We all experience anxiety at times, whether you’re stressed at work or dealing with issues at home, and those anxious feelings can start to affect your life in negative ways: difficulty sleeping, eating or concentrating, irritability, headaches, nausea, hot flashes- the list goes on and on. Here are three tips to help you cope with your anxiety.

1. Take a breather. Taking deep breaths while counting to ten backwards can help calm you down and make you feel more relaxed. While sitting or lying comfortably, close your eyes and inhale as slowly and as deeply as possible, expanding your diaphragm as much as you can. Next, exhale slowly through your nose or mouth. While breathing out, slowly pull your belly button towards your spine. Begin your countdown from ten with your first exhale and continue your countdown with each subsequent exhale until you get down to number one. Repeat until you feel calm and relaxed.
2. Exercise on a regular basis. Take a walk or go for a jog or run, do yoga or workout at the gym. Besides the overall health benefits, exercising regularly helps to release any nervous energy you may be experiencing. It can also help reduce other symptoms of anxiety, including difficulty sleeping, irritability, headaches, etc.
3. Talk yourself down from that anxiety ledge. Literally talk yourself out of your worrying thoughts anytime they occur: tell yourself that your anxious feelings will not last forever and will eventually go away and that your anxiety won’t do anything but make you feel worse. Instead, whenever those feelings do occur, focus on the positive aspects of your life and, in time, those anxious thoughts and feelings will begin to decline.

Alicia Emamdee, RMHCI, is the author of the YA romance novel, “Aloha Self-Esteem?” which provides ways for teen girls to help improve their self-esteem. Alicia, who is the founder of the website www.ForSheIsBeautiful.com, which helps empower women, teen girls and girls of all ages, is currently working on her second novel in the self-esteem series for women in their 30s and 40s.