Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.

Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.

According to Harvard Medical School, 40 million Americans are affected by anxiety symptoms each year. Even if you’re a generally chill human, no one can completely escape the stressors of modern life. We could all use a little help keeping calm and carrying on. Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.

Now let’s be clear: this is a blog post, not a doctor’s office, and clinical anxiety is a real medical condition that should be treated by a physician. But if your stress is only occasional, or if you’re already being treated and could use a few extra coping skills, we can offer some day to day tools to keep anxious feelings at bay. Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.

Without further ado, here are 5 simple ways to deal with feelings of anxiety, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

2. Get physical.

If you’re exercise averse, don’t worry. We’re not suggesting you run a mile every time you feel stressed… although aerobic workouts can release mood-elevating endorphins.

The truth is, anxiety can make us feel trapped in our own minds and even detached from our bodies – some people call this disassociation. Taking a moment to focus on our physical surroundings can distract from that swirling mental vortex and help us to feel more stable. Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.

This might look like fifteen minutes of yoga, or a walk around the block. If neither of those are possible – like if you’re stuck on an airplane – you might try the “54321” technique. That’s where you look around and mentally list five things you can physically see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.

The point is to connect yourself to the physical world, giving yourself a grounding anchor when your brain feels out of control.

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Fight “unhelpful” thoughts with “rational” ones.

This exercise is especially helpful if you’re prone to spiraling thoughts or jumping to the worst possible conclusion. It’s a favorite among cognitive behavioral therapists, but you don’t need to be in counseling to add it to your anti-anxiety arsenal.

It works like this:

1. If you find yourself dwelling on an “unhelpful” thought – particularly catastrophic ones like, “All my friends hate me,” or, “I’m probably getting fired” – write it down. (Use a pen and paper – remember, we’re getting in touch with our sensory side).
2. Write down the feelings you’re experiencing and try to rank them on a scale of one to ten. Maybe you’re embarrassed, or sad, or angry, or just plain anxious. Don’t worry right now about how you should feel. Just acknowledge and honor whatever’s going on.
3. Give yourself ten or fifteen minutes to focus on something else. Try your deep breathing, go for a walk, wash the dishes – preferably something that forces you to change your physical position.
4. Return to your pen and paper and try to counter the subjective “unhelpful” thought with an objective, rational one. “All my friends hate me,” might become, “I actually can’t read minds. But it’s unlikely people who hate me would continue to spend time with me.” Maybe, “I’m getting fired,” becomes, “I work really hard, and someone would let me know if my performance were in question.”
5. Now try rating those same feelings you wrote down after the original, unhelpful thought. Be honest with yourself. Hopefully, your numbers will noticeably decrease!

5. Be freaking nice to yourself.

Treating yourself with basic respect and kindness is not the same thing as giving up accountability. In her book “Self-Compassion,” psychologist Kristin Neff explores how having patience with ourselves can revolutionize our mental health, making us less prone to anxious feelings, better able to cope with mistakes and setbacks, and even more compassionate towards other people. Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.

The whole book is worth reading, but one crucial takeaway is to thoroughly reexamine the way you talk to and about yourself.

For example, the next time you’re beating yourself up over breaking a kitchen glass or something, try reframing, “I’m a clumsy idiot,” as, “I’m a human and I made mistake.” If you feel guilty over skipping a workout, replace, “I’m a lazy trash person,” with, “I must have needed a break.” If you self-deprecatingly “joke” about how unattractive or dysfunctional you think you are… stop!

A good rule of thumb: if you wouldn’t say it to your kids or your spouse or your best friend, don’t say it to yourself. A little bit of kindness – even to yourself – can make the world a less anxious place. Anxious? Here Are 5 Ways to Calm Down Quickly.