What can I do to lessen my anxiety before an important event I need to attend?

Do something that calms you down, or take deep breathes and focus on you, and realize that all that matters is how you think you did

Take deep breathes, remind yourself that you can do this and imagine turning your anxiety dial down from a 10 to a 5, picture what that looks like. Fake it till you make it, it is okay to act calm and collected on the surface but underneath feel more pressured-like a swan; on top of the water they look confident and smooth but underneath the water they are paddling like crazy. Try to have a 'fiddle object' such as blue tack that you can play with in your hand to try and focus any negative energy from your head (mouth) to your hands. Most importantly believe in you!! You are valued and wanted at the event and you matter.

When someone asks me this, I tell them what I do. When I feel anxious about speaking in front of many people at an important event, I tell myself that each of these people are friends and they want to hear what I have to say.

I like to listen to good music, eat my favorite cup of ice cream, basically anything that will keep my mind off the event that gives me anxiety.

You could find out more about the event that you are going to attend so that you will know what to expect and you can also think of positive reasons why you are going to this event.

Take deep breaths, in through your nose and out of your mouth. Focus on how you're breathing, breathe in your nose for around 5-6 seconds, hold for a few seconds, breathe slowly out of your mouth for about 7 seconds. (relax your mouth, your mouth shouldn't be wide open when you breathe out.) Do this exercise for about 3-5 minutes. If you're able to, you can use www.calm.com and choose a setting that is calming to you. Tips: Don't overthink your breathing, your breathing times don't have to be exact, you can simplify it to "Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose, hold, breathe slowly out of your mouth. Repeat"

Review in your mind or outloud to others what may happen during the event. Go over possible scenarios and brace yourself for them.

Feel nervous before an interview? Do your normal daily chores you do without any exceptions but make sure you are on time for the interview. This will distract you from worrying about it. You can relax by playing a mobile phone game while waiting. Listen to some music. These will all calm your mind.

One thing you can do is to shift your focus to something else. Distractions keep you from thinking about the anxiety. One of my tricks are putting my wrists under icy cold water for a while, and at the same time I go through what I have in my bedroom in my head. I think about random things that make me occupied enough to not think about the anxiety, because focusing on the anxious feelings make my anxiety worse.

To lessen my anxiety, I often think of relaxing things. I'll listen to calming music and I try to think about things that make me happy. Sometimes I just go to the park where I know that it is most likely empty and simply enjoy the scenery. If that doesn't help, I look for someone who can help me take my minds of things and just have a silly conversation.