Simple Tools to Lower Your Anxiety
Anxiety. We all have some of it.
Basically, anxiety is your body’s warning system that something stressful is going on. And often it gets tripped up when tiny, vaguely-reminiscent-to-the-past thoughts/feelings/events crop up.
So what can you do about it? Many things, but here is a short list:
Move away from thoughts. We often consider our thoughts something that will help to find a SOLUTION. However, anxiety-inspired thoughts most certainly are not the stuff of actual problem solving. Step away from the thought hamster wheel.
Pay attention to your body. When we get amped up, we want to steer clear of our body. After all, that’s where the alarm bells are going off. However, stepping toward our sensations is a great way to actually reduce our anxious feelings.
Calm spot. For some folks, the breath is a great place to settle down. For many others, not so much. After all, anxiety often feels like a tightness in the chest. I suggest trying for a spot in the body that feels calm, or simply not freaked out. No need to grab for a meditation cushion. Just bring your attention inward, see what you notice, and ask yourself if there’s a spot that feels neutral or calm. Hang out in that place for as long as you can. Come back to your spot as needed during your week.
5 senses. For some folks, they can lower their anxiety by focusing on their senses. I, for example, often find myself focusing on where my body is in space (vestibular/proprioceptive sense) and placing attention on what I hear. As long as I am listening to what sounds are present in my environment, my thoughts can’t sneak in. For others, focusing on what they see helps out most, sometimes gazing gently at a calming object. Experiment and see what works.
Reframe thoughts. Often thoughts ramp up the body’s stress, and you think they’re the real you telling it like it is. What if your thoughts are just one part of you, not the “real” you? What if you could observe the many processes going on within you, letting your thoughts exist but not run the show? Which brings me to…
Grow your observing mind. Anxiety can feel like it’s so big and so strong, but spoiler alert: it’s just a scared part of you that really wants a calm grown up around to make sure all is well. That’s where your observer comes in. A part of you that notices the scared anxious bit and says, “Hey buddy, it’s going to be okay. No need to fret. We’ll figure this all out.”
Accept that you might not be able to do this by yourself to start. Just because we know what to do doesn’t mean we can actually do something on our own at first. This is especially true when we’re dealing with an out of whack nervous system, which spontaneously does its thing regardless our logical left brain or our executive functioning. What I notice with my therapy clients is that at first anxiety can feel so big and so scary, it takes another person to make sure things don’t go haywire. And it’s after some support in-session that they can practice these previous steps solo.
Reach out. Talk to your friends and family to ask if they have suggestions for a therapist. If I have space in my practice, we can see how we might work together (genoa.hamiel@gmail.com). Change can happen, and quickly, and maybe you just need a little extra support from a therapist for starters.