The Anxious Thirty Something

 Well here goes, I am a thirty something woman from Manchester. I have anxiety and depression and hope that writing my feelings as a blog will help to clear some of my thoughts. 

I work with children who havent had the best start in life as a 121 and love my job but at the same time my job and what I have to deal with on the daily is adding to my anxiety. 

I am currently off due to my anxiety and waiting on counselling (!) from my GP, I have been able to access some from work but one session isnt going to cut it is it. 

I have support from my family and friends and luckily my work are just incredible. 

So lets start with today, I actually went swimming on my own this morning and it was just so calming and the feel of the water washing over me really settled my anxiety. I have always been a bit of a water baby and love to be in or near the sea whenever possible. 

I did have a membership for the gym but I will cancel that in favour of the swimming instead. I felt really anxious in the minutes of when I was going into the lesuire centre and when walking into the pool area but as soon as the water hit I just felt my worries and anxiety wash away. 

I swam continually for about half an hour and took very short breaks to just settle my breathing a couple of times when I felt the anxiety rising again but thankfully it was only moments before I felt I could continue again. 

I felt anxious again when sorting my things for the shower but felt much better once in the shower and then getting changed in the cubicle. 

As it was something new I thought that I would struggle a lot more with my anxiety and whether I would actually go in the first place. 

I will certainly book again and it will hoepfully become a healthy habit, I am trying to cut down on my sugar intake and increase my exercise as I find that really helps when I am struggling but I am not putting any pressure on myself and will do it in my own time and on my own terms. 

I hope this has helped someone in maybe taking the first steps in trying to overcome their anxiety. 

What do you do to help overcome the feelings of anxiety and depression when it becomes overwhelming?