Have you ever had trouble falling or staying asleep because of racing thoughts or excessive worry? Ever experience heart palpitations, stomach upset, or profuse sweating when feeling nervous or anxious? Maybe you avoided certain people, places, or activities because of anxiety. If you struggle with anxiety, there are effective ways to decrease anxiety. Although it is normal to experience worry and anxiety at times, it can be really hard for those who experience it on a regular basis. Luckily, there are some things that you can do right now to decrease anxiety.
1.Use a Grounding Technique
Since anxiety tends to be future oriented, meaning it hasn’t happened yet, and it may or may not happen, it is difficult to impact. You can only change things in the here and now. A grounding technique can be used to bring your focus back to the present. One of the most effective ways to ground yourself in the moment, is to engage all of your senses. You take a deep breath, look around, and name out loud:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
2. Belly Breathe
There are many different breathing techniques that can be used to help you feel calmer. One of the best breathing techniques to reduce anxiety is belly breathing. Belly breathing, also called diaphragmatic breathing, can help you relax almost instantly. When you are anxious, the sympathetic nervous system, our fight or flight response is activated. This can give you the needed adrenaline to run when being chased by a bear. Unfortunately, the body has a hard time differentiating between life-threatening and non-life-threatening stress. When the sympathetic nervous system is engaged, blood pressure and heart rate increase, and digestion slows.
Belly breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system which slows the heart rate and blood pressure, and stimulates digestion, producing a relaxed state and feeling of calm. To belly breathe you want to make your belly puff out when you breathe in, and sink in when you breathe out. Sometimes, it is easier to get the hang of it when you lay down and place a book on your stomach making it rise when you breathe in and making it fall when you breathe out.
3. Acknowledge Your Feelings Without Judgment
You are human, and humans have feelings. It is okay to feel any way that you feel. Sometimes when you are feeling anxious, scared, or worried, you might tell yourself that you shouldn’t feel this way. Doing this invalidates how you are actually feeling and adds guilt to the mix. You can acknowledge how you are feeling, it’s just a feeling and you don’t have to judge it. The more you try and minimize or avoid anxiety, the more likely it is to show itself in indirect, often very inconvenient ways. Simply saying out loud how you are feeling validates that it is a normal emotion and helps you to deal with it as such.
The next time worry or anxiety tries to interfere in your life in a negative way, remember there are things you can do that help. If you continue to struggle with anxiety, therapy can help. You can acknowledge how you feel without judgment, use a grounding technique, and belly breathe. Doing these three things can help you decrease anxiety right now.
