Exercise Regularly To Calm Down Your Anxiety
Try exercising every single morning for at least 15 minutes, no later than 3 p.m., and even if youre feeling lazy. Exercising releases endorphins, which help you relax. Exercise boosts serotonin levels, which in turn makes you happier. If you do anything that involves movement, try doing it right now. You never know when and how much time you have to exercise! Dont be shy to work out you may not see results immediately, but it will pay off in the long run! If you want to improve your stamina, consider taking a sports class.
Nowadays people often go to gyms, but have you tried working out at home? Have fun. Work on your body right now. When you exercise, bring your attention to your breathing. Instead of focusing on how much weight youve lost, focus on the fact that youve got that extra inch in your gluteus maximus. Do not let the thought of making a workout routine trick you. Because youve heard stories about athletes who had terrible workouts but never felt like they could conquer their bodies. Thats because they focused on training all night. They made a workout of their muscles then gave in to their urges and exercised more than expected. Dont focus on what you cant control. Its good to focus on what you can. So stop spending on fitness equipment or paying to get new clothing. The choice is yours: why not get more fit?
Adopt Some Relaxation Techniques
When you feel anxious, your breathing becomes rapid and shallow and you muscle tighten. This can impact your body by increasing your heart rate and bringing about light-headedness, nausea and sweating, among other physical symptoms of anxiety.
There are plenty of relaxation exercises to help reduce anxiety. These focus your breathing and identify areas of tension in your body which you can then release.
Here is a simple breathing exercise one that anyone can pick up in the moment to help calm anxiety:
- Take in a slow deep breath through your nose for four seconds. Imagine filling your lungs from the bottom right to the top, making them as full of air as possible. You should feel your stomach rise as you do so
- Hold the breath for another count of three
- Exhale gently through your mouth for another count of six. Try to focus on relaxing any tense muscles when you do
- Introduce muscle relaxation as you do. Work your way up your body, tensing body pats for five seconds and releasing.
- Youll feel the tension drift away as you do this process
When you breathe in, this raises your heart rate slightly, and breathing out lowers your heart rate slightly. So, by breathing out for slightly longer than you breathe in, this can help you to lower your heart rate.
When Calmness Is A Trigger For Fear And How To Change It
Healing Emotional Pain and Loss Bob Livingstone, LCSW
Bob Livingstone is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice for 22 years in San Francisco, California. He holds a Masters Degree…Read More
Many of us are anxious and looking for ways to become more relaxed. We are asked to meditate, breathe deeply or create a calming visual picture in your mind. We attempt these activities over and over again with no positive results. You may be able to relax when you are really not focusing on doing so.
Activities such as reading, watching TV or lying out on a beach may feel calming and rejuvenating. But this is different from moving from a state of panic to a place of relaxation. There are many of us who cannot seem to accomplish this. Then we feel frustrated and later, ashamed at not being able to do something as fundamental as moving into a relaxed state.
Why is this so difficult to master? There are a number of reasons for this. You are not crazy, weak minded or bad. You have probably internalized that you possess one or all of these characteristics. The shame that you carry makes it difficult to think about or process. You certainly are reluctant to discuss this with others for fear of being seen as a freak or mentally unstable. I hope that you can learn from this article that your feelings are not unusual and it will be very helpful to talk about this problem with others.
Reasons why it is difficult to move from a state of fear to calmness:
Recommended Reading: How Can Anxiety Affect You
How Can I Overcome Anxiety At Bedtime
If anxiety or disrupted sleep occurs often in your day-to-day life, these simple strategies can help you relax your body and mind and ease yourself into sleep. Changing your pre-sleep habits takes time and patience, but adapting to these changes may help you fall asleep with less sleep anxiety over time.
Also Check: What Is The Best Mood Stabilizer For Anxiety
Use Your Body To Calm Your Mind
TheTriune Brain model, formulated by neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean in the 1960s, organizes the development of the brain into a hierarchy:
Normally, our thoughts change our emotions , which in turn affect the basal ganglia and brain stem, which controls our body. That is how an anxiety-inducing email or message sets our heart racing.
This mechanism where thoughts control emotions, and emotions, in turn, control the body, is called the top-down mechanism. Normally, by changing our thoughts, which the prefrontal cortex controls, we can calm ourselves down and soothe our anxiety.
But when we are highly anxious, our neocortex goes offline and we cant think clearly. Hence we cant control our emotions and body.
Fortunately, this communication also works the other way around our body can change our emotions, which can change our thoughts. This is called the bottom-up mechanism.
