Key Takeaways
- Occasional bouts of anxiety and worry may be a sign that you need to take a break and implement some relaxation strategies.
- Adding exercise, meditation, diaphragmatic breathing, or a worry break into your day may help ease your mind.
- If anxiety, nervousness, or worrying becomes excessive or begins to impact your life, it might be time to seek professional help.
If you are feeling anxious right now and need immediate relief, there are simple, evidence-based techniques that you can use to feel calmer and more grounded. Everyone goes through periods of feeling anxious and worried. After all, it’s a normal human experience. Having tools to help you calm your mind and body can reduce the intensity and duration of these feelings.
1. Acknowledge Your Anxiety
Acknowledging when you feel anxious allows you to take steps to ease the symptoms. The first step is to accept that you cannot control everything. To do this, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) recommends putting feelings of stress or anxiety in perspective.
How to Acknowledge Your Anxiety
When you have an anxious thought that won’t go away, ask yourself: “Is it really as bad as I think?” Take yourself through the process of breaking down the thought before jumping to the worst-case scenario. If you still answer yes, ask yourself the following:
- How do I know the thought is true (what is the evidence)?
- Can I reframe the thought into a more positive or realistic scenario?
- What are the chances the thing I’m worried about will actually happen?
- What is the worst possible outcome? How bad is this, and can I handle it?
This exercise is helpful for people who deal with chronic anxiety and worry.
2. Learn How Anxiety and Depression Are Connected
While not a specific strategy, understanding the connection between anxiety and depression can help you determine if what you’re dealing with is temporary or a sign of something more serious.
According to Leela R. Magavi, MD, a psychiatrist and regional medical director for Community Psychiatry, anxiety and depression are intertwined and frequently exacerbate each other. Part of the reason, she said, is that the same neurochemicals are implicated in both conditions.
More specifically, Julian Lagoy, MD, a psychiatrist with Community Psychiatry, explained that since decreased serotonin causes both depression and anxiety, it’s common for someone with depression to also feel anxious at the same time. That’s why it’s critical to acknowledge feelings of anxiety and share them with an expert, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with or are showing signs of depression.
3. Schedule a Worry Break
It may sound counterintuitive when looking at strategies to help you find relief from anxiety, but allowing yourself a short worry break each day can free up your energy to focus on the task at hand. How you set this up depends on your routine.
One way to take a worry break is to schedule a chunk of time later in the day, maybe 15 minutes after dinner, to go through your worries for the day.
Earlier in the day, you can write down any worries or anxieties that creep into your mind. Then, give yourself permission to deal with them later. This allows you to go about your day while still acknowledging that something is bothering you.
Later, when you go over the worry list, make sure to set a timer. Review what you wrote, identify any thoughts that are still causing anxiety, and cross off those that don’t seem important anymore. Allow yourself a few minutes to sit with each concern.
4. Interrupt Your Thoughts
When negative thoughts or excessive worries run through your head, it can feel like there is no way to turn them off. One strategy to try is interrupting your anxious thoughts by doing something else.
While it might not work every time, you may find that taking a break from overthinking can lead to fewer intrusive thoughts throughout the day.
Here are some techniques to try:
5. Practice Mindfulness Meditation and Relaxation
Mindfulness meditation, relaxation, and breathing exercises can help calm your mind and body, which may allow you to feel less worried.
Plus, it only takes a few minutes each day to feel a difference. Use this time to be aware of what’s going on in your mind and body. Start with five minutes a day and work your way up to mindful moments several times a day.
To help you get started, listen to a guided meditation or recorded breathing exercises. Once you feel comfortable with the practice, you will find more focus and awareness throughout the day.
6. Engage in Diaphragmatic Breathing
Engaging in diaphragmatic breathing and registering bodily cues could help you better understand your emotional response to stress. Many people who experience anxiety find it helpful to partake in guided body scan meditations while breathing slowly and deeply to identify how each emotion triggers disparate sensations in their body, Magavi said.
You can use this information to think about how to respond verbally or behaviorally. She recommends using diaphragmatic breathing and pranayama, which is alternative breathing or the practice of breath control.
7. Do Something That Makes You Happy
When you’re feeling anxious and want to take your mind off the stressor, Lagoy says to carve out time to do the things you love, such as:
- Riding a bike
- Reading a book
- Painting
- Catching up with friends
- Taking a bubble bath
- Treating yourself to your favorite food
8. Consider What Your Anxiety Is Telling You
Feeling anxious isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, anxious thoughts could be your body’s way of giving you valuable information. The next time you feel worried, fearful, stressed, or have overwhelming thoughts of dread, stop and take a deep breath.
Instead of defaulting to “this is my anxiety talking,” reframe how you view the situation and ask yourself if your body is trying to tell you something.
Do you need to slow down? Maybe you’re getting sick, and your body is responding to stress. Or maybe there is a real threat, and you need to take action.
9. Talk to a Loved One
Sometimes the best thing you can do is to call or text a friend, partner, or family member. Maybe you just want to vent, or maybe you want to be distracted for a bit. No matter the case, talking to a loved one can help you feel like you’re not alone and shift your attention to something other than the source of your anxiety.
Keep in mind that, even though loved ones mean well, they could make your anxiety worse, especially if they start freaking out too. So, if you go this route, make sure to choose someone who’s known to be calm and won’t add to your anxiety.
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