By Diane Lang

Anxiety is normal. We all have feelings of being tense, anxious and nervousness.

Divorce, loss of a job, terrorism, etc can all cause us to feel anxious. A lot of times we have no control over the source of our anxiety but the good news is we do have some control on how we cope.

Here are 13 ways to cope with anxiety

1. Challenge the negative thoughts by asking yourself:

Am I having a productive thought?

Is my fear/anxiety realistic?

Is my thought irrational?

2. Relaxation techniques – 1-2-3 Breathe!

Breath in for a count of 3

Hold for a count of 3

Exhale for a count of 3

Do this a few times and you will feel your physical symptoms relax.

3. Eliminate anxiety inducing foods – yes! It’s true there are foods that induce anxiety such as caffeine, sugar and alcohol.

4. Exercise – all we need to do to reduce stress and feel calmer is to walking four times a week for 20-30 minutes and we can get the boost of happiness from our endorphins while reducing our stress hormones.

5. Meditation – for some this sounds intimidating but make it simple. You can listen to a guided meditation and feel the results of reduced stress, peace and calm. Sit outside in nature and you naturally distress and feel calm.

6. Journal writing in an effective tool to get your feelings out.

7. Natural remedies such as Chamomile tea or ginseng tea reduce stress and give a calming effect. Chamomile tea is great right before bed to help you relax.

8. Emotional detox – remove the toxic/negative people from your life. We can get stressed out/anxious when we surround ourselves with toxic people. Moods and emotions are contagious!

9. Cope with painful memories:

Talk or write it out

Grieve the memory/loss

Accept what happened

Consider what you have learned from the event/situation.

10. if a situation causes anxiety and you are aware of this then prepare, practice and prepare more.

11. Visualize your success

12. Work on your overall health and happiness – the more optimistic you are, the more resilient you are.

13. Always remember every situation is temporary. When you are feeling down remember you will rise again. When your up, remember to enjoy the moment while its there.

– Diane Lang is a Positive Living Expert and psychotherapist – is a nationally recognized speaker, author, educator, therapist and media expert. Lang is extremely mediagenic and offers expertise on a variety of health and wellness topics about creating balance and finding happiness through positive living as well as multiple mental health, lifestyle and parenting needs. In addition to holding multiple counseling positions, Diane is also an adjunct professor at Montclair State University.