As moms, we may feel that we need to keep tabs on what’s happening in the world around us. Or we may watch news headlines just to feel connected to something beyond our own little life of dishes and diapers and laundry. However, consuming too much scary or uncomfortable news can be problematic and cause news anxiety. This can adversely impact you as a mom by affecting your concentration, daily tasks, mood and interactions with your kids and spouse.
Bad news not only grabs more attention and views but also increases your anxiety. Like other forms of anxiety, news anxiety acquires the power to impact our physical and mental health. Our mind can deal with a small quantity of anxiety by itself, but too much can put our health in serious issues. Therefore, it is necessary to seek different ways of managing news anxiety.
There are numerous ways to hinder the effect of news that triggers our autonomic nervous system. To get to know them, keep reading!
1. Spend Time With Nature
Nature helps in calming your mind. Being in nature, or even just staring at its beauty, can help to reduce fear, stress, and anxiety and increase affection with pleasure. It also makes you feel better emotionally and contributes to your sense of well-being by reducing the production of stress hormones.
You can get rid of news anxiety by simply spending time with nature differently. Watching sunset or sunrise, taking the kids to a playground, and going for a meandering walk helps you let go of the thoughts in your head and focus on the present moment.
2. Get Rid of Negative Thoughts
No matter what, be gentle with yourself! News anxiety can lead you to dark and negative thinking that seriously affects how you think about yourself and the world; it even interferes with your work, study, and everyday functioning.
Create a positive mantra to counter the painful thoughts. Journal about your concerns and then let them go. Distract yourself by doing something physical like scrubbing your floors or having a crazy dance party with your kids. Another great idea is to talk about it with your spouse or a good friend because sometimes thoughts in our mind want to be released.
3. Ride a Bike
News headlines instantly increase stress hormones in our body but biking can help reduce our bodies’ stress hormones (cortisol). Biking both helps you get moving and gets you outside. Plus, by riding a bike, you can also increase serotonin production, which helps in offering restful sound sleep.
Electric cruiser bikes provide a chance for moderate exercise by improving cardiovascular health and muscle tone. E-bikes also increase metabolism for weight loss, boost the immune system, and reduce stress caused by news. If the idea of getting on a bike sounds overwhelming because you haven’t been active in a while, an e-bike can help you ease back into a more active lifestyle.
The electric bikes are versatile and have varieties of compatible accessories; you can customize your riding experience to match your needs (like keeping up with your kids!) which ultimately helps you keep busy by distracting from the world’s disturbing news and anxiety.
4. Set Your News Time Limits
If you long to get news updates, set a time limit. The more news you watch, the more anxious you might get. Set a timer on your phone or use an app to limit how much time you can spend checking up on what’s going on in the big wide world. Then put your phone down and get back to your kids, your work, or your more immediate world.
It is significant to be informed, but we live in a whirlwind of uncertainty, and it will probably harm our mental health if we don’t limit our time. It is just not a piece of news because it will impact your whole mood and thoughts.
You can consider helpful moves such as turning off and removing the news alerts on your device. You don’t necessarily need to stay alert to the every moment news of this world.
5. Put Down Your Screen
We all have become accustomed to mindlessly swiping, clicking, and browsing our devices whenever we get a chance, but this unintentional action is most likely a sign of attachment. Checking your screen becomes innate, almost like an obsession. We should be mindful of that and instead spend more time with our loved ones or return to other hobbies, such as reading books, colouring, doing jigsaw puzzles, etc.
Avoid triggering topics in the news. Limiting your news consumption, being cognizant, practicing stress management, understanding that it’s normal, and riding an electric cruiser bike can help you cope with news anxiety.
Take Care of Yourself Today
News anxiety is not worse if you know the tips to help you efficiently deal with news anxiety. Tips and hacks can help you manage stress or anxiety by changing your relationship with your thoughts.
If you are eager for peace in your life, you should focus on what is within your control; don’t stress over such things that are not in your control. It would be great if you also avoid bedtime consumption of news.
Engage yourself more and more in self-care!
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