. If a thought, image or sensation predominates the background, make it your object of focus and expand your field of awareness to include the entire range of experience—breath, sounds, thoughts, images, sensations, and emotions.

Now it is time to end your meditation. Slowly open your eyes.

Gently move your upper body. Stretch your hands and legs. Then stand up.

Seated Arm Stretch Exercise

How:

Sit with your legs crossed, back straight

Stretch both of your arms up towards the sky as high as you can reach and lock your fingers together (as pictured).

Continue reaching as high as possible stretching the muscles in your arm

Hold

Try: 45 seconds, do this 1-2 times

Primary Muscle: Triceps, Biceps, Full Arm, Shoulders

Cardio Exercise

Here are 10 cardio exercises that will help you combat anxiety:

Turn on your favorite playlist. Do jumping jacks for the first song, then take a break for the next song. Repeat for ten songs or until you can’t do anymore. Wear some running shoes so you don’t slip and kill yourself. Bringing someone back from the dead is beyond the scope of this book.

Turn on some music. Jump on the spot and kick your feet back one at a time so they touch your butt. Do this for one full song then take a break for the next song. Go on and off for the next six songs. Unless you’re a professional athlete you’ll probably be out of breath by the end of the first song.

Pretend you’re a froggy for a song. Stand up straight and jump then touch the ground in a squat and bounce right back up. Continue for the song and take a rest break the next song. Go on and off for six minutes or until you’re almost a frog prince.

Find you childhood jump rope. Jump rope for a full song, then take a break for the next. Continue until you reach ten songs. You’ll be gasping for air much more than when you jump roped as a kid. Use an invisible jumping rope if you can’t find yours. People might think you’re crazy, but that’s only because they can’t hear the voices in your head.

Do high knees for one minute, then rest for a minute. Kick your knees up to your elbows while standing on the spot. This will add an added crunch to your abdomen as well. Working out the core is important. It’s so important it got its own section.

Burpees. Very effective at creating beach bodies, but tough and everyone hates them. Jump straight up with your hands high. Drop down to a crouch, then shoot your legs out to a plank position. Then, bring them back in and jump straight up again. Do ten reps four times.

Do a beep test in your own home. Find the audio online and run back and forth between two walls, or in your backyard, until the second beep. Warning, this may give you heavy flashbacks to high school. Make it harder by juggling soup cans. Or maybe balancing a book on your head.

Jump squats. Squat deeply, then spring up and reach for the ceiling. Go right back into the squat. Go for one minute on one minute off until you can’t even anymore.

If you can’t do jump squats without dying, practice with lunges.

Pretend you’re going down the slopes. Do some skier jumps to bring the mountain to you living room. Jump side to side with your feet together, moving your bent arms backwards at each landing as if you’re skiing. Jump one minute on, one minute off, for ten minutes.

Go back and forth with a side lunge stretch. Bend your left knee and stretch out your right leg, while moving your right arm over your head. Then, do the opposite on the right side. Do one minute on one minute off for fifteen minutes.

Handstand wall pushups Exercise

How:

Keep your back to the wall bend at the waist.

Place your hands in the handstand position on the ground and shoulder-width apart.

Keep your arms & legs extended and balance your body.

Kick yourself up against the wall and rest your feet on the wall.

Keep your arms & legs fully straightened and lower your body until your head approaches the ground.

Maintain your balance with the help of the wall and & push-up until arms fully extended again.

Breathing:

Inhale when you lower yourself for pushups.

Exhale as you push yourself back to the next push-up.

Best practices:

It is important to maintain your balance and slowly come down, which is necessary to avoid the risk of injury.

If you are a beginner, don't do this exercise without any help.

Select the right distance to the wall and make sure the floor is not slippery.

Countdown exercise

Another recommended exercise is the "countdown"; its objective is to improve concentration, inhibiting distracting stimuli. The exercise consists of placing ourselves in a relaxed position, with our eyes closed, and start counting backwards little by little.

It can be done whispering or mentally. We can start from high numbers (for example hundred) and go back to zero.

