Spring Anxiety?
People are often surprised to find themselves having anxiety in the spring. It seems like this is when we should be feeling joy, energized, and the excitement of summer coming. However, for some of us, we experience that excitement as agitation, stress, and anxiety, and don’t know why.
Spring can trigger some anxiety for a variety of reasons including the change of sunlight angles, circadian rhythms (sleep-wake cycles) getting off with the time change, allergens popping up, and the pressure for both kids and parents of school coming to an end soon.
Here are a few things you can start doing to help:
- Get your sleep on track. Go to bed and get up at the same time (weekends too) until you are back into a new routine for sleep.
- If possible, as the mornings get warmer and sunnier, take a walk in the sun first thing in the morning, without sunglasses. This will help your body clock also reset, and get renewed energy from the sun it has been needing.
- Take a walk everyday. It can simply be 15 minutes at a moderate pace and that will still do great things for you.
- Redefine the anxiety as excitement (they often feel the same) and allow some expression for it. There is new energy waking up inside you and might just need an outlet.
- Start a journal and/or meditation practice, even for just 10 minutes a day. This can be as simple as taking a break in the middle of the day to sit quietly with your eyes closed and only soothing sounds (or no sound, whatever you prefer) to get a mini mind reset.
As you get transitioned into the new season, you’ll start to feel better. If you would like any help or think your anxiety is getting too intense, give us a call, we’re happy to help.