Methods for Calming Down, Relaxation & Feeling Better - Please Share!
Hey! I thought it would be cool to have a thread where people can share their ways of feeling better during a bad bit of anxiety! Feel free to share anything that may have helped you!
Something that I really like doing is breathing exercises. They help me calm down before performances and they might help you too! One I really enjoy is either puckering your lips as though you had a straw in between, or folding your tongue if you can to make a smaller air stream. When you breath in, the air should be cool. Hold the air for four seconds, then breath out for eight seconds or as long as you can, whatever comes first. The cool air helps to cool down your body.
Another method I like is tensing up different body parts, starting up at your head, and working your way down to your toes. Tense up each of your body parts for five seconds, and then release. When you have finished tensing and relaxing your toes, tense up your whole body. Relax. This exercise can increase your relaxation. I like to focus on the sensations around me while I do this. The sound of the heater or air conditioner. The quiet buzz of cars outside my window. The sound of birds chirping in the morning. The feeling of the floor on my feet, or my breath coming in and out. This also helps me fall asleep when I have a busy mind.
I hope some of these helped you! They help me calm down a lot! As I said, feel free to add any exercises you like to do to calm down! Stay strong!
I think meditation can help a lot too
I just want to say that I too think meditation can help a lot. When I'm not mindful or don't meditate, my mind is a complete mess filled with anxiety, stress, suicidal thoughts, sexual frustration etc, etc. As soon as I shut down the computer, turn off the mobile and sit down and mediate in a quite and peaceful place, focusing on my breath or my mind and trying to very gently fill my mind and body with calmness and peacefulness, I realize that the negative thoughts and emotions vanish. It's like magic. It's true that they reappear again and again through the meditation, but by being mindful of that and guiding my attention back to the meditative state,my mind and body again becomes calmand peaceful.
I try to think and be gentle to myself and others and also just accept and observe my negative thoughts and emotions rather than trying to fix them. In other words, being mindfully aware and just beand trying to actand think in a gentle way, seems to help me handle anger, irritation, anxiety, depression and frustration slightly better. These negative emotions and thoughts have not ceased, nor probably ever will. They appear just as frequently as ever, but by using thisgentleself-compassionate approach and just letting the negative thoughts and emotions bewithout feeding them, I seem to cope better. Having tried unsuccessfully to "fix" them for some 30 years, through antidepressants, therapy or by ruminating ortrying to suppress them, it's a sort of relief to not fight these negative thoughts and emotions anymore, but just let them be. If anything, I would describe it as a slightly kinderway.
I try to think and be gentle to myself and others and also just accept and observe my negative thoughts and emotions rather than trying to fix them. In other words, being mindfully aware and just beand trying to actand think in a gentle way, seems to help me handle anger, irritation, anxiety, depression and frustration slightly better. These negative emotions and thoughts have not ceased, nor probably ever will. They appear just as frequently as ever, but by using thisgentleself-compassionate approach and just letting the negative thoughts and emotions bewithout feeding them, I seem to cope better. Having tried unsuccessfully to "fix" them for some 30 years, through antidepressants, therapy or by ruminating ortrying to suppress them, it's a sort of relief to not fight these negative thoughts and emotions anymore, but just let them be. If anything, I would describe it as a slightly kinderway.
Rebecca, Thank you for this! I am always surprised by the number of people who send me question marks when I ask what their coping skills are, good or bad. It's an important topic for us all. Personally, I enjoy getting lost in my favorite old movies and literature, writing, taking jacuzzi bubble baths with a glass of wine, yoga/meditation, and helping others. Relaxation is such an important part of our overall wellness. I also feel distraction is vastly underrated when we're feeling overwhelmed. Thanks for posting! ♡
No problem! There are so many different coping methods out there, and some people don't realize that what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for everyone else. Finding one's thing can often be a long trial and error process, and a combination of different methods. So, hopefully this helps someone out!
Thanks for contributing! :)
When I am sad I visit 7 cups or watch stand-up comedy on Youtube. I like to eat, so that helps.
Eat a chocolate! That will make you feel good, less tense and anxious.
I know this is quite a random sort of an idea however it works for me. When my anxiety is really going, I start talking faster and doing things faster. It builds and builds from there.
Therefore, what I try to do is things that are meticulous and that you can't do quickly. Things like weeding an area of the garden, rearranging the books on a bookshelf into ascending order of author or height; re-organising a kitchen cupboard. I find these sorts of things really still my mind.
Something to consider :)
Thanks for mentioning this @Roadie! I've done this in the past, slowing down and doing each step deliberately and mindfully, whether it be doing the dishes or brushing my teeth. I'd forgotten how useful it was at calming anxiety, thanks for the reminder!
No problem. Be sure to share this if you come across anyone else who needs it :)
Roadie,
This literally happened to me last night. Thanks for reminded me I'm not alone in the universe. Be well.
Thanks @RebeccaEmily, they are really useful :)
Something else that is useful is to find peaceful pursuits in your downtime. Things like art, painting, writing, playing music.. things with a slow and even pace.. they can be especially effective..
Even learning a new skill can require so much focus as to necessitate you focusing on it so much that you clear your mind.
for me it is long walk while listening to music. or...writing. i am writing novels (wanna be a writer) so i can do everything with characters from my book/s they can be sad...they can die (i am am sad/anxious)but they also can have beautiful moments in their life...all depends on me and it is my kind of therapy..my own one
Hi @Octopus! :)
I'm interested in you mentioning that you write. It's something about writing that just seems to work, doesn't it? For me, it has to be pen and paper to slow my brain down. Is it the same for you or do you write on computer instead?
I get the slowing the brain down bit, writing stuff down always does that to me its like at first I'm trying to catch up but then at the right moment everything just syncs up and I'm not as anxious or scared when I first started but at peace. Writing on a keyboard makes me feel more in a hurry to put stuff down, sometimes it's exhilarating but not very relaxing till it's done XD
I love pen and paper! We should tart a writers forum or wannabe writers club!
Seconded! :)
Yes! definitely . I'm a wannabe writer as well haha