How I *cope* with my anxiety

Often I’m asked about how I *cope* with my anxiety.

It’s a question with which I struggle to find an adequate reply. It’s a state which is forever in flex, a state which can so unexpectedly shake me with surprise.

There’s no one answer, not for me at least, some days I feel more able to control it than others. But one thing I know for sure is that my struggle with anxiety has ignited a curiosity and thirst for knowledge about the wellness space. It’s led me on a healing journey, down a path of constant reading and learning, therapy, meditation, medication… Science teaches us new things every day and it is a space which is forever evolving. My curiosity stirs a spell of restlessness in me, always.

This journey of discovery has led me to cold water therapy. And lately, since cold plunging more regularly, I have noticed a shift in my mental health for the better. These moments feel almost miraculous to me. In this moment of time life feels right, like it should. But the benefits don’t just stop there, I feel the mental shift continue on into the next week.

Aside from the many scientifically proven benefits around mental health and physical performance, for me it’s the lesson I’m reminded of every time I plunge about the strength of the mind, that, thanks to the neuroplasticity of the brain, you are capable of changing your mindset.

Those times when you’re feeling on-edge, when your breath is hard to control, that burning sensation of anxiety coursing through your body - cold therapy forces you into a similar experience. It’s terribly uncomfortable at first, you will often fail, your mind convincing you that you can’t do it but breathe deep and you can learn to overcome it. That is the lesson.

By choosing the difficult path, the path less travelled, it will inevitably be hard. But if it can help, even in the slightest way, wouldn’t it be worth a try?