5 Simple Techniques to Help Calm Anxiety
Below are 5 simple techniques to calm your anxious mind. Life can get pretty hectic. These techniques are not listed in any particular order and each one separately will have a positive impact. It will take some effort on your part. Life is stressful and at times and we can all use different techniques to ease anxiety. If you are having suicidal thoughts please call or text 988 https://988lifeline.org/
At the Wellness Garden Tool Shed, we want to encourage you to take action using your personal power by giving techniques and offering solutions that may help in achieving those goals. These aren’t new techniques by any means, but maybe our way of presenting these steps will resonate with you. After all, there are many self-improvement or self-help teachings out there, but everyone has a unique style of teaching.
Control Your Breath
Deep breathing will lower your heart rate immediately. You can try it with your smart watch while exercising to test this. Breath deep through your nose for a count of 6, then exhale for another count of 6 through your mouth. According to studies published in show that deep breathing can lower cortisol(stress hormones) levels.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5455070/
Turn Off Media
There is nothing worse than the news. It is designed to create fear and anger. I’m not suggesting you live with your head in the sand, but 24 hours of depressing news and can’t be good for anyone’s psyche. With a million shows and streaming platforms, find something uplifting or a movie that you can get engrossed with to distract you from your current negative thoughts. Or read a book.
Social media platforms are designed to compare yourself with others so you don’t leave the platform. You are the product. It’s okay to look at photos of family activities and fun stuff, but as soon as you start thinking your life isn’t as good as the ones showing up in your newsfeed, turn it off. Studies have linked screen time with depression. If you have Netfix, check out the Social Dilemma. You have the choice to feed your mind with positivity or negativity.
Go Outside
Go outside in nature. For city dwellers, find a nice park. Grounding yourself is something we don’t do as much in this day in age. If there isn’t a park close, go in your backyard, patio, or porch. Surround yourself with plants. Connecting with dirt and the earth gives a calm grounding feeling. 15 minutes is doable and will make a difference in your state of mind.
Exercise
The first ten minutes seem to be the hardest part of aerobic exercise. But once you can get passed those ten minutes, it seems to easier to find your rhythm. Plus, you feel so much better when you’ve finished.
Research suggests that exercise isn’t considered in mental health. Not only will you sleep better which is important for cell repair in your body and brain. More blood flow means more oxygen and nutrients. Dopamine, adrenaline, and endocannabinoid are increased with physical activity and are the chemicals associated with feeling happiness and confidence. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/infographics/mental-health-benefits-exercise-and-physical-activity
Express Gratitude
It is impossible to control spontaneous thoughts, especially when you are overwhelmed, stressed, etc. But what you can do, is stop for a minute and force yourself to think of something you are grateful for, or a joyful experience.
Your brain may fire fast, but you can only have one thought at a time. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between the past and future, it only thinks in the present. Think of your brain like Google, Alexa, or Siri. When you give it a subject to look for, it shows you everything about that subject and gives you more than just one site on that subject. When you give your brain a task it will solve it. That was what it’s designed to do. So when you ask your brain to find things to be grateful, your brain will search for that exact thing.
The Choice Is Yours
We can’t wait for the star to be aligned perfectly for us to be less stressed. There will always be something or a time that will create anxiety in us, so it has to start with some simple tactics and strategies to calm down the monkey mind.
These are simple tools in theory, but will need to take effort on your part in order to feel better. As we age, so do our loved ones. Being 54 I’ve experienced many of life challenges and triumphs which I talk about in my memoir Manifesting Me: A Story of Rebellion and Redemption. https://wellnessgardentoolshed.com/product/manifesting-me-a-story-of-rebellion-and-redemption/ Some experiences will produce more stress and anxiety than other and will seem impossible to change, but you do have choice and now 5 techniques to calm your anxiety in 15 minutes.
“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” —Dan Millman