Simple Meditation Exercise

Step 1: find the perfect place. Meditation, like all other types of meditation, must be done in a quiet place. First, find a quiet place. The meditation process must take between 10 minutes and 1 hour. Depending on the length of your session, make sure your quiet location stays calm for a long time. You do not want intruders to enter when you are at your meditation center.

Step 2: gather all the basics. During meditation, you need a few basic things. For mindfulness meditation, the only important consideration is the meditation mat or chair. If you choose a chair, make sure your back is straight.

Step 3: Position yourself. When you are ready to begin your meditation, position yourself accordingly. Attention is needed when practitioners sit upright. You can sit on the bed with your legs and arms crossed or sit upright in a chair. Make sure you are comfortable and can breathe freely.

Step 4: Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Now focus on your breathing with your eyes closed. Feel the airflow in and out without trying to control it. Let your mind focus on your breath only until you gain full concentration. It takes around 5 minutes to concentrate on your mind. If you find that your mind is still wandering, try refocusing your mind. It takes more than 5 minutes for beginners to focus their minds.

Step 5: Focus on a specific part of the body. Once you have mastered the art of meditation and focused on your breath, you must be ready to take your attention to the next level. Don't try to reach this level until you are sure that you can meditate by focusing on your breath. During the first few days, you have to focus on your breath. Concentrate on other parts of your body as you develop. At an advanced level, you can focus on your body shape. Visualize your body shape, your weight, and the overall harmony of your body in your head. This way you can know what you like and what you don't like in your body. You can also focus on your mind. Meditation allows you to see your deepest desires. You can see your thoughts, what you think about life and what you think about love. All of these aspects help you understand who you are and why you make the decisions that you make in everyday life, why mindfulness meditation is important for anxious and panicked patients.

Listen to the Sounds Around You

Like other mindfulness practices, simply listening to the sounds around you can calm the stress response when it’s been activated and induce a sense of calm in your mind and body. If mindfulness practices feel banal to you, remind yourself of the immense benefits for both your mind and body of learning how to shift your attention to the present moment. As mentioned, mindfulness has been linked to a less reactive stress response, lower blood pressure, and quicker stress recovery. However, like strengthening a muscle, mindfulness skills become stronger when exercised. Start small by simply noticing the sounds around you and then return to what you were doing. As long as you continue to try to shift your attention back to the present, as time passes you will begin to feel less antsy and more fully engaged with the experience.

Here are the steps to follow:

- Wherever you are, pause and actively listen to the sounds around you.

- If you feel comfortable and are able to do so, close your eyes to more fully attend to your sense of sound.

- If you are outside or in a crowded place, listen for the many layers of sound. Even if you are in a quiet place, you will eventually hear some sound—perhaps a ticking clock, the hum of electricity, or the distant motor of a car.

- Stay with this practice for a fleeting moment or for the full five minutes.

Chapter 4: How to Create a Successful Exercise Program

It is essential for you to do the cardiovascular training. This includes physical activity that makes your heart beat faster. Conversely, if you don't do cardiovascular exercise, there is a higher risk of panic attacks. There is even a greater risk that a heart that doesn't exercise can be easily closed during a panic attack. You need to exercise every day to control your blood flow and heart activity.

You can’t expect an exercise program to bring you immediate results. If you have an “I want it now!” attitude about your exercise-related goals, you are bound to be disappointed. You achieve the benefits of exercise only by putting in the time, commitment, and sustained effort.

Pitfalls to Avoid

Why do many exercise programs fail? If you want your exercise program to succeed, avoid these common pitfalls:

Having unrealistic goals

This is a common mistake. Many people undertake an exercise routine and expect to see incredible changes in a matter of days.

Make exercise a regular part of your lifestyle. It is difficult to reap the rewards of exercise if you make do with sporadic or intermittent exercise.

Not breaking down a big goal into smaller, doable short-term goals

Don’t set abstract long-term goals. You will just feel overwhelmed. Break a goal into several doable, measurable goals. They will be easier to achieve. It is also easier to check your progress if you have smaller goals.

Nurturing negativity

Don’t underestimate the power of the mind. If you want your exercise program to be successful, think positive thoughts. Negative thinking will make success difficult to achieve. Maintain an optimistic and resolute outlook, and you have a greater chance of achieving your goals. I am a big fan of finding motivational videos online and watching them when I just don’t have it in me to workout. Hearing motivational speeches from others can really help get you going when you would rather not.

