Salaam! First, I want to say how much I love your blog!! It brings me so much peace and soothes my anxiety. Secondly, I wanted to ask if you know of any duas that help with concentration? I find myself daydreaming a lot and just being distracted because of my anxiety - filled with nervous energy - and I can’t seem to focus on anything. I’ve tried mindful breathing exercising coupled with some dikhr but i feel like it’s still a struggle. Thank you!!
I absolutely love this question because severe anxiety is definitely something I struggled with in the past! I will definitely share some duas insha Allah but before that let’s talk about anxiety in general! When it comes to treating anxiety it’s multi-faceted. For the majority of people, doing one thing only will not be very helpful. This is because there are many things that can induce anxiety - for example if you are sleep deprived you body naturally increases the stress hormone (cortisol). And you will become anxious. Even being in a cluttered room can induce anxiety! If you don’t exercise, the nervous energy doesn’t have an outlet, so it will only accumulate. So if you truly want to stop allowing anxiety from controlling your life then you have to create a lifestyle that relieves it. You have to make sure that you’re a balanced human being. Your physical, mental, emotional AND soul health has to be taken care of - you have to be nourished in all those aspects to truly feel peaceful.
So ask yourself! Ask yourself how you’re taking care of your anxiety in all those different aspects. You’ll be very surprised once you create your own regimen how you will go about your day feeling light and with a joy filled enthusiasm.
I will tell you some things that I do every single day to help you get started!
- The morning and evening thikr based on the sunnah, quran, tahajuud, long sujoods, reflecting on the greatness of Allah through nature, keeping Astaghfirullah moist on the tongue
- Gratitude lists, 10 minutes of journaling, deep breathing exercises throughout the entire day (I love the square breathing technique), I put notifications on my phone with positive quotes (this also acts like a trigger that reminds to me to do deep breathing), I have a table with two columns one column is titled problems the other is solutions and so I list my problems on one side of the table and then get creative in attempting to find solutions to that problem (this allows me to stay solution focused rather than problem focused - remember your mind should be 20% problem based and 80% solution based!)
- Lavender tea is amazing for anxiety, I exercise at least 2 hours a week, I spend at least 2 hours a week in nature, get enough sleep every night, stay away from processed and sugary foods, I also have a self care regimen (face masks, etc)
I will save the emotional aspect for some other time insha Allah. But insha Allah this helps!
I recommend fixing the root cause of your lack of concentration - your anxiety! So I would recommend:
1. اللّهُـمَّ إِنِّي أَعْوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الهَـمِّ وَ الْحُـزْنِ، والعًجْـزِ والكَسَلِ والبُخْـلِ والجُـبْنِ، وضَلْـعِ الـدَّيْنِ وغَلَبَـةِ الرِّجال
“O Allah, I seek refuge in you from grief and sadness, from weakness and from laziness, from miserliness and from cowardice, from being overcome by debt and overpowered by men (i.e. others).”
2. Constantly asking for forgiveness (Astaghfirullah)
“If anyone constantly seeks pardon (from Allah), Allah will appoint for him a way out of every distress and a relief from every anxiety, and will provide sustenance for him from where he expects not.”
