Hi,  


For context, I developed high anxiety when I was maybe 5 or 6, and didn't really know what was going on with me, I just thought I was an scared kid. I got on with life, but at 17-18, my anxiety levels began really, really driving up. By 20, I was truly experiencing murderous anxiety, and from there, I went on a 10 year process of healing myself! Now, at 30, I am building towards the life I truly want, so man, I have some pearls of wisdom to share. I would love to be of use. 

Man, interesting to be on this subreddit. I didn't use much of the net when I was deep in my recovery process, but now, way on the other side, living a life with 'normal' levels of anxiety, I am catching up on the experiences I missed out on due to extreme anxiety.   


Just went on my first date three weeks ago, at 30 years young. I truly believe we can heal and transcend all our suffering.  


Here is a condensed list of what saved my life, feel free to ask whatever you want, I will try my best to help.  


My symptoms were multiple, I had a range of anxiety disorders, and these led to health problems. I was truly screwed in every way a human can be, but I was also ferociously determined to live a good life, so gave moving forward everything I had. I made progress, but it was HARD work...

10 TIPS TO BEAT ANXIETY

(1) Circadian Biology Is King: See the sunrise &amp; sunset. Get outdoors in the AM hours. We MUST increase our dopamine levels. Change starts with dopamine. Screens and indoor living, with minimal time outside, kill dopamine and will keep you stuck where you are.   
(2) Redox Potential: Gaining electrons will help you rebuild yourself. Practice earthing / grounding every day, for as long as you are able. Walk barefoot on earth.   
(3) Managing Light Environment: Wear blue-blocking glasses and keep your environment dark after sunset.  
(4) Body &amp; Brain Oxygenation Supports Function: To function at your best, you must breathe well. I have done breath-work for 6 years. Nasal breathing at rest is crucial, mouth breathing is deterioration of the human animal. Learning to establish good breathing is SUPER important. Find a form of breath-work practice and incorporate it into your life daily. I an an Advanced student of Buteyko breathing and believe it is the best practice out there, my Buteyko practice will never end while I am on this earth, and I am super grateful I learned how to normalise breathing and oxygenate myself.  
(5) Neuralplasticity- Structure &amp; Process For Success: This is based on exposure therapy and neural-plasticity. In essence, we need to rebuild the brain and create new neural pathways, new behaviours, new thought patterns, and new memories and experiences. We need to push outward into expansion and FORGET the past. We must take our mind away from the negative, and use my brains to build the life we want in alignment with our vision. Every day of your life must be TRULY lived for you to rebuild your brain and become the person you want to be. It is important to have a busy, satisfying life that allows us to distract ourselves from the demon of anxiety, which tries to make us as negative, bitter and sad as possible to cause us to focus on it and perpetuate it. This is because our mind has made the decision we're unsafe and has ignited the risk-assessment mechanism in the brain which is creating total chaos in us to try to find the danger. We can't allow ourselves to be swept away by the anxious tide. Sail into tranquil seans and use a day diary and calender, and ensure every day is filled with activities which make you a better person. Live a full life, do creative things, do physical things, read more, learn more, see more, do more! Be all you can be, and become someone you truly respect. Learn new languages, try new classes. LIVE YOUR LIFE. Idle living in anxiety is a big no-no, it allows the chaos in the brain to overwhelm you, so matter how you feel, you must DO. Lurch forward in total agony if need be. You must life your life fully, do all the things you want to do, and push the anxiety out of your life by DOING MORE. Limit yourself and you will be engaging in the behaviours that made you anxious in the first place. Yes, I know this is hard, which is why unlike other people I recommend doing this alongside a comprehensive wellness system to make you healthy and vital while you go through this. If you sit in your house all day doing nothing positive or productive, you’ll never move.  
(6) Sleep For Mitochondrial Rejuvenation: Go to bed early, get up at sunrise. Use blackout curtains, sleep in a totally dark room. Sleeping on the hard floor (with a blanket / pillow) can be very therapeutic. During sleep the process of healing and restoration occurs, apoptosis and autophagy occur and the mitochondrial repair is supported. When mitochondria work well, you can enter higher and higher levels of health and function.   
(7) Diet: Nourish yourself, eat a nutrient rich diet, drink good water (I use a reverse osmosis machine), consume a good amount of DHA (in seafood, shellfish in particular), and lower inflammation in the body and brain. Reducing brain inflammation is key and we can this by becoming leptin sensitive. Find an approach that works for you, but building your leptin pathway sensitivity will support you in overall systemic health. You’ll need that to be your best!  
(8) Mindset is Mission Critical - Eliminate Negativity, Embody the Warrior Spirit and Find Acceptance: Cut energy vampires out your life, stop watching the news, stop scrolling on social media, get toxic people out your life, and be totally selfish. This is your time to focus on YOU. This is your time to build armour and build the war machine that will knock down the walls before you and get you and your loved ones the life you want. At this stage in my life, I eliminated most of my relationships, and essentially re-invented myself and started my life over. Don’t engage with people who have problems, don’t get entangled with other people who are experiencing difficulties like you are. Get around positive, healthy people, be like them, take on their habits, and you will rise like the phoenix from the ashes and find victory. Emboding the warrior spirit will make you a far better human being, but it is also important to study Acceptance, because getting wrapped up in ‘fightng’ anxiety can perpetuate the condtions and prolong them necessarily. Just know that as long as you are doing the right things, investing in making yourself a better, healthier person, you are doing beautiful work and I am proud of you.  
(9) Goal-Setting: You MUST have goals. This is mandatory. You can break your life into areas, you can have goals for your health, your finances, your career, your personal life and fulfilment. Get actions and get working toward then, daily. You can find an accountability partner and you can really make change in your life.  
(10) Gratitude &amp; Self Compassion: You must work towards being your own best friend and being kind to yourself. You must develop self esteem. It’s not easy, I struggled with low self esteem until this year, this has been a long road and I have put a lot into it. I made my own improvements in self esteem through coaching as part of a men’s group, Person-Centred Therapy and Float Tanks. Work towards being someone you admire and respect. Getting over to the other side of my problems gave me a pride I can’t really put in words.  
My best wishes,  
Earthbound Mystic