Living in the present and actions to reduce anxiety

I'm so glad that you started a conversation on Living in the Present, @stsopoci. I'm looking forward to hearing how others live in the present.

I'm just wondering if @zeph317 @savana1 @johnwhitfield @hisgrace6992 @kclynd would comment on how they stay in the present. Any other ideas?

Practice mindfulness, meditation, list, posters, and education. just a few I use.

Good afternoon @stsopoc. Anxiety is my name! What I find to be very very helpful is exercising. Nothing in the world beats it- but I also take anti-anxiety meds too and watch what I eat. You have fought a lot of battles, time to put them to rest. Concentrate if you can, even minute to minute (mindfulness) on what you are doing at the time that you do it. Make a list of things that you can't control and can control. Put the Can't control list in a drawer and getting going on what you can fix! I also take CBD oil- mostly a half a dropper in the AM. Have you tried CBD oil, or do you think that it will interfere with your sobriety?

Good advise on the exercising and lists to separate out control issues. Just
Like most people, I have childhood issues that still threaten to come up and ruin my day and anyone around me. Each day reminds me of how important it is to balance physical, mental and spiritual actions so I can live in the present.
Thank God that once I get to the place that I was so worried about, I’m fine. Once you get there, you will be ok.

@parus @cdcc @johnhans and @thankful may also have some thoughts for you, @stsopoci, about living in the present and some ideas about how to help anxiety with escape actions, like going to the cabin, as you mentioned has helped you.

I do not practice specific staying in the now actions. For me the past is important as well as the present. One thing that helps me is thinking of all the times l or someone I know overcame the same problems. For instance, I am now getting ready to move to a new place, a senior living community. It has stressed me and stress leads to anxiety. I just think of all the times I have moved before and came through fine. I can also think of my grandparents moving to a retirement community after living in their house for 50 years. I have only lived at my present place 8 years.
Another thing is to look for possible anxiety causers. Keep track of your times of anxiety and what was happening at the time. It might be a situation or it might be food you are eating or drinking. After a while look for patterns, any common things that happened at the time of the anxiety. Also as mentioned in a previous post, look into anti-anxiety meds. For me my antidepressant med helps with my anxiety. If you have unresolved problems, try thinking of something to do to resolve it, even if just a trial to see if it works or one small step in resolving it. Do not be hard on yourself as we all struggle with what we should do, but we all make it through.

Good points made. I heard that you can make lists of strengths that you have and read them everyday. The chemicals in our system are inherit and can be treated depending on what works for you.

Sometimes my anxiety and depression make me look at all of the things I feel I need to do as too overwhelming and I don’t want to do them. If I stop and say to myself, just do one thing like put one load of clothes in washer, just empty the dishwasher, or take out the trash. You get what I am saying. It never fails that I feel better and more likely do another task If not, I can just feel good (hopeful) because I did something. Start small. I hope this will help someone. Sometimes doing nothing but watch tv is ok. Just thinking that what I am doing is not good enough or comparing myself to others without my same issues can cause serious anxiety. Comparing myself to someone without anxiety and depression is a sure way to make me anxious and depressed. We need to know we are ok, try to do the best you can and that can be enough for now.

@stsopoci Doing something with my hands so I will not go grab food when I am not hungry. Crochet, sewing, artwork. Moving - go for a walk, do some yard work, rearrange something in my project room. Write it out - journal my anxiety, don't let it have power over me. Take an extra dose of CBD tincture. Anyone of these, or a combination seems to help me.
Ginger

I know everyone is different but how much cbd oil do you use for anxiety?