Wondering how to calm your anxiety? Maybe you feel like a ball of nerves lately. Or perhaps you have a hard time falling (or staying) asleep because of racing thoughts. Maybe feeling anxious has become a routine part of your day, or is making life feel especially challenging or overwhelming. If any of this sounds like you, then keep reading! We’ve put together eight great tips on how to calm your anxiety, and ease your mind.
Eight Tips for Calming Your Anxiety
1. Every day, schedule time to calm your mind
This may look different for everyone. Some people like to pray, some people meditate, and others may do yoga to help ground themselves. Regardless of your preferred method, take time every day, perhaps in the morning or right before bed, to purposefully calm your mind. Focus on something other than what is going on immediately around you.
There are plenty of free apps that can help with meditation and deep breathing techniques. For example check out the CALM app. You can choose from 100+ stories and more to help you drift off to sleep or reduce stress and calm anxiety. HAPPIFY is another app that has activities and games to help overcome worries, decrease stress, and calm anxiety.
2. Practice self-care
Schedule time every few days for self-care, which is a great way to calm your anxiety. Self care allows you to clear your mind and refocus your thoughts. Go for a walk, read a book, take a hot bath, or do a hobby you love.
Another great way to practice self care and thereby calm your anxiety is by streaming a fitness class such as yoga. Yoga can help reduce stress while also giving you a great workout. It can help bring your mind to a place where you can focus on your breath and movement instead of any worries or anxious thoughts. YouTube has plenty of free yoga videos. Or if you belong to a gym, give one of their yoga classes a try.
3. Start a gratitude journal
Another way to calm your anxiety and see a brighter side to things is to keep a gratitude journal. When you feel your worry or anxiety rushing in, try grabbing a journal or piece of paper to write down three things that you are grateful for, or that brought you joy. When it gets too hard to remember three things to be grateful for, re-read the ones you have already written down. We love this gratitude journal from Amazon!
4. Remember your circle of control
Another way to calm your brain when your anxiety hits is to practice the circle of control. First, draw a circle. Everything inside the circle is what you can control. This includes your emotions, your relationship with your children and partner, your love and kindness, and others.
Next on the the outside of the circle, put everything you can’t control. Sometimes, that may feel like a lot of things. This is where the hard work begins.
Once you have made your circle, take a minute to close your eyes and picture putting each item outside the circle in a box or in a balloon. Then allow that box to move further and further from you, or allow the balloon to float away until it is no longer visible. These are the things we must try to let go of. Obsessing over the things you cannot control only makes them harder to deal with. Focus on the things you can control right now.
It’s helpful to understand the things in life we can control, and respect the things that we cannot. By understanding the difference between these, we can begin reducing our anxiety level. Anxiety and worry can come into our lives for many reasons. It is okay to have these feelings about the things we may not be able to control! However, letting that worry and anxiety completely control you is another thing.
5. Take it one day at a time
With things changing day to day, focusing on the here and now can be a helpful grounding technique. Focus on what you need to do in the moment to re-center your brain. Make time blocks for each part of the day as a flexible schedule for the morning, afternoon, and evening. Chelsijo.co has tons of ideas on how to refocus your brain for one task, one day at a time.
6. Talk about your feelings and seek help when needed
When your worry and anxiety feels like it is too much to handle on your own, reach out to a trusted friend or family member. Sometimes simply talking with a loved one can go a long way towards calming your anxiety. Meanwhile, holding in your anxious feelings can sometimes only make things worse.
Finally, if it gets too hard, reach out for help to a licensed professional. A counselor or a therapist can provide a safe and supportive environment, and can help you learn how to better manage these feelings on your own. There are also several free therapy apps out there to help when you need to calm your anxiety, such as What’s Up.
If you are contemplating suicide or self-harm, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
7. Incorporate movement into daily life
Getting your body moving can certainly improve mood and reduce anxiety. And movement does not have to be lifting weights, taking a vigorous run or hitting the gym. It can also mean taking a walk in nature, dancing around your kitchen, or stretching in the morning or before bed. What’s important is that you establish a habit of moving your body each and every day. This has been known to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve overall mental health.
8. Fuel your body with proper nutrition
When the body has a balance of macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) it feels better! In addition when we have a good relationship with food, we also experience less anxiety. Read more about how food can impact your anxiety.
We are here for you!
Although some days may be difficult, hold steady! Realize that it is okay to be anxious, but there are healthy ways to calm your anxiety and nerves. Through this, you will be stronger and more resilient.
Would you like to work on your wellness? Schedule with one of our experts to explore the practice of mindful living and stress reduction. Learn more about the services we have available to help you with your health and wellness by visiting our Nutrition Counseling page.
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