Anxiety disorders are the most common illnesses in most of the countries. In the U.S. they affect 40 million adults aged 18 and older, or about 18% of the population every year. Anxiety comes in many different forms, It can arrive without notice and overcome you in a crippling way. It can also sneak into the background of your mind and nervous system, impeding your focus and mindset. When expressing anxiety, instead of panicking it’s important to have some relaxation strategies to help calm you down. Here are some calming techniques you can use.
Practice mindfulness:
Anxiety is triggered by thinking about the future, and the things that might go wrong. Mindfulness trains the brain to stay in the present moment. It’s been shown to cause measurable physical changes in the body and brain. Research has shown that among other things, it can relieve the symptoms of anxiety. If you haven’t tried mindfulness before, start with 10 minutes a day. Sit comfortably and pay attention to whatever is happening in the present moment. Pay attention to breathing, the sensation against your skin, what’s happening in your body, what you can hear. The point is to experience without judging or analyzing.
Take a nature walk:
Walking will help clear your head and boost endorphins, which in turn reduces stress hormones. Consider walking in a park or other green space, which can actually put our body into a state of meditation. This is due to a phenomenon known as involuntary attention during which something holds our attention but simultaneously allows for reflection.
Try accepting the anxiety:
Have you ever been sitting in a meeting or unfavourable situation and start feeling cold sweats and racing heart? You have few options: fight the feelings, remove yourself from the situation or accept the feelings and allow the anxiety to sit beside you. Accepting anxiety means simply sitting there and letting the feelings pass. If it doesn’t feel good, don’t force the acceptance. If acceptance isn’t coming easily or naturally it’s OKAY.
Drink Chamomile tea:
If you have a jittery moment, a cup of chamomile tea might help calm you down. Some compounds in chamomile bind to the same brain receptor as drug-like Valium. It can be also taken as a supplement, typically standardized to contain 1.2% apigenin which is an active ingredient, along with dry chamomile flowers. One study found that patients with a generalized anxiety disorder or GAD who took chamomile supplements for 8 weeks had a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms compared to patients taking Placebo.
Hold your breath:
Yoga breathing has been shown to be effective in lowering stress and anxiety. You can try out classic yoga breathing techniques called the 4-7-8 breath. The main reason it works is that you can’t breathe deeply and be anxious at the same time. To do this technique exhale completely through your mouth, then inhale through your nose for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of seven, now let it out slowly through your mouth for a count of eight repeats at least twice a day.
Eat a quick snack:
Almost universally, people get more anxious and irritable when they are hungry. When you get an anxiety attack, it may mean your blood sugar is dropping. The best thing to do is to have a quick sustaining snack like a handful of walnuts, or a piece of dark chocolate, along with the glass of water or a nice cup of hot tea. In the long term, diet is the key to reduce anxiety. Eat a whole foods, plant-based diet with carefully selected meat and seafood.
Get away from your screens:
Every day, most of us face an onslaught of mostly unhappy news. It comes from your TVs, laptops, phones, and tablets delivered relentlessly via countless apps, news sites, and social media outlets then it’s very easy to caught up in the tornado of negativity. Negativity leads to anxiety. The best solution to this is just to unplug. Taking a break from technology is a great way to give your brain some much-needed downtime allowing creativity to flow in. Intentional disengagement with your smartphone may lead to intentional and meaningful engagement with others.
Use calming Self-Talk:
Sometimes you may need to be your own coach. If you feel the flood of nervousness that takes over your entire body, one of the best and most immediate measures you can take is to state in your mind that you must remain calm. Thoughts that you transmit repeatedly and often enough will eventually have an impact on your psyche. In other words, perception becomes reality. By feeding positive thoughts to your brain, you can alleviate stress. Mentally repeat phrases including: “I will get through this situation”, “I am safe right now”, “ I feel anxious right now, but I can feel my heart rate slowing and I will soon be calm”. Self-Talk helps you stay focused on positive to gain control over your emotions. It also must be consciously practised each time a panic attack arises.
Try biofeedback:
Biofeedback is the process of monitoring your body’s physical reactions to anxiety in order to better regulate them. For example, you might notice that your heart is racing when you’re feeling anxious. When this happens, you can monitor your heart rate while taking deep breaths, and watch as your heart rate lowers during that relaxing technique. Biofeedback can help you regulate your breath, reduce muscle tension, and increase heart rate variability. All of these things are correlated with a decreased level of anxiety. A study found that practising biofeedback reduces the participants reported anxiety level over a period of four weeks.
Distinguish between solvable and unsolvable worries:
One of the most common traits among those who suffer from anxiety is an overwhelming sense of worry when faced with challenges people who aren’t inclined to feel anxious are like this because they can immediately distinguish between events or situations they can control and those they cannot. If they determine these events are not within there control, they don’t feel any threat or worry. On the other hand, those who suffer from anxiety feel a strong connection to each problem that arises. If you suffer from anxiety, you may feel as though you want to help or solve each situation. It is impossible though, to assess each situation by asking yourself some basic questions. This will immediately slow down your mind and your emotions and will ease a sense of anxiousness.
Can you directly face the problem that’s stressing you out? Or is an imaginary “what-if” causing you anxiety? By distinguishing between solvable and unsolvable problems stressors, you know what problems to face and what problems to ignore. In many cases, unnecessary anxiety is caused by unsolvable worries. If you determine it is an unsolvable worry that you cannot control, then take solace in knowing this is something out of your hands and you can move on without anxiety. Always remind yourself that it won’t matter in the upcoming months or years from now.
