Three Ways To Reduce Anxiety.. Fast!
This may sound familiar: The day starts on a positive note, and then suddenly things begin to take a turn.. an ache in the stomach, tightness in the chest, shakiness in the hands, maybe feeling like you can literally hear your heart pounding in your ears. These are just some of the physical ways anxiety can show up in our lives, and over time these symptoms can start cycle of fear that is hard to break free from. When it comes to dealing with anxiety symptoms, it can feel like our whole world becomes off balance. I hope to provide some clarity about the physical impacts of anxiety, as well as some easy strategies you can use immediately to help reduce anxiety symptoms you may be experiencing.
Before we get to skills, it’s important to understand what is happening in our bodies when we’re feeling anxious. This involves taking a closer look at the human brain and how it responds to stress and pressure. When we’re feeling stressed, maybe due to the pressure from work, school, or within our social life, our brain and body begin to respond to what it sees as possible “threats”. These threats could be something like physical danger (like a car pulls out in front of you while driving), but the threats can also be psychological (like having to tackle a big project in school or work). In response to the perceived threat, our brain begins to activate a reaction called the fight or flight response. This response is managed by our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and controls how and when our body reacts to the perceived danger, telling us to prepare to run away, fight, and sometimes even freeze. This process in our brain is actually extremely helpful when we are dealing with true danger, for instance.. if a giant bear was coming to attack us. Unfortunately, our brain is not always very good at differentiating between real versus perceived dangers. Typically, when we’re feeling worried or stressed about something it is uncomfortable, but we may not be in any real danger. However, when we are experiencing stress or something has triggered us to feel worried (like a stressful situation at work, or an upcoming social event we have to attend) our brain automatically begins to respond. For some, this can cause an unnecessary activation of our fight or flight response, which in turn changes some of our internal bodily experiences (like rapid heart beat, skin flushing, and trembling). When we’re noticing some of these physical changes we may become conditioned to believe that this is worsening anxiety, and we begin to panic.
Through the different mindfulness-based practices I will discuss below, we can teach our brain that we are safe, and that we do not need to prepare to run, freeze or fight off any danger. In calming down our internal state, we can then feel more prepared to take on whatever stressors we have in front of us.
Deep Breathing: Breathing deeply and fully is one of the best ways to communicate to our brain that we are safe. Think about it this way: If there was truly a giant bear trying to attack us, we wouldn’t be deep breathing… we would be preparing to fight or escape! So by taking deep and cleansing breaths, we’re really telling this unconscious part of our brain that the bear doesn’t exist and everything is okay. Deep breathing exercises should be practiced often, even when you may not be experiencing distress, so that they are easier to use in times of more serious stress. One exercise that is very easy to practice goes like this:
First, try to drop your shoulders away from your neck. Relax your facial muscles, particularly the jaw muscles. Then empty the air from your stomach by breathing out with a big “sigh”. Next, breathe in deeply, filling the depths of the stomach for 5 seconds. At the top, hold the breath for 6 seconds, and release the breath fully, emptying the stomach for 7 seconds. Repeat this 5-6-7 breath for at least a couple of minutes.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation: This is a great exercise to increase relaxation, decrease stress, and to support you in becoming more comfortable with scanning your body. This relaxation exercise involves tensing and releasing muscles throughout the body. I recommend starting from the feet first, and making your way to the top of your head.
First, find a place where you can sit and relax. When you are ready to begin, tense each muscle group described below. When tensing, make sure you can feel it but that you are not experiencing pain or pinching. Keep the muscle tensed for about 5 seconds. You will then relax the muscle, keeping it relaxed for about 10 seconds.
Squeeze the muscles in the right foot, curling the toes downwards, and then do the same with the left foot. Next, move to the muscles in your calves. After this, move upwards, flexing and releasing the hamstrings and quads, and then the hips and glutes. Next, move to the abdominals, tensing and then relaxing. Try to do the same with your chest muscles, breathing in deeply to fill the chest with air.
Moving to the shoulders, tense the muscles around your chest, and squeeze between your shoulder blades. Try bringing your shoulders up to your ears to tense both the shoulders and the neck (be sure to be careful, especially with the neck!). Next, move your focus to the arms. Bring your forearms up to make muscles with your biceps and triceps, and then move down, making your hands in to tight fists before releasing. Notice the shifts in sensations in your fingers and palms.
Finally, squeeze your face and jaw together, scrunching the forehead and nose, and then release.
You can also repeat this exercise from the top down, starting from tensing the face and ending by relaxing the toes. Try this a few times, allowing yourself to notice the changes in sensations and in particular, the way your muscles feel when they’re relaxed. Continue to practice!
Focusing on the Present: The practice of mindfulness and it’s benefits is becoming increasingly popular. Often times, anxiety occurs when our thoughts are centered on our stressors, especially on worries and fears related to the future, or on experiences that have happened in the past. When we focus our mind on the present, it increases our autonomy over what we can truly control right now, and on what is real. One great way to practice focusing on the moment is to practice being mindful while doing some daily tasks:
Washing the dishes: Instead of just throwing the dishes in the dishwasher (something my husband often scolds me for around our house..), this practice requires taking the time to physically wash dishes in the sink and focus on the act. Here are some of the things I want you to try to notice:
How does the water feel? Is it hot or cold?
How does the soap feel on your skin and hands?
Notice how it feels for your arms as you go through the motions of washing. Notice the smells, like the soap, and what emotion that might evoke.
What do you see? Is it bubbly? Dirty?
Try not to judge, but instead just notice. How is the experience making you feel?
The goal here is to wash the dishes like you are doing a science experiment, full of curiosity.Once you’ve practiced the exercise above, continuing applying it to more of your daily tasks. Getting ready for the day, driving, walking outside. By using your five senses in the moment, notice the world around you non-judgmentally and intuitively.
Anxiety can be a very physical experience for many people, and as we become more attuned to even the slightest changes in our body, we may begin overthinking what’s happening internally. These strategies listed above can be extremely helpful in redirecting our thoughts, and channeling our energy to what we can control. It also helps to calm the mind and soothe the body, which reduces anxiety symptoms in the moment, and over time.
If you are interested in learning more about anxiety and how you can cope more effectively with stress, please feel free to call me at 813-644-9659 or visit my website at nettlescounseling.com to schedule a free phone consultation. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor serving Tampa Bay and I would love to chat with you and see how I can help!