Are you feeling anxious right now? Those feelings can sweep over a person at the most random of times. Anxiety can also be triggered by a specific event. In either anxious scenario, you don’t want to let those feelings get out of control. That could lead to experiencing a full-blown panic attack. Before that happens, you need to calm down. That is often easier said than done. Actually, it is rather easy when you can stop what you’re doing and shift your focus. Here are some quick ways for you to calm down when you feel anxious.
Conduct a Body Scan
It will help if you can move to a comfortable spot either sitting in a chair or laying down on a bed or sofa. Start to breathe deeply and focus on each inhale and exhale. Then think about the weight of your body on the surface of that place where you’re sitting. As you continue to slowly breathe in and out, shift your focus to the top of your head and “scan it.” Feel its weight. Then move down your face and the rest of your body pausing at each “region” to focus on that area. All of this can help you relax your muscles.
Get Outside
When feeling anxious in a particular spot, it helps to change that spot. It also helps to get active so that you’re once again shifting your focus. Going for a walk can have major benefits on your mental and physical well-being. That walk only has to be twenty-minutes for you to experience the calming effects.
Rest
The goal is to have good quality sleep. That can help you throughout the day. Unfortunately for some that aren’t always possible. A wave of anxiousness could be put off with rest. Sit in silence and focus on your breathing. You could also try taking a nap. Rest is like “shutting down” for a little bit. We can all use a rest now and again.
Meditate
An extension of your personal body scan would be to meditate. This is a practice that can help you clear your mind and wipe out those anxious feelings. Ideally, you should get into the habit of practicing meditation each day. That will help you “click it on” when you need to outside of your daily practice. There are many apps that help with guided meditations that would be worth exploring.
The more you can use to applying these calming techniques, the more you might find yourself avoiding stress altogether.