Being inconsistent

Things you do outside your program can quickly negate the advantages you gain by exercising.

If you want to enjoy the full benefits of exercise, take a multi-pronged approach. Exercise, eat healthily, reduce or eliminate smoking, drink moderately, and maintain a positive outlook - and you have better chances at reducing stress and improving health.

Making exercise a last priority

Some people exercise only when they find themselves with time to spare. You’ll find it difficult to make exercise a lifestyle habit if you don’t make it a regular part of your schedule. Make exercise a priority. Give it more importance than watching your favorite TV show.

If you have a really tight schedule, split your exercise routine into smaller sessions. Increase the intensity to maximize a shorter period of exercise.

What Makes an Exercise Program Successful?

There is no perfect exercise program. However, you come close to an ideal workout plan if you do the following:

Combine two or more types of exercises

Choose an exercise program that combines aerobic, strength training, and anaerobic exercises. Include challenging high-intensity exercises, and meditative yoga or mindfulness-focused stretching.

Choose a routine that you find enjoyable.

If you’re not having fun with your workout, you stand a good chance of quitting. It is difficult to persist in something you don’t particularly enjoy doing.

Pick a routine you enjoy, and you’ll feel motivated, encouraged, and inspired to exercise. I personally love to hike and be outside.

Make your schedule work for you.

Timing is important. Don’t insist on working out in the morning if your mornings are usually hectic. On the other hand, if you feel that you are more productive after you have your morning run, then, by all means, start your day by exercising. Schedule your workouts when you feel most awake, flexible, and full of energy. Some people prefer to exercise in the mornings; others do it after lunch or in the early evening. Figure out what schedule works best for you.

Keep an exercise journal.

Log in your activities. Write down what kind of exercise you did and when you did it. Include your thoughts about how you can improve your routine or your performance. Journals are a great tool whenever you are trying to change something big in your life. They help you track progress in ways that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise. They also help you improve more quickly because you can see where things are going wrong and help you fix them more quickly.

Keep your routines varied.

Switch up your practice to keep everything fun, fresh, and interesting. If you find gym workouts boring, take your exercise outdoors. If you feel burned out with lifting weights, go hiking.

It is easier to stick with a program that suits your personality and your needs. Be creative when you draw up your routine. Feel free to change direction, adjust or scale up the intensity as you see fit.

Finding Motivation

Finding the motivation to exercise IS difficult. But you can do it, provided you put careful thought into it. Once you start exercising - and experience the benefits that come with it, it becomes a little easier to continue working out.

The following tips should help you get your exercise routine off the ground:

Start small.

Look for ways, no matter how small, to incorporate any form of exercise in your daily routine. If you need some groceries, walk instead of drive to the supermarket.

Choose something you find enjoyable or interesting.

Don’t force yourself to do an exercise program you don’t genuinely like. Chances are, you’ll stop doing it the first chance you get. You have a better chance of sticking with exercise if you find it enjoyable or interesting.

Focus on the positive feelings you’ll experience after exercise.

Imagine how good you’ll feel after exercise. Your brain will be flooded with feel-good chemicals. You’ll get an exercise high. You’ll feel good about conquering your initial lack of motivation. You’ll feel like a winner. When you don’t feel like getting up to exercise, make all these positive feelings push you to move with a purpose. It’s not always easy to see those kinds of things when you are feeling down.

Get somebody who understands you to be your exercise buddy.

A friend who understands what you’re going through will have compassion. They won’t push you to do what you’re not ready for. They know what you’re struggling with and won’t cause you more stress. They will simply motivate and encourage you to do the best you can.

Forgive yourself if you do not meet your goals.

An exercise routine is a process. It is a form of self-care. You don’t have to get it right all the time. Do your best. If you cop out on some days, forgive yourself. Try again the next day. No one is perfect, and as much as you may get down on yourself for not being a perfect person, you are comparing yourself to someone who doesn’t exist on this planet. The most successful people are those who accept failure and learn from it.

