1. Balanced diet: Whole foods like fruits and whole grains tend to reduce anxiety versus processed foods and excessive caffeine.
2. Exercise: 30 minutes a day
3. Sufficient sleep: 7-9 hours of sleep is optimal
4. Mindfulness: Meditation and guided imagery are good techniques.

Hopefully, this helps. Feel free to add any more tips that you have found to be helpful

I’ve been wondering what are other healthy ways of reducing/managing anxiety besides meditation, deep breathing, exercising etc… without meds or therapy. Any suggestions and advice are welcome!

Edit: Thanks all for the suggestions!

Edit 2: You guys have been so helpful and I hope some of the suggestions other people put will help you guys too! I will be trying out most of these that I am able to do! 😄

Hey Reddit, This Sub has helped me out over the years. So I wanted to share the techniques I have found help me, with the hope some of you might find something new to try to help you with the day to day...

Exercise: Might sounds obvious, but I never realised how good some serious cardio was for burning off all the adrenaline. At the start I was just doing 1-2km and have built up. But even when it was relatively short distances I found that I felt much better after. I also found playing around with what I was listening to helped. Music, actually made it worse. I got frustrated with the changes in tempo and that I was running out of time with the song. But when I switched to a podcast or audio book it worked really well.

Gratitude: This might sound super hippy. But it really worked for me, and I only discovered it relatively recently. Before I go to sleep I list eventing I am grateful for that day. Sometimes the list is long, sometimes its short and as simple as "my bed, getting through today and having something to eat." It's almost like the the polar opposite of anxious thoughts and I found that over time, when I have an anxious thought a grateful one automatically comes straight away to neutralise it.

Yoga: This one changed my life. As crazy as it sounds trying to move in time with breathing instantly clears the mind. There have been many times when I have gone in to a class feeling super anxious. Then come out feeling at peace. If you haven't done yoga, forget all your preconceptions about it. I've never felt judged or shamed for not being able to do a pose in a class and often come out feeling like I have done a full workout. It takes a few goes to get in to it, but well worth it in my view. If you can't afford classes at a gym or studio there are loads on YouTube you can do at home and are as short as 15 mins.

Bed: It took me a long time to realise that bed isn't always my friend. Yes sometimes lying down and curling up is great. But I have realised that if I stay there too long, particularly in the mornings then I can often get more and more anxious. On the really bad days you don't have to go far. Sometimes just on to the sofa is enough to stop the downward spiral. But getting up and doing something, anything is often better for me than staying still.

Notifications: At first I just turned off any news apps. I was finding being reminded of all the bleak things happening in the world was just getting me down. I found it so helpful that I eventually turned of pretty much everything except WhatsApp and phone calls. Now if I want to see something I choose when to engage with it. Im not constantly being reminded about what I've missed out on, what wonderful lives other people appear to have or what negative things have happened around the world.

Talking or writing: As a guy, I have never been much of a talker about anything to do with feelings or emotions. I don't have a huge amount of friends or people I can talk to about things either. It took me a long time to realise that expressing the thoughts in your head makes them float away. I'm very grateful that I can afford a therapist, but when I didn't earn as much I just wrote it all down instead. I don't think it matters too much who you talk to, or if you write it down or say it. But getting those thought out loud in one way or another so often helps them to release and just... Disappear.

Mindfulness: Again, sounds hippy but it has worked really well for me. Until I started doing this I never realised how many negative thoughts fly through my head. Or how quick they can spiral. Someone beeps there horn 2 cars back and 5 seconds later I'm half convinced that I'm about to be the victim of a road rage attack. But just sitting and focusing on your breath (but there are alternatives) for a while each day has trained me to notice my thoughts. Now someone beeps their horn 2 cars back and I think, oh maybe they have seen a friend walk past. I use the Calm app these days, but have used Headspace before. They can be expensive but there thousands of meditations and mindfulness sessions on YouTube you can use. It took weeks of doing it regularly for me to see benefit, but it did come.

Accept it: This has been the hardest. For me it's like ultimate mastery level. The concept of accepting anxiety was alien to me for so long. Why the hell would I was to accept something that makes me feel so terrible so often? I have a great therapist who has slowly helped me come to the realisation that fighting against it, makes it worse. It's like a Chinese finger trap, the more you pull away the worse it gets. But when you accept it, it calms right down and subsides. I'm not there with this one yet, but by simply actively thinking "oh it's anxiety, it's can't hurt me so it can hang out for a bit" I have felt it reduce almost instantly.

So there you have it. You might find all of it helpful, you might find some, or just one. Who knows this might not even get read by anyone (if you do read it, I apologize for any typos I've missed).

I hope that this can help at least one person feel a little better in their day to day.

I posted this a few months ago and thought I would again.

Here is the full list of ways that can reduce your anxiety. Get a PDF of all 37. https://inspirehypnotherapy.com/37-ways-to-reduce-your-anxiety

The 37 Ways To Reduce Your Anxiety

1) Set an intention every day. Each morning set an intention that will direct your mind where you want it to go. Some examples: “My intention today is to focus on serving others.” “My intention today is to focus on peace.”

2) Be grateful. Each evening before sleep, write down 5 things you are truly grateful for. Write down your blessings and the things that moved you. You will train your mind to be grateful, even in difficult circumstances.

