Anxiety is loud and obnoxious; to reduce anxiety, shut up and listen with a quiet mind. Listen? Why on earth would we want to listen to anxiety? After all, it's a bully that messes with our minds, bodies, and very lives. As  true as that may be and as much as we want anxiety to leave us alone, arguing back or even agreeing with it doesn't make it disappear. Instead, when you shut up and listen with a quiet mind, you can reduce anxiety. 

Are you facing change that's increasing feelings of stress and anxiety? Anxiety can be related to adjustment disorder. We humans often dislike change; sometimes we even fear change. When change creates such stress that it interferes in the ability to fully function in life (work, school, interpersonal relationships, etc.),  a diagnosis of adjustment disorder by a primary care physician, therapist, or other health care provider is sometimes in order. If you're facing change and experiencing difficulties, know that you're not alone. Anxiety can be related to adjustment disorder, and treating both anxiety and adjustment disorder is possible. 

Do you ever get tired of anxiety, with all of its frustrations and limitations? An anxious mind can be exhausting; adopting a beginner’s mind can be uplifting and freeing. The concept of a beginner’s mind, called shoshin, comes from Zen Buddhism, and it teaches us to approach life as a beginner. This can feel refreshing, given that anxiety constantly tries to rule our lives as an authoritarian expert. If you’re tired of living with anxiety, adopt a beginner’s mind.

It’s the time of year for summer celebrations, and to fully enjoy them, we’d love to lower the party anxiety that frequently accompanies the fun. For a multitude of reasons, parties, gatherings, and celebrations can heighten anxiety. Whether it’s the dread that comes with the idea of having to come up with the right things to say, the fear of being judged, the forced interaction with strangers or acquaintances and family that you’re in conflict with, or more, summer celebrations can lead to intense party anxiety. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend the season in misery. Below are eight ways to lower party anxiety during summer celebrations.

Parenting and anxiety frequently go hand-in-hand, and it can be difficult to determine when parenting worries are normal and when they escalate to unhealthy levels. The term normal is a loaded one, of course. Here, it implies no judgement whatsoever. It's a mathematical term indicating that parenting anxiety is typical, experienced by a majority of people as they lovingly raise and care for their children. It's common for us parents to wonder about our own parenting and anxiety and whether it's normal or unhealthy. 

To downsize your worry list and prioritize anxiety might seem like a strange concept, at least initially. After all, we want worries to disappear, not just to be downsized; further, why would we prioritize anxiety when we want it to go away? Ridding ourselves of anxiety is a process, and downsizing your worry list, and prioritizing anxiety go a long way toward taking back your life.

Calming anxiety can seem impossible, and while mediation for anxiety can be effective, sometimes an alternative to meditation is necessary. After all, when our anxious brains race with worries and fears and what-ifs, it can be incredibly difficult to sit still with our eyes closed and clear the mind. Yet our brains need a break. We need a break. It is exhausting and even painful to sustain anxious, racing thoughts. We can give our brains this break even when we can't meditate. There is an alternative to meditation that works wonders in calming anxiety. 

To be anxious in an uncomfortable silence can create an unbearable quiet zone where all eyes could be on you. Anxiety, especially social anxiety, can flare when we're in a room full of people. Noisy chatter, clanking objects, clicking shoes, slamming doors, and all other background noise is amplified by anxiety. In turn, anxiety revs up, and all of this commotion can make us tense, shaky, dizzy, and fearful that we're doing something wrong. As miserable as a noisy room can make the anxiety-sufferer, when things go quiet and silence descends, it is often then that anxiety spirals out of control. Being anxious in an uncomfortable silence is common in social anxiety, but it doesn't have to forever plague us.

Living with anxiety can mean a life full of challenges, and the challenges of living with with anxiety can be significant. Anxiety can range from mild to debilitating; further, it comes in many forms and types of anxiety disorders. Despite the differences in degrees of severity and the way anxiety is experienced, there is a common thread: anxiety can make life difficult. Add to this the fact that the experience of anxiety can be hard for "outsiders" to understand, and the frustration level skyrockets. Indeed, the challenges of living with anxiety can be daunting, but we all have the power to overcome them. 

To reason with anxiety and the anxious thoughts that accompany it can seem not only ridiculous but downright impossible. Picture a toddler in the throes of a spirited temper tantrum. Said toddler is, at that moment, irrational and emotional and not quite capable of discussing the matter at hand over a cup of tea. Anxiety can be like that toddler. The difference between anxiety and a toddler, though, is that a toddler isn't developmentally capable of reasoning. We, on the other hand, are capable of rationalizing; by default, we can reason with anxiety because it's (temporarily) part of us. As far-fetched as it may seem, it is quite possible to reason away our anxiety and anxious thoughts.