Suffering from anxiety? Turns out Krishna (and the Bhagavad Gita) can help

Anxiety, in layman terms, is the crippling feeling of constant worry, stress and a general aura of doom engulfing you - you feel that the entire world is going to come crashing down, or something bad is going to happen. From a medical point of view, constant anxiety can manifest itself in the form of headaches, stomach issues, a racing heart, palpitations, chest pains, lightheadedness, and nausea. However, do you know that the Bhagavad Gita mentions some simple tips to tackle anxiety that are easy to incorporate in your regular life? Here they are...

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: "For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, the mind will remain the greatest enemy". According to him, your mind is either your worst enemy or your closest friend. Hence, it is important to train your mind the correct way to keep anxiety at bay.

Krishna says, "You have the right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction." This means that overthinking will not get you anywhere, so while it is okay to give in all your hard work to achieve something, you should not worry too much about the results, since they are not in your control anywhere.

On fear, Krishna says, "For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next". Most of the time, fear is not a manifestation of your current reality, rather, it is an interpretation to your version of reality that does not even exist. Hence, doubt, even the smallest one should be dealt with then and there, else it quickly turns into fear, and eats you as a whole. It is said that fear tends to shrink when you walk towards it.

Krishna believes, "O best among men, the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation". Now this advice we agree, might be tricky to follow, yet, can start of by reducing your social media consumption, since that is where the comparison starts. This apart, one should concentrate on making their own lives better, rather than worry about what is happening in someone else's. If you are no longer affected by what others think of you, you will transport yourself into a place of immense peace and quiet.

Krishna says, "O Arjuna, all beings are disembodied before birth and disembodied after death, appearing to possess a body between those events. So why grieve over this?" Your anxiety is the constant need to control something (life), which unfortunately is uncontrollable. Not only that, the tighter you will hold on to life, the more tired you will get. Hence, to keep anxiety at bay, you cannot fret over things that are not in your control. To help you manage this, keep yourself busy, introduce meditation in your life (not as a hobby, but a way of life) and keep stress at bay.

(Disclaimer: These are some excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita that can help with your anxiety. For chronic conditions, kindly refer to a doctor)