It might come as surprise to some people, but I have a theory that often it’s the biggest yoga enthusiasts who struggle most with stress and anxiety. I, for one, had been living in such a chronically stressed state for years that I didn’t even realize it until I started taking yoga classes and I finally began to experience what it felt like to actually relax. Then, I had to go to classes to get my next yoga fix in the same way that other people pop Xanax to handle the pressures in their lives. Yoga has absolutely been the best tool I’ve found to help me handle stress through the years. But there have been times when it just wasn’t enough. (Gasp! I know!)

In fact, in year or two after my daughter was born, I had some pretty crippling anxiety that I thought would never go away. Some of this, of course, was the natural anxiety that comes with the territory of attending to a tiny person’s every need all day and all night without a break. I worried about bumps and bruises, food allergies, and sleep schedules. I also worried about completely irrational things like whether or not the grandma in the grocery store thought I was a bad mother for allowing my infant to hold the frozen peas. “Isn’t that freezing her poor little hands?” (Buzz off, Lady!) Truth be told, though, I’ve always had a lot of anxiety. It’s just the way I’m wired. So, I’ve tried pretty much every natural remedy under the sun to help me cope. Amazingly enough, it isn’t the fancy essential oils or holistic massages that have helped me the most, it’s the small things I do everyday that have made a huge difference.

Things like:

1. Eat a lot of healthy food, drink lots of water, get enough sleep, remember to breathe, and take walks in the sunshine. I know, I know. It sounds too simple, too easy. But I promise you, making a point to take care of my most basic needs is one of my best defensives in this anxiety battle.

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Photo via Flickr user Ted Eytan

2. Clear the clutter. I have a high tolerance for clutter (if you don’t believe me, ask my husband.). If I have company coming over, I would rather walk around piles, or tuck things away into a heap in a closet than sit down and find a proper place for things. If someone had told me I need to clean up my act a year ago, I would have rolled my eyes and said in my snarkiest tone: I’m stressed out because I have too much to do and you want to ADD CLEANING UP to my to-do list? Great advice. But, when I made a commitment to myself to start keeping my living area clear of toys and my kitchen sink clear of dishes something amazing happened. A fog lifted. I could think more clearly. I could find the things I needed without picking up the same damn pieces of paper 400+ times and that meant more time for ME! I was free!

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Photo via Flickr user Bart Speelman

3. Plan ahead and get the mundane shit done ahead of time. It might sound crazy, but realized how much anxiety simple tasks like making dinner was causing me after I participated in my first Wildtree freezer meal workshop. I came home with 10 full meals to put in my freezer, a healthy plan for a week and a half of dinners, and one less thing to think about. It felt great. I have a creative job, so I can’t always sit down and do my writing work ahead of time, but learning to get the mundane tasks (like grocery shopping, meal planning and prep, lunch packing, laundry, and choosing clothing ahead of time) makes a dramatic difference in how anxious I feel. It also helps support Number 1 and Number 2 (Winning!).

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Image via Flickr user Kathleen Franklin

4. Learning to be kinder to myself. Don’t be fooled into thinking I’ve got everything figured out because I’m learning to value Numbers 1-3 on this list. I don’t. I’m almost never able to keep it all together, which gives me two choices: I can berate myself, or I can accept my beautiful mess (as Elizabeth Gilbert calls it) as part of my unique charm. Being kind to myself is the hardest practice of all (and, trust me, keeping my dishes clean an put away is NOT easy for me!), but it also has become a safety net for those times (and there are many!) that I fall short on my yoga practice and everything else on the list. It’s a shift in thinking that could benefit everyone.

See also A Yoga Practice for Confidence + Self Acceptance