3) Share your anxiety. The anxiety that is hidden is the worst. The fear of anyone finding out you have anxiety, increases it. Be the BOSS of your anxiety, by telling people about it... then it loses its power over you.

4) Be prepared. If you have driving anxiety for example, take care of the needs you have. Be relaxed before you drive. Plan your route so you don't get lost. Take care of anything else you need, before you get in the car.

5) Getting grounded. Spend time every day getting your energy grounded. This is for you if you have a busy mind and sleep problems. Walk barefoot on the grass. Exercise in nature. Spend some time in your garden.

6) Visit a beach or rainforest. These places in nature, produce something called negative ions, that reduce your stress and actually make you happier. This is one of the many reasons you feel so good there.

7) Achieve a balance of Yin and Yang (Being and Doing). If you've been taking a lot of action lately, be still and rest more... If you've been really well rested and going with the flow lately, take more action and get busy.

8) Use this breathing technique to find balance. Breathe in for 3 secs, hold for 3 secs, breathe out for 3 secs, pause for 3 secs. Repeat. After 10 minutes of doing this, you won't be able to feel any negative emotion!

9) Practise regular meditation. By learning to be still, your body will learn to be calmer in general. If you are a busy person, learning to pause can be hugely beneficial.

10) Do regular Tai Chi, Qigong, or Yoga. These ancient mind/body practises calm your mind and give energy back to your body. After doing 10 weeks with a very good teacher, I went a month with no anxiety at all.

11) Don't skip breakfast. Around 80% of people who have regular anxiety, high stress, or sleep problems, are breakfast skippers. Eat 3-5 healthy meals per day and always make sure breakfast is one of them.

12) Self love. If you were to ask your body, if it feels loved by you, what would it say? Treat your body like you would a child you love. Give yourself compliments, respect it, give it enough rest.

13) Listen to your thoughts. When you resist anxiety it tends to come back stronger. Pay attention to the content of your thoughts. Anxiety may be trying to teach you, or bring something important to your attention.

14) Express your emotions. What we repress inside (don't express), tends to stick around. Find a way to let your emotions out. You could talk to someone, cry your eyes out, write it down, or express through art.

15) Acceptance. Learn to be okay, with not always being okay. Although we aim to be calm, confident and successful, be okay when you're not. Let go of the pressure to always be perfect.

16) Focus on solutions. Stress is focusing on the problem, relaxation is working on solutions. It really does feel good to put your energy into improving your life. You'll beat procrastination and self-sabotage in the process.

17) Deal with your problems. Anxiety is letting you know there is something that needs your attention. If you are anxious about your relationship, for example, the anxiety may be telling you to have a conversation with them.

18) Deal with your problems 2. If you're anxious about money, work on money, If you're anxious about your relationship, work on your relationship. Solving the problem directly can instantly take away your specific stress.

19) Have fun. Many of us are working on serious stuff almost all the time. When was the last time you had fun? Make an appointment in your diary to do something outrageous, silly, or fun this week!

20) Sing, clap and skip. This is for those of you who like to have fun. Sing your favourite song, while skipping and clapping your hands for 2 minutes. Do this now... Go on, don't be so serious.

21) Make a big life change. This is for you if you've had anxiety for a long time. Is this telling you to change something? Change your work/life balance? Create a more relaxing lifestyle? Take care of yourself properly?

22) Make a small life change. This is for you if there are a few little things that make you anxious. Maybe it's getting up 10 minutes earlier so you don't rush, or turning off your phone at night, so you sleep better.

23) Stop trying to control life. Anxiety is almost always characterised by trying to control people, or some part of your life. Develop the ability to let go of the attachments you have to results. Your best effort is enough!!

24) Preparing for challenges. People with anxiety have a fantasy that life is supposed to always go well. Preparing for the difficulty you face, can relieve anxiety. You increase your resilience when you are prepared.

25) Turn worry into love. If you're always worried about members of your family, spend that energy loving them instead. Literally drop the worry and focus on loving them with your full presence.

26) Remove yourself from the anxiety. We chatted before about solving problems, but if there is something that just makes you so anxious, consider removing yourself from that situation entirely. Don't be there.

27) Be curious about your anxiety. Take an interested approach. Rather than being resistant to anxiety, ask, “why am I feeling this way today? I wonder how long it will be here for? What can this anxiety teach me?”

28) Learn to be comfortable with yourself. You are not a loser, or undesirable, if you enjoy time alone. Your self worth is not dependent on always being in a relationship, or having hundreds of friends.

29) Knowing your boundaries. When you know something is not right for you, respect yourself enough to say no. You'll either put someone else's needs, or your own needs first. Ideally you can find a win for you and them!

30) Use Power Questions to make a good situation great and a difficult situation better. There has never been a time when one of these questions has not given me a learning, more gratitude, or an action to take.

31) i. What is great about this?
32) ii. What new opportunities do I have now?
33) iii. What am I grateful for right now?
34) iv. Am I focused on problems or solutions?
35) v. What would love do now?

36) Join the Self Mastery and Transformation group. Learn more about reducing your anxiety and getting your subconscious mind working for you. Join here. https://facebook.com/groups/selfmasteryandtransformation

37) Apply this information today. Things will change when you prepare for anxiety better and address any issues of concern you have. Try out the 5 that most apply to your life and get in touch if you need further assistance.