E.g., if our body is physically relaxed, it sends a signal to the brain that everything is ok. That soothes our emotions and the amygdala calms down. Soon our catastrophic thoughts subside and our anxiety tamps down. This is the mechanism we recommend when you face extreme anxiety.
Here are a few exercises to use your body to calm your mind:
- Five-finger breathing, etc.
Don’t Miss: What Doctor Do I See For Anxiety
Remind Yourself That You Can Take A Break
Sometimes anxiety will leave us feeling trapped or stifled, especially if we are experiencing social anxiety. However, we can choose to take a break or a pause at any moment, excusing ourselves to use the restroom or stepping outside for some fresh air. Taking breaks from anxiety-producing stimuli can give us space to recharge before diving back in.
How To Ease Anxiety: 5 Ways To Feel Calmer Right Now
When we’re anxious, our breath becomes rapid and shallow. Deep belly breathing helps decrease anxiety by stimulating the bodyâs relaxation response, lowering our heart rate and blood pressure. Itâs a powerful technique that works because we canât breathe deeply and be anxious at the same time. There are many variations to try, including this simple exercise:
Inhale deeply for a count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 4. Exhale for a count of 4. Repeat several times.
Exercise is one of the best anxiety remedies, immediately and long term. Going for a walk creates a diversion from worries and releases muscle tension. Grab your headphones or earbuds on the way out:studies show that listening to music brings its own calming effects.
Long term, regular exercise triggers the release of feel-good neurochemicals in the brain, building up resilience against stormy emotions. It boosts confidence and mood, and we donât need to run a marathon to feel the benefits. Washing the car, hiking, gardening, a pick-up game â anything that gets us moving counts. Research shows that 30 minutes, 3 to 5 days a week can help to significantly improve anxiety symptoms, but even 10 minutes can make a difference.
Green tea, long used in Chinese medicine to treat depression, contains the amino acid L-theanine, which relieves stress, and reduces blood pressure and muscle tension.
Don’t Miss: Can Sleep Apnea Cause Anxiety And Depression
Write A Quick Gratitude List
A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology asked participants to jot down a few sentences each week, focusing on specific topics. One group wrote about the things that they were grateful for that week, a second group wrote about the things that had displeased them and a third group wrote about things that had happened . After ten weeks, researchers found that those who had written about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives than the other two groups. Not only that, but they had also exercised more and had fewer visits to the doctor. So grab a notebook and try to jot down a few things that youre thankful for each week. Hey, even no traffic on your daily commute is a win in our book.
Quick Answer: How Can I Calm My Anxiety
12 Ways to Calm Your Anxiety Avoid caffeine. Caffeine is well-known as an anxiety inducer . Avoid alcohol. Feelings of anxiety can be so overwhelming that you might feel the urge to have a cocktail to help you relax. Write it out. Use fragrance. Talk to someone who gets it. Find a mantra. Walk it off. Drink water.
Recommended Reading: How To Calm Anxiety At Work
Read Also: What To Say To Someone Who Has Anxiety
Final Thoughts On How To Calm Your Anxiety
Calming anxiety is a practice, not a one-time solution. That said, developing skills to manage and cope with anxiety can be extremely helpful. By learning how to calm anxiety before youre in the midst of an anxious moment, you will have the necessary tools to de-escalate your response versus becoming overwhelmed by it.
Anxiety Disorders: Why You Cant Calm Down
Anxiety disorder is the most common mental health disorder in the US today. If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, it may be difficult to calm down in stressful situations. And if this happens to you far too often, you are not alone.
There is help for people suffering from an anxiety disorder that interferes with their daily life. If you feel like your mental health is spiraling out of control, you can find hope from the team at Rosecrance on your journey to recovery.
Please read further to learn why you feel like you cant calm down during an onset of anxiety, and how you can seek treatment today.
Recommended Reading: Is Biting Your Nails A Sign Of Anxiety
Breathing Exercise For Panic Attacks
If youre breathing quickly during a panic attack, doing a breathing exercise can ease your other symptoms. Try this:
- breathe in as slowly, deeply and gently as you can, through your nose
- breathe out slowly, deeply and gently through your mouth
- some people find it helpful to count steadily from one to five on each in-breath and each out-breath
- close your eyes and focus on your breathing
You should start to feel better in a few minutes. You may feel tired afterwards.
- Nausea or stomach cramps.
- Feeling detached or unreal.
Its important to seek help if youre starting to avoid certain situations because youre afraid of having a panic attack. The truth is that panic attacks are highly treatable. In fact, many people are panic free within just 5 to 8 treatment sessions.
How To Quickly Calm Down Your Anxiety
Stress, Anxiety, Depression
A few months ago, I underwent a test for a medical condition that could have potentially shortened my life and also made it very painful.
