Five Ways to Manage Your Anxiety
Have you experienced some of these lately? Sweaty palms, a racing mind, not being able to focus, or that jittery feeling in your body. Those are maybe some of the ways you have felt or seen anxiety to be experienced within yourself or another person. It’s curious isn’t it, how anxiety is often addressed as a mental health struggle, and yet so much of it is experienced in your physical body (somatically)?
Very simply put, anxiety is an emotion often experienced through worried thoughts or an overactive mind: think of your brain when it won’t turn off at 2am. It’s spinning with recurring thoughts. But it’s not only a struggle to navigate within your thoughts.
Your whole self is affected by anxiety: your mind and your body both experience it. Consider that time you had to see the family member you’d had an argument with at the last family get together; or that friend you must have offended because they have been ghosting you for the last week. Your mind may have been spinning with all sorts of thoughts. I wonder if your hands were shaking, your stomach was in knots or maybe you noticed a lump in your throat? Just thinking about dealing with these situations can send you into a bit of a tailspin.
There is no right or wrong way to experience your anxiety. And it doesn’t mean it is easier or harder if you experience it more one way than another.
It is most helpful to be able to notice and acknowledge it – to become aware of how and where it is affecting you. Then, you can begin to heal those parts of you, and not simply “push through”.
One of my favourite authors, Gabor Mate addresses some of the unfavourable results of ignoring or pushing through some of these mental, emotional and physical struggles in his book, When the Body Says No. He cultivates a beautiful awareness of how the human body is so interconnected and how healing can take place.
It’s interesting to consider that you can hold an emotion like anxiety within your physical body, isn’t it?! It may take some time to recognize if this is a new concept for you. It’s quite a different approach, and yet maybe this blog will help you make sense of some of what you (or a loved one) is experiencing. Here are a few suggestions as you consider how to experience some relief and maybe even healing from some of the anxiety you’ve been living with.
Practice breathing. This might sound very simple but regulating your breathing to relax and become more aware of the present moment can help you become mindful of what you are thinking, feeling and experiencing somatically. When you begin to notice your hands shake as you think about particular situations, you can implement some breathing practices to relax. I often suggest box breathing to clients. In this practice, you can envision yourself breathing around a box: Inhale for the count of four (up one side of the box), hold your breath for the count of four (along the top of the box), exhale for the count of four (down the other side of the box) and then hold for four (along the bottom of the box). This sounds very simple, yet many of them report back that with some practice, they have found it to be calming and helpful, especially with sleep during those frustrating middle of the night insomnia moments. Or, practicing before they get out of bed each morning has helped decrease their overall level of anxiety during the day. If you’d like to learn more about this, please visit this article that I found - Box Breathing.
Mindfulness. I love mindfulness because the premise is that you become aware of, and accepting of, your thoughts in a non-judgemental way. This can be very difficult, especially if you struggle to give yourself compassion. To begin, spend 5 or so minutes (box) breathing and focusing on what it feels like as the air enters and leaves your lungs. As you notice your mind wandering to things that happened in the past, or upcoming events gently bring yourself back to the present moment and focus on the air entering deep into your lungs and exiting. Just as with breathing practices, mindfulness is a practice that takes time. Try not to get frustrated with yourself when you find your mind wandering – that’s normal! Gently, kindly remind yourself: “Self, let’s come back to this moment and notice how it feels to take in a breath and release it”.
Calm yourself by engaging your senses. One indication that you may be experiencing some anxious tendencies is that your mind spins or races at a hundred miles a minute. You may not even be able to identify the thoughts racing around in there. Using your five senses can bring you back into some body awareness, so you can focus on being more calm and less aware of whatever feels threatening.
Ask yourself to look around your environment:
What are five things you can see? Spend some time not only naming them, but maybe describing those five things. What does that tree look like outside your window? What colour is it? How tall is it? What do the bark, needles, leaves, pinecones look like? Can you describe them in some detail?
What are four sounds you can hear? Again, focus in on any details you can identify. Is there a high-pitched sound? A hum? A clock ticking? What is that like to notice it?
What are three things you can feel? Really identify texture, sensations you notice as you feel each one.
What are two things you can smell? Take some time to identify if, within a smell there are other smells? Did someone just bake? If you smell muffins, what specific smells do you notice? Bananas? Chocolate? Are the muffins burning?!
What is one thing you can taste? Here, you might even want to put something in your mouth and slowly take note of each flavour you taste, how it affects sensations in your mouth, throat or otherwise.
4. Wrap yourself in a hug.
To help contain some of those bodily sensations. Wrap your right arm around your body, placing your right hand under your armpit and even further around if you can. Then take your left arm and wrap it around the right side of your body. Gently pat your hands so you notice a sensation of being held, calmed, and safe. (Remember to take those deep breaths!). Hugging yourself can lower the level of a stress hormone in your body called cortisol. Wrapping yourself in a hug is also a way of boosting some self-compassion.
5. Move!
Movement is such a powerful practice. It’s not only physically healthy of course, but movement can help soothe your anxiety and give it a place to go/be released. You can stomp out stress, anger, or anything else you might notice is fueling your anxiety. You can connect with nature, if you are walking, jogging or biking outdoors, and you can move some of those emotions through and out of your body. When you move your body in any intentional way, some of the tension being experienced within your physical body can decrease. Also, increasing your heart rate a little can help increase the availability of some helpful anti-anxiety chemicals in your brain!
I hope that you will find one of these practices to be helpful for you and your personality. Take your time. Try them out in different situations, and know that they are not a “one size fits all”...you may have to tailor them so they work for you.
If I can suggest a sixth way of managing your anxiety, of course I’m going to invite you to reach out and try counselling. Connecting with a professional will help you voice some of the areas you struggle with anxiety, process through them and hopefully experience relief while also learning tools for healing. As a trauma-informed therapist who works with individuals struggling with anxiety, I would love to connect with you.
