5 Ways to Calm Down When You're Anxious AF

We all enter a time in our life where we're feeling a little overwhelmed in a certain situation at work, or where we're feeling like completely losing our minds! But how do we deal with it? What do we do to keep ourselves calm?

There are many ways we can keep our cool during stressful times, whether it just takes a few seconds during that moment, or a few minutes to step away. So here are a few tips to help you cope!

Breathe.

Just breathe it out.

I know everyone says "oh just breathe" or "calm down", and that's the last thing you want to hear when you're in the middle of a panic attack! But taking 3 deep breaths when you feel like you're at your breaking point has many therapeutic benefits. This will help slow down and help re-center your mind. Doing this sends a message to your brain, causing a positive feedback loop reinforcing your fight-or-flight response. You can take just a few seconds to take a few deep breathes or take a few minutes to step out and de-stress your body.

Follow the 3-3-3 rule.

When you're feeling like freaking out, take a minute look around you and name three things you can see. Then, name three sounds you hear. Finally, move three parts of your body, your ankle, fingers, or arm. Whenever you feel your brain going 100 miles per hour, this mental trick can help center your mind, bringing you back to the present moment, and take your mind off the things that are stressing you out. This simple activity disengages the mind from the anxiety causing thoughts and helps us get back to reality. This little exercise helps retrain your brain.

Stay away from sugar.

I know it may be tempting to reach for something sweet when you’re in that moment, but that chocolate bar can do more harm than good, as research shows that eating too much sugar can worsen anxious feelings. Instead of reaching into the candy bowl, drink a glass of water or eat protein, which will provide a slow energy your body can use to recover. Reaching for sugar for someone prone to headaches and migraines may trigger one, and that's the last thing we want when we're stressed out!!

Challenge your thoughts

Part of being anxious or angry is having irrational thoughts that don’t necessarily make sense. These thoughts are often the “worse-case scenario.” You might find yourself caught in the “what if” cycle, which can cause you to sabotage a lot of things in your life.

When you experience one of these thoughts, stop and ask yourself the following questions:

• Is this likely to happen?
• Is this a rational thought?
• Has this ever happened to me before?
• What’s the worst that can happen? Can I handle that?

After you go through the questions, it’s time to re-frame your thinking. Instead of “I can’t walk across that bridge. What if there’s an earthquake, and it falls into the water?” tell yourself: “There are people that walk across that bridge every day, and it has never fallen into the water.”

Have a centering object.

When you're feeling a breakdown coming or starting to feel a little overwhelmed, find an object that you can grab to help release that negative energy. Whether it's a meaningful piece, smell, or a place, take a couple minutes to just focus on that and release those negative thoughts and feelings.

These few exercises are known to help take your mind off the thing that is stressing you out and center yourself. Next time you're feeling an attack coming on try one or more of these, it's a trial and error. But you'll find what really works for you and you'll be able to prevent attacks from happening.