CONQUERing Collaboration: Five Anxiety Management Techniques

Stress and anxiety are inevitable parts of life. It's normal to experience feelings of nervousness and fear from time to time. However, when anxiety persists and overshadows your life, it could mean that you have an anxiety disorder. 

DISCLAIMER: It's important to note that if you believe you have an anxiety disorder, you should seek professional help. While we are here to share some anxiety management techniques that you can do on your own, getting advice from a medical professional is the best course of action when determining how to manage an anxiety disorder. 

We know that a lot of our customer base use fidgeting as a way to mange their anxiety. In fact, a UNC Chapel Hill study found that CONQUERing's anxiety rings reduced anxiety by 24%. This is why we decided to focus this month's CONQUERing Collaboration on anxiety management techniques. We asked the CONQUERing Collective for their input on what techniques they've found helpful for managing anxiety. 

Before we turn it over to the CONQUERing community, we'll discuss what anxiety is and share five anxiety management techniques that work for us. 

What is Anxiety: How to Identify Anxiety Disorders? 

To be able to effectively manage anxiety, you first need to know what anxiety is. As we mentioned above, feelings of nervousness and fear every once in a while is normal. Feeling anxious is a natural part of life and doesn't always mean you have an anxiety disorder. 

Anxiety disorders are mental health conditions. It goes beyond regular feelings of anxiousness. Signs of an anxiety disorder can include: 

• Interference with your ability to function on a daily basis
• Overreactions to regular situations
• Inability to control responses to situations 

When anxiety gets in the way of your ability to live your life, that could be a sign that you have an anxiety disorder. If you feel like you might have an anxiety disorder, the best course of action is to see a medical professional. They might prescribe anxiety medication or refer you to a therapist. 

How Do You Manage Anxiety? Five Anxiety Management Techniques 

Beyond medication and therapy, there are techniques you can implement to help manage anxiety. You also don't need to have an anxiety disorder to want strategies to manage regular levels of anxiety. 

Here are five techniques we recommend for anxiety management:

1. Identify triggers. Figure out what makes you feel stressed or anxious. When you start to experience feelings of nervousness or fear, take a note of what situations you're in. Are there certain people that make you feel anxious? An environment that makes you feel stressed? Recognizing your triggers and developing plans for when you experience them is a great way to manage your anxiety. 
2. Talk about your feelings. In addition to medical professionals, it can be really helpful to have a personal support system where you can share what you're feeling. Having family and friends that you can talk to about your worries and fears can help you work through your anxiety. You can also share your triggers with your support system so they can be there for you when they pop up. 
3. Develop stress management practices. Stress can worsen anxiety disorders. Having stress management practices handy when you feel stress creeping in can help you keep your anxiety in check. Practices like meditation and breathing exercises can help you manage your stress. 
4. Focus on healthy lifestyle habits. Having a healthy diet, prioritizing sleep, and exercising regularly are all ways that you can manage anxiety. Healthy lifestyles make your body feel physically healthy and can clear your mind. 
5. Try fidget rings. Fidgeting truly can help manage anxiety. Fidgeting helps release excess energy that builds up when you feel anxious. Fidget rings give you a subtle way to release that energy without distracting anyone around you. 

These anxiety management techniques are not meant to replace any medication or practices a medical professional suggests. You should use these techniques as an additional way to help manage anxiety. 

What is the Best Way to Manage Anxiety? Tips for Anxiety Management from the CONQUERing Community

Now that we've shared our anxiety management techniques, let's hear what the CONQUERing community suggested about their preferred methods of managing anxiety. 

We asked the CONQUERing Collective Facebook group to share what their go-to tricks are for managing anxiety. We also wanted to know what their favorite fidget jewelry is to wear when they're feeling anxious. 

We noticed a few different themes popping up in the comments on how the CONQUERing community manages their anxiety. 

Listening to Music: A Trick for Anxiety Management

The first theme we noticed for the CONQUERing community's go-to tricks for anxiety management is listening to music. Turning to your favorite songs to drown out unproductive thoughts can be a great way to calm down when you start feeling anxious. 

Katie B. says, "I sing a lot or play music in headphones if I have to be quiet...calms me down better than almost anything." Jenna W. agreed that music helps her with anxiety. She said, "When I need some extra help, I will turn on music to drown out the thoughts." 

They both shared their favorite type of fidget jewelry to wear when they feel anxious:

Edge CrossBar™ Element	Quatrefoil Element	AquaPoint Element

Finding Hobbies to Manage Stress and Anxiety

The second theme we noticed in the comments of the post was finding hobbies to help manage anxiety. Specifically, we noticed that the CONQUERing community likes to find hobbies that require use of their hands or complete focus to distract from anxious thoughts. 

Annika P. had a few hobbies that she's found helpful for anxiety management, "I've been learning how to fly fish, crocheting, and trying to get back into reading to help with overthinking/anxiety." Dawn R. has a similar experience, "I enjoy crocheting and reading when my anxiety picks up." 

See their favorite types of fidget jewelry to wear when they're feeling anxious below: 

ViaDeco™ CrossBar™	Gilded Flower	Spiral Shell	Octangle™ Crystal

Implementing Breathing Techniques for Anxiety Management

The third theme we noticed for go-to anxiety management tricks were finding breathing techniques that help calm you down when you're feeling stressed or anxious. 

Brianne H. focused on how breathing techniques can help when she needs something more than her fidget jewelry. She said, "If I'm feeling really anxious and need more than a fidget, I try deep breathing and to find something concrete in the room I'm in focus on." She said she likes to spin and click her LET GO fidget ring when fidgeting is enough. 

Michele L. is a therapist and shared a breathing technique called Square Breathing that works for her clients when they are feeling anxious:

1. Breathe in for 4
2. Hold for 4
3. Breathe out for 4
4. Rest for 4
5. Repeat 4 times 

Michele also said that she's really been loving the HexBar™ and has even turned her clients onto CONQUERing fidget jewelry. 

Create an Anxiety Kit for Anxiety & Stress Management 

Finally, we noticed a couple of commenters sharing that they have anxiety kits on hand for when they start to feel stressed and anxious. Anxiety kits typically consist of objects that either shock your nervous system to distract from feelings of anxiety or promote calmness. 

Abby T. shared what she keeps in her anxiety kit, "Sour candy, alcohol wipes, peppermint oil and candy, cooling patches, single use ice packs, and coloring supplies." The sour candy, alcohol wipes, cooling patches, and ice packs can be used to shock your nervous system to prevent a panic attack from occurring. Peppermint and coloring can help promote calmness. 

Samantha S. agreed with Abby about having things on hand when she starts to feel anxiety creeping in. She said, "When I'm anxious, I like to suck on candy and chew gum." 

You can see their favorite fidget jewelry to help with anxiety below: 

Howlite Worry Stone	Moonstone TwinPoint™	Onyx Worry Stone

Start Managing Stress & Anxiety With Anxiety Management Techniques 

There are so many tips and tricks to managing anxiety. What works for you might not work for someone else. It can take a lot of trial and error to determine what anxiety management techniques work for you. 

If you want to learn more about how fidget jewelry can help with anxiety management, check out this post.