Planning a Successful Exercise Program

Don’t allow time or some other imagined limitations to stop you from using exercise to cope with stress or depression. The following tips will help you plan an exercise program you can stick with.

- Get up earlier in the morning. It gives you extra time.

- Work out as soon as you get up.

Use exercise to jumpstart your day. You’ll feel empowered and energetic for the rest of the day. Knowing you have already accomplished one important thing on your agenda inspires you to be even more productive in the succeeding hours.

Keep it short, intense, and consistent.

It is more important to do short intense exercises consistently than to do long effortless workouts sporadically.

Get a workout partner.

You will show up in the gym or be ready for your morning jog if you know that your workout buddy expects you to be there.

Look for a convenient time to exercise.

Don’t go to the gym during peak hours. Avoid rush hours to save time.

Work out during unusual hours.

There is no one “right” time to exercise. If your obligations, circumstances, and work schedule allow it, be open to the possibility of working out during odd hours. Some gyms stay open 24 hours to accommodate people who make the choice of working out when everybody else is asleep.

Don’t overdo things.

People who overdo exercise tend to drop out, especially when they are just beginners. Avoid injuring yourself or burning out. Start small. Once you get accustomed to your program, push yourself a little more. Build up gradually.

Don’t use the excuse that you’ll get too exhausted to do other things.

If you’re a beginner at exercise, you may, indeed, feel tired or achy during the first couple of weeks. As you get used to your routine, however, you’ll notice yourself becoming stronger and more energetic because of your workout. Exercise gives you energy. It helps you become more productive.

Make exercise a habit.

Once exercise becomes a habit, you don’t have to think about it. You simply put on your exercise clothes and be done with it. You just do it - even when you don’t feel like it.

Try out the different forms of exercise to find something you like.

All types of exercise reduce anxiety and depression. You have many options - competitive sports, running, jogging, weights training, yoga, flexibility training, and a lot more. As long as you do things consistently, you will achieve mental wellness.

Chapter 5: How to Enjoy Exercise

Use the following techniques and learn how to love exercise:

Choose an exercise that appeals to you.

If you find lifting weights or using the treadmill tedious, don’t force yourself to do them, especially when you start out. So, give yourself a foundation of doing something you enjoy before you try things you don’t like as much.

What are your interests? Take these into account and look for physical activities that match them.

Do you prefer soothing and quiet exercises? Try Taichi. Pilates, or yoga.

Modify.

There is no rule that says that exercise should always be fast-paced or high-intensity. If you don’t go for a fast, intense pace, allow yourself to slow down.

Walking continues to be a popular form of exercise because it isn’t intimidating or overwhelming. You can walk at a pace that is exactly right for you - and still burn calories, increase your heart rate, and enjoy a wide range of health benefits.

Don’t allow yourself to be coerced into doing an exercise that doesn’t feel right for you. If you prefer low-intensity workouts to the more popular intense workouts, don’t feel guilty about it.

Make exercise fun.

If you do the same exercises over and over again, they can become monotonous or boring.

Add spice to your workouts. Get some audiobooks. Download podcasts and listen to them while you work out a sweat. Work out with a friend and catch up while you exercise.

Think about the benefits you get from exercise.

Write down how your body, spirit, and mind benefit from exercise. Keep these benefits in mind. Review them often. Keeping these benefits at the forefront of your mind will inspire you to stick with your program. It’s a good idea to even write a few of these things down on a post-it note and keep it in your wallet all the time.

Try visualization.

Aside from writing down and reading about the benefits that exercise gives you, visualize them.

Imagine how exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight, reduce your blood sugar, decrease cholesterol and hypertension, and strengthen your heart.

Imagine how it helps to enhance your mood and improve your stamina. Visualize how it helps you to stay focused and to sleep better. Think about how much healthier, stronger, happier, and focused you feel.

Take a break.

Take a break from your exercise routine now and then. Breaks can help recharge your body, renew your mind, and refresh your spirit. If you don’t want to take a complete break from your routine, consider reducing the intensity of your workout. For example, go for a walk instead of lifting weights at the gym.

Practice Mindfulness

Practice mindfulness while you exercise. It relieves stress, improves performance, and makes you feel amazing.

