20 Calming Techniques To Use When You Feel Anxious

Many of us suffer from anxiety, and the pandemic has only made it that much more difficult. We struggle to find the correct coping mechanisms that last for longer than one panic attack. Having healthy and long-lasting coping mechanisms is helpful and essential.

There are many coping mechanisms that you can use to help you calm down when you are feeling anxious and that you can continue to use anytime you feel yourself getting more anxious than usual.

We are going to give you some healthy anxiety coping mechanisms.

Yoga

Doing yoga helps to calm your anxiety because it calms you down at the moment, and it will help you become more mindful so that when you are feeling anxious, you will be more able to calm yourself down.

Cooking

Cooking is not for everyone, but it is an excellent way to help with anxiety when you feel anxious. Focusing on what you need to do to cook your dish, you will not focus on your anxiety.

Meditate

While yoga is excellent for becoming more mindful, meditating is the best way to do it. Meditating will allow you to control your mind and find ways to navigate your intrusive and anxious thoughts.

Make A To-Do List

Often we feel anxious and overwhelmed because we don’t feel that we have control over our lives. However, an easy way to gain control over the situation is to make a to-do list so that you know precisely how to go about your day.

Bubbles

You may have heard the phrase “there’s no angry way to say ‘bubbles’” and this is entirely true. Blowing bubbles is a great way to calm your anxiety down when you feel super anxious as it is a calming activity that allows you to focus on your breathing and let you feel like a child again.

Experiment

Taking on new tasks when you feel anxious can seem daunting and overwhelming, but taking on small experiments that you have been thinking about doing for a while is an excellent way to calm your anxiety down.

Clean

No, this advice is not from your mom. Cleaning really is an excellent way to calm your anxiety because it inspires routine, and routine allows you to feel calmer and more relaxed. Focusing on your cleaning tasks will allow you to focus less on your anxiety.

Furry Friends

Therapy animals have become increasingly popular recently, and this is because petting your animals will help you calm down. The comfort that comes with petting an animal is one of the best ways to calm your anxiety.

Breathe

You are probably sick of hearing this advice, but it is good advice. All you need to do is get a hold of your breathing and regulate it so that your heart rate calms down. Once you have done this, you will feel much calmer overall, and you will be able to catch it before it gets bad the next time.

Color In

As children, we all loved to color in, but we didn’t understand the calming effects that it had on us back then. Coloring in will allow you to have a creative outlet and calm down enough to figure out how best to deal with the things that make you feel anxious.

Read

Reading might be challenging to do at first, but as you start to get into what you are reading, you will start to calm down and enjoy what you are reading a little more. Over time, you will begin to associate reading with being calm and serene, which will make it easier to use it as a coping mechanism.

Sew

Being creative is an excellent way to ease your anxiety as it gives your mind something else to focus on. Sewing is a coping mechanism that is difficult to do but is worth learning because it will keep your mind active and occupied with everything besides your anxiety.

Do Some Gardening

Gardening is a coping mechanism that you should probably only use when you have mastered coping with your anxiety better. Gardening cannot be done regularly, but feeling anxious, tending to your garden, and giving love to it will help you feel calm.

Puzzles

Doing puzzles can help you feel less anxious because it will occupy your mind with something that increases your IQ. You can do a traditional jigsaw puzzle or do other puzzles such as sudoku or crosswords.

Candle Making

Lighting candles will help you relax, but making the candles first will be rewarding and help you ease your anxiety. You can find many YouTube videos teaching you how to make your candles, which will help you relax.

Knit

Like sewing, knitting will not be an easy task to complete initially, but it is a creative outlet, and it will help you calm your anxiety because it requires intricate thought and movement.

Apps

In the age of social media, it is difficult to use your phone or tablet while you are feeling anxious because it can become overwhelming. However, there are many apps that you can use to help calm your anxiety that genuinely help.

Hugs

You might not want to be around anybody when you feel anxious, but tight hugs help calm you down. You can give yourself a tight hug or lay on your stomach to calm yourself down. Doing this will help you to feel calmer and safer.

Hydrate

Everything starts in your gut. Knowing that you need to remain healthy will help ease your anxiety is an excellent piece of knowledge to know. The best way to remain healthy is by healthy eating and, most importantly, hydrating.

Scents

It is common knowledge that most people’s memories are stored in scents. A scent can bring back a particular feeling for certain people exceptionally quickly. For this reason, it is a great idea to find a scent that you associate with being calm and smell that scent when you feel anxious.