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We appreciate your interest in today's Meditation
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Life Skills podcast. We sincerely grateful for
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your support. If you are stressing out over something
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worrying you, it's safe to say you are anxious.
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In other words, anxiety and stress are very closely
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related. As a matter of fact, they create similar
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symptoms. The symptoms of stress. Anger, difficulty
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sleeping, irritability, fatigue, muscular pain,
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digestive issues. The symptoms of anxiety. It's
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hard to focus and concentrate. Fatigue, rapid
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breathing, muscular pain and tension, increased
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heart rate. Irritability Stress and anxiety are
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both emotional responses. They're how a person
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deals with what's happening around their thoughts.
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Usually, stress is caused by some external factor.
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Maybe you're arguing with a friend. Something
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happened and the two of you are at odds. You
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both care for each other, so this is very stressful.
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In these short -term situations, reconciliation
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can end the stress. Some stress is long -term.
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If a person suffers from a chronic disease, their
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physical health problems can lead to mental stress
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that might be experienced daily. In this case,
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some outside source has triggered the stress
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response, as with most other issues where stress
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is experienced. How anxiety is different from
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stress. We mentioned earlier that anxiety can
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be a response to a stressful situation. If you
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and your friend have a serious argument, that
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can cause a lot of anxiety. Anxiety differs from
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stress because it usually doesn't go away when
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the stressor is removed. It's a worry taken to
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the extreme. This is often worrying about things
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that aren't actually troublesome. The person
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experiencing anxiety perceives some issue that
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really isn't there. Whereas stress is often fleeting,
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anxiety is commonly persistent. Treating mild
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anxiety. If your anxiety doesn't threaten to
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keep you from dealing with your daily responsibilities,
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it can respond to simple treatment. Being physically
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active is often enough to trigger a feel -good
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chemical response that helps you overcome mild
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anxiety. Regularly getting plenty of restful
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sleep, enjoying a healthy, nutritious diet, and
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discussing your problems with loved ones are
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other coping mechanisms that defeat short -term
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or mild anxiety. If you are regularly anxious
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and these treatments don't help, consult a mental
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health professional. When your anxiety affects
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your normal daily functioning, it threatens your
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quality of life and can lead to serious mental
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and physical health problems if not treated properly.
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Three tips for better grounding to reduce anxiety.
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Were you ever grounded as a child? This is a
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form of punishment. If you somehow ran afoul
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of your parents' rules, they would ground you
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to your room or some other specific space. The
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idea is that you can't leave that space for a
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certain amount of time. Grounded children learn
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to make the best out of a bad situation. They
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look around their punishment environment to find
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something in this confined area that will distract
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them. They engage their senses with what they
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have access to rather than thinking about things
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they aren't able to do, play with their friends,
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watch television, ride their bicycle. If you
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need to deal with anxiety, you can ground yourself
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as an adult. This form of therapeutic grounding
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is similar to your punishment as a child. You
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limit your sensory involvement to the immediate
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area. This involves attaching yourself to the
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right -now moment and your current physical space.
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Here are three tips that will help you get more
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anxiety relief from grounding. One, practice
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makes perfect. The human brain is an amazing
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computer. You can program it to do so many things.
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Many of your skills and
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abilities were developed
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thanks to you repeatedly practicing them. Practice
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grounding and you will get better at it over
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time. This is because your mind recognizes things
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you do repeatedly. It assumes that if you consciously
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repeat certain behaviors, they must benefit you
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or you wouldn't do them. Where grounding is concerned,
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practice is powerful. Calm yourself and engage
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your senses. What do you see, smell, hear, touch,
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and taste right now? Ground yourself in the present
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moment only. Take your focus away from what's
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causing you anxiety. Place it in your immediate
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environment. The more you practice this, the
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better you'll get at removing your focus from
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what's making you anxious. 2. Build a support
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network. The people you care about can help you
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with this process. Teach them what grounding
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does for you and why you use it. Enlisting help
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this way can be wonderful, because sometimes
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anxiety might be sneaking up on you without you
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recognizing it. A friend may be able to tell
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you that you might benefit from some grounding
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if they see warning signs of anxiety. They may
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say, are you feeling anxious? Let's do some grounding.