When you do your workout without being mindful, you tend to rush through your routine, watch the clock, or think about the other things that require your attention.

When you exercise without being mindful, you lose focus. You lose form. You do not get as much as you should from your exercise.

Conclusion

Now you’re equipped with powerful exercises to beat your anxiety. You know how to use relaxation methods to get immediate anxiety relief.

Whichever exercise you choose to manage your anxiety bouts, it is clear that anxiety is not something that you can ignore or switch off. It is a normal emotion that is designed to make you aware of something that is potentially threatening to you. When anxiety rears its head and starts knocking on your door, you can choose to react with fear and negative behaviors, or you can choose to act with a mindful approach that acknowledges your fears yet moves beyond them and isn’t trapped by them.

The important thing to remember is that as difficult as the road with anxiety is, you are not alone. You walk this road with others who, like you, are also dealing with the fears and doubts one step at a time. Fortunately, in reading this book, and diligently practicing the exercises in this workbook, you have developed a unique skill set that has been created according to your own needs.

There may still be many challenges ahead in your life, when anxiety will be triggered and come roaring into your awareness. However, you need not fear these situations any longer, as you are now able to decompress what happens to you and think logically about the emotions that surface due to your anxiety. Should you feel pressured beyond what you believe yourself capable of dealing with, you can always return to this workbook to recap and refresh your skills. Like a soothing friend, it will always be here for you. Regardless of your current situation, you should always see a psychologist first. It helps if you talk to a professional.

Table of Contents

Book Description

Introduction

Chapter 1: Understanding Your Anxiety

What is anxiety

Symptoms of anxiety

Causes of anxiety

Medical causes

Risk factors

Importance of Anxiety

Self-Growth

Motivator

Safety

Makes for Good Leaders

You Are Not Alone

Chapter 2: Physical Exercise and anxiety

How Exercise Affects Mood

Exercise provides relief from stress.

Exercise increases the production of happy hormones.

It enhances self-confidence.

It improves cognitive function.

It has a calming effect.

It inspires productivity.

It helps you tap into your creative side.

It improves sleep.

It helps fight depression.

Chapter 3: Anxiety Exercises

Taking a Mindful Walk

Mountain Climbers exercise

Thunderbolt Pose

Body Scan Exercise

Mindful Breathing

V-ups:

Writing Exercise

Emotional Meditation

Looking Up Exercise

Chest Squeeze Rotation Exercise

Child Pose

Look Out the Window Exercise

Touch Meditation

Pullups

Laugh Exercise

Air Punches

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Tree Pose

Visualization Exercise

The Cat-Cow Pose

Reading Exercise

Objective observation exercise

Corpse Pose

Rhythmic Breathing

Plank Raised leg Exercise

Imaginal exposure Exercise

Mindfulness Exercise to Stay in the Present Moment

Seated Arm Stretch Exercise

Cardio Exercise

Handstand wall pushups Exercise

Countdown exercise

Simple Meditation Exercise

Listen to the Sounds Around You

Chapter 4: How to Create a Successful Exercise Program

Pitfalls to Avoid

Having unrealistic goals

Not breaking down a big goal into smaller, doable short-term goals

Nurturing negativity

Being inconsistent

Making exercise a last priority

What Makes an Exercise Program Successful?

Combine two or more types of exercises

Choose a routine that you find enjoyable.

Make your schedule work for you.

Keep an exercise journal.

Keep your routines varied.

Finding Motivation

Start small.

Choose something you find enjoyable or interesting.

Focus on the positive feelings you’ll experience after exercise.

Get somebody who understands you to be your exercise buddy.

Forgive yourself if you do not meet your goals.

Planning a Successful Exercise Program

Keep it short, intense, and consistent.

Get a workout partner.

Look for a convenient time to exercise.

Work out during unusual hours.

Don’t overdo things.

Don’t use the excuse that you’ll get too exhausted to do other things.

Make exercise a habit.

Try out the different forms of exercise to find something you like.

Chapter 5: How to Enjoy Exercise

Choose an exercise that appeals to you.

Modify.

Make exercise fun.

Think about the benefits you get from exercise.

Try visualization.

Take a break.

Practice Mindfulness

Conclusion