Besides focusing on my breathing, what else do people do to calm themselves down?

There are numerous things that people can do to calm themselves down. When I get wound up something that I try to do is focus on activities or thoughts that are slow. For example, weeding a patch of the garden one weed at a time. Removing all of the objects from a cupboard and putting them back in one by one in an organised fashion. Removing books from a bookshelf and putting them back in order of author one by one. Follow a gap between tiles from one end of a room to another. These all require focus and slow thoughts to achieve these sorts of things. Find something that is similar that you can do in your surroundings and go for gold.

I count down from 100 by 3...e.g. 100...97...94...91 etc all the way to zero. It is a simple task that I can take anywhere and apply whenever I need it to give myself a short break and focus on something else apart from the anxiety. Sometimes if I find it hard to visualise, I will say the numbers silently in my head as well as trying to visualise them.

For me, personally, it always helps to be in an open space and to have someone hold my hand if possible. Also, I find that having a water bottle and taking sips helps because it alleviates some of the focus on breathing. Little nibbles helped me too. Mini eggs or Maltesers were always handy to have. Also, if you feel sick, then mint chewing gum has helped both my friend and I. If you like music then certain songs may be able to calm you down or another form of distraction: my go to ones are origami, knitting, painting.. anything to keep my hands busy and my mind distracted.

Try to focus on your perception. Think about 3 things you can see, then 3 things you can hear, feel, smell. When it works out well, you can look for 5 things or more.

Go for a walk at least five minutes to change for a little while the scenario. It also is very good being in a park, and hear and see and feel how nature has its own process, like the wind, and water, and sun or clouds, the grass, the little bugs, the dogs and cats. If you can't be there, you can imagine it, which is equaly perfect, because it embraces you a sense of belonging, like a litlle meditation.

Count things that you see, feel, and hear. count things that are unchanging. Focus on the feeling and sound of air coming into your nose and into your lungs. Cup your hands over your ears to hear your breathing better.

There are many ways I find useful to calm down. You can distract yourself from what is making you feel so worked up, exercise or writing down what is causing you to feel like you need to calm down may be helpful as you feel a sense of release from what you are experiencing. My personal favourite is the new Tapping method, you can look it up on the internet and receive a demonstration of how it is carried out. It has proven to be VERY successful as it unblocks your energy pores causing you to feel distressed or whatever emotion you are feeling.

Deep Muscle Relaxation is a great way to relax and is especially helpful when combined with deep breathing.

Take a walk in nature or garden, listen to classical or slow music that is enjoyable, look at pictures of someone or something they love.

To calm yourself down, first of all leave the place or things which are triggering your emotional response. Breathing comes far after. If you are in middle of a hot discussion then simple being silent will help situation to cool down. Its the time to slip out of the situation and calm yourself.. Simple things like splashing your face, drinking some water are also very effective.