Reality of Anxiety Made the Top 100!

According to Online University Reviews, the Reality of Anxiety ranks in as number 62 on their list of the Top 100 Mental Health and Psychology Blogs! They have it broken down into different categories of mental health, with only 3 blogs dedicated to Anxiety. The first is Anxiety Insights, then The Reality of Anxiety, followed by We Worry: A Blog for the Anxious which you can also find in my blog roll.

I thought you may also want to take a look at it if you are interested in other topics such as Depression, Bipolar Disorder, or more. For most, depression and anxiety go hand in hand.

With so much stress in my life and so much worrying going on, its nice to celebrate the small victories when I can!

UPDATE: It appears that this website has also made the Top 100 Fascinating Brain Blogs List, woo hoo!

Another Testimonial of the Awesomeness of Yoga

As a followup to the last post on The Benefits of Yoga, the following comes from a reader and fellow anxiety sufferer named Bonnie who has used yoga as a great resource to overcoming her anxiety.

I think my anxiety can be traced back to high school. I still believe that kids can be a tough crowd! However, the one thing I have now that I didn’t have back then, is coping skills. This past year I took the time to get to know me. I had been battling some particularly intense bouts of anxiety and was on my way to downright depression. Most people believe that stress and anxiety occur with bad situations – but that’s not always the case. Sometimes my anxiety came from good things, like going out to the movies with friends or taking a road trip with my husband. As time wore on, I began to shut things out of my life… like friends and activities that I once enjoyed. But now I feel like that person I used to be is a complete stranger. I took one year to battle my demons. I wanted to see how strong I was.

Along my road to recovery I discovered some amazing things about myself and found relief from unexpected outlets. A couple of months into my journey, I found yoga. Yoga encouraged a stillness in me I had never experienced before. When I cried on my yoga mat during class one day, I knew I found what I was looking for. By having a steady practice and embracing some yoga philosophies I was able to fight through my panic attacks and anxiety. Here are some things that helped me along the way that I learned from yoga:

1) Check Your Ego At The Door: A big fear of mine that caused immense anxiety was embarrassing myself in front of people. What if I got sick or fainted or said something stupid and people saw that? I spent more time thinking about what other people thought than what I thought. Keep your ego away and live how you want to live. Don’t worry about other people because other people rarely worry about you.

2) Perfection Is A 4-Letter Word: Trying to do everything perfectly is exhausting and you are constantly plagued by the fear of messing up. It doesn’t matter in yoga if you do a pose perfectly, all that matters is that you feel bliss when you practice. Do what you can. Don’t strive for perfection because it doesn’t always exist.

3) Stay Present: My worries were always focused on something I dreaded in the future. I was always concerned with what was going to happen next. Yoga keeps me still and in the moment and when I am so engulfed in what I am doing, I don’t have time or energy to needlessly worry about the future, I am too busy enjoying the present.

I came very far from where I once was – I hardly recognize the person I was a mere year or so ago. Each step in my journey has been an important one and I’ve learned from my experiences. I still feel anxious every now and again, but I know I can cope. I found freedom in yoga and continue to use the philosophies I’ve learned to help guide me along the way.

I know it’s scary, but don’t ever give up. Sometimes you find help in the most unexpected places. Find your freedom…