My anxiety doesn't arrive until I have nothing else to distract myself with, therefore it usually shows itself when I lay in bed. It takes an hour for me to fall asleep usually and turn the brain off where that time is spent just, picking up random thoughts anywhere.
I tend to take on a great deal of stress in my life and overlook it and I know this well about myself, so when I am anxious consider that foremost. My anxiety usually starts to focus on health based issues; heart rate, breathing, etc. Until I freak myself out. I grew up with frequent panic attacks, now being an adult I know my anxiety as a child was due to my ability to observe EVERYTHING and analyze it to death, simply because I enjoy knowing things. That and a lot of other things.
It's funny, I'll go into near death situations happily, because I seek the adrenaline rush..but freak myself out at bed time, when my thoughts absorb me. Therefore, walking or bike riding doesn't help me like it should most anxious types. I still have to sit, eventually, I'll have to think without anything to distract me. I've learned my anxiety is an illusion. When I worry about things I have no immediate influence on; fixed income, car accidents, death of a family member, something disturbing I saw, obligations next day, having to wake early for work, etc - my brain worries because it thinks if it obsesses over everything, it can control it.
The best way for me to deal with my anxiety is to think about what is really bothering me, that my life is stressful and I take on too much at once and also, I either need to not "meander' in thought at bedtime and get over myself, or "let everything go"..and it works. To a degree. Anxiety is like any other feeling or symptom be it happiness, hunger, sadness, tired, etc...it's a sign that something is affecting you, it's secondary..therefore I see it like a mystery to be solved. Whatever is bothering you can be resolved and if not, maybe a doctor is best lol.