Instant Calm: 5 Techniques to Manage Your Anxiety in the Moment
Are you facing anxiety again and struggling with it? Don’t worry I have got you covered! Just pay attention and stay focused. Here are 5 effective practices that will help you handle your anxiety in no time.
1. Challenging Your Thoughts
If you are feeling anxious, you need to identify where your anxiety is coming from. There must be some underlying patterns of thought. Look into them, and identify if they are authentic enough to be worried about. It will help you understand what you are worried about and what you can control.
2. Deep Breathing
Deep and focused breathing will help you calm yourself. Inhale slowly through your nose on the count of 4 secs, hold on for 2 secs, and then exhale through your mouth on the count of 4 secs. Focus on the sensation of your breath entering and leaving your body.
Research suggests that deep breathing reduces anxiety in threatening situations, helping a person attain a better state of mind by improving the regulation of adaptive-maladaptive thoughts. It will also prepare your body for the necessary action.
3. Practice Mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness will help you set free from jittery feelings by bringing your attention to the present moment. One way you can practice mindfulness is by using the 5–4–3–2–1 rule, where you can bring your attention to;
- 5 things you can look at,
- 4 objects you can touch,
- 3 sounds you can hear,
- 2 things you can smell, and
- 1 flavor that you can taste.
This technique will help you redirect your attention away from anxious thoughts and into your immediate environment. Studies revealed that even short practices of mindfulness-based techniques can be beneficial in dealing with your anxiety.
4. Self Affirmations
A nice pep talk to yourself can help you handle your anxiety. Research shows that people can cope with a mild level of anxiety themselves without talking about it to their acquaintances or looking for help from a professional.
What you have to do is to validate your feelings and tell yourself that this one feeling doesn’t define you as a whole. Remind yourself what you are capable of and how you’ve handled yourself in the past. It’ll help you gather the energy you need to get back to work. Act proactively and write down affirmations for yourself that you can use in the time of need.
5. Talk to Someone
Talking to someone from your support group will make it easy for you to get relaxed. They can be your family, friends, colleagues, or therapist. Having a conversation with them will make you feel supported, accepted, and reassured. List down people from your support group who you can turn to when faced with anxiety.
Take Away
If you train yourself with the right skills you will be able to handle your anxiety well. Try out the techniques mentioned above, and let me know how did they work out for you. All the best!