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What color is the shirt I'm wearing? How does
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your clothing feel on you? What do you smell
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right now? What sounds are you hearing? Anxiety
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involves worrying and obsessing over some real
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or perceived thought or experience. It's usually
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not something that's going on in your current
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moment. This is why you want to keep your eyes
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open and focus on the physically present things
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around you right now. If you close your eyes
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and limit your sensory input dramatically, this
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can allow your mind to wander to those anxious
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feelings and experiences. Open your eyes for
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a better grounding experience and let them take
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in all the visual input in your immediate environment.
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Using your senses to ground you in reality can
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--> 00:05:35.060
calm an anxious mind. These three tips help improve
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your grounding so you enjoy less stress and anxiety.
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The four A's of stress relief can help reduce
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feelings of anxiety. A little anxiety from time
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to time is normal. You're running late to work,
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your boss already has talked with you about showing
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up on time, you haven't been the most punctual
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employee in the past, and here you are running
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late again. It's a common reaction to get anxious
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about this situation. Did you let the cat out
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before you left home this morning? Are you going
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to make the right impression on a first date?
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This is the first time you're giving a presentation
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at work, and the company owner will be in attendance
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with several other company bigwigs. Are you properly
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prepared for this experience that can make or
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break your career? These are examples of normally
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tense situations. Even though they aren't as
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unhealthy as chronic anxiety, you'd still like
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to avoid them. To get the upper hand on anxious
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feelings, whether irregular or infrequent, put
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the four A's of stress relief to work. Avoid,
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Alter, Accept, and Adapt. Avoid. Extreme cases
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of anxiety may not be influenced by your surroundings
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or the people you deal with. The constant worry
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and obsession over something happens regardless
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of where and who you're with. In many cases,
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though, feelings of anxiety can be reduced or
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overcome entirely by avoiding the people, places,
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and things that are causing them. This might
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only apply when you can control your surroundings
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and who you spend your time with. If you can,
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avoid people that make you anxious. Control your
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surroundings, your environment. Avoid taking
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on lots of unnecessary responsibilities that
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can ramp up your anxiety. Steer clear of things
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you know are likely to make you anxious. Alter.
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This stress reduction practice is empowering.
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You take action. Look at what's happening around
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you and attempt to change the environment or
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situation to create more positive feelings. You
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may ask others to engage in some different type
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of behavior. Speak about your feelings and why
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you hope things can be altered to address those
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feelings. Changing how you manage your time is
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a simple way to avoid a lot of unnecessary anxiety.
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If you can change or alter stressors making you
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feel anxious, do so. Accept. Acceptance is an
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anxiety killer. You realize you can't avoid or
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alter a situation that worries you. If you can
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accept that most of life will be out of your
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control, this acceptance can replace anxiety.
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You act on what you can influence or control,
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not what you can't. Adopt. Accepting that you,
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unfortunately, can't control everything provides
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you with another option. Why not adapt instead?
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If you're faced with anxiety from a situation
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you must constantly experience and can't control,
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then adapt. Develop positive mantras that make
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you feel good. Remember that this anxiety is
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a choice your emotions make and decide to feel
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differently. Adjust the way you look at a situation.
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After you experience anxiety and nothing bad
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happens, remind yourself of this later. It can
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take the negative power out of anxiety. You look
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back and realize that you may have been obsessing
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and worrying for no reason. These four A's of
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stress relief can help you experience fewer anxious
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feelings. You reduce your level of anxiety and
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create more positive emotions. If these and your
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other efforts to reduce anxiety don't create
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the outcome you're looking for, talk to a mental
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health professional as soon as possible.