When I got a phone notification from the diagnostic lab that my test results were available for viewing, my heart was pounding, my breath was uneven, and I barely felt in control.
This feeling of terror I experienced is what we call anxiety.
You also would have experienced anxiety in different situations. When anxiety strikes us, we feel totally helpless. In this article, we will get to the root of the matter and learn some ways to quicklycalm anxiety.
Also Check: How Do I Know If I Have Social Anxiety
Repeat A Positive Affirmation
When you notice yourself feeling anxious, try repeating a mantra or affirmation such as I am safe or I am calm.
Mantra repetition is a staple of transcendental meditation, which is associated with a reduction in stress and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. While transcendental meditation is centered around a specific mantra assigned to you by an instructor, you can still gain benefits from coming up with your own mantra or positive affirmation.
Heres what the research says:
- In one small 2015 study, repeating a one-word mantra reduced activity in the brain, which, for people who suffer from racing thoughts or ruminations, could be useful for calming anxiety.
- According to a 2022 review, various forms of mantra meditation were associated with a small-to-moderate reduction in anxiety, stress, and depression.
- In a small 2016 study of female heart disease patients, using positive affirmations caused a significant decrease in stress, anxiety, and depression.
Some examples of positive affirmations that you can try include:
- I trust myself
- I am relaxed and at peace
- My life is a gift
- I have faith in my abilities
When Might I Have Panic Attacks
Panic attacks happen at different times for everyone. Some people have one panic attack then dont ever experience another, or you might find that you have them regularly, or several in a short space of time. You might notice that particular places, situations or activities seem to trigger panic attacks. For example, they might happen before a stressful appointment.
Most panic attacks last between 5 to 20 minutes. They can come on very quickly. Your symptoms will usually be at their worst within 10 minutes. You might also experience symptoms of a panic attack over a longer period of time. This could be because youre having a second panic attack, or youre experiencing other symptoms of anxiety.
My panic attacks seem to come out of the blue now. But in fact, they seem to be triggered mainly at night when I want to go to sleep but cannot stop my mind racing, experiencing worry and panic about anything that may be on my mind.
Recommended Reading: How To Cure Shortness Of Breath From Anxiety
Don’t Miss: How To Help Your Anxiety
Ways To Get Rid Of Anxiety In 5 Minutes Or Less
Around 40 million people in the U.S. have an anxiety disorder, which can range from a generalized anxiety disorder , defined as “intense worrying you can’t control” to panic attacks, complete with heart palpitations, trembling, shaking, and/or sweating.
Whether you experience is of mild or extreme anxiety, there are steps you can take immediately to calm down and self-soothe. Here are a few of the best:
Combat Stressful Situations By Closing Your Eyes
Aron says that 80 percent of sensory stimulation comes in through the eyes, so shutting them every now and then gives your brain a much-needed break. She also says that she has found that highly sensitive persons do better if they can stay in bed with their eyes closed for nine hours. We dont have to be sleeping. Just lying in bed with our eyes closed allows for some chill time that we need before being bombarded with stimulation.
Read Also: How To Check Your Anxiety Level
Do This Monkey Stretch To Release Tension
In this exercise, you bring your hands in front of you, then bring the arms down. Then you bring your arms to your side, and then down. Finally you bring your arms all the way past your head and then swoop down, with your head dangling between your knees, and you hang out there for a second. This exercise is extremely effective at releasing the tension we hold in different parts of our body.
How To Cope With Anxiety Naturally
Anxiety is the bodys natural response to stress. But it can be overwhelming to deal with, not to mention downright unpleasant. Whether your anxiety presents itself as an upset stomach, heartpalpitations, nervous tension, or panic attack, its important to understand how you can calm yourself down.
Understand five common types of anxiety disorders
The following strategies and tips can help you manage stress and regain control over your thoughts.
Read Also: What Is Good For Anxiety And Depression
How Do I Text Someone With Social Anxiety
Were Not Mind Readers! We love to pretend that were mind readers. Make Yourself Aware. When you jump to answer a text message, be clear with yourself about why youre choosing to text in that moment. Set Those Boundaries! . Notice Your Reactions. Put Your Phone Away. Have Important Conversations Face-to-Face.
Adopt A Calming Mantra
Loving mantras like I am safe and loved that can be repeated over and over can drown out fears, advises Satya Doyle Byock, MA, LPC, founder of Quarterlife. Pick one that feels reassuring to you like all is well or inhale calm, exhale worry and repeat it to yourself when you start to feel anxious. You can also write it down and hang it somewhere youll see it regularly for a little reminder.
Don’t Miss: Does Anxiety Cause Acid Reflux