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Anxiety: The Guide to Relieving It (Volume 1)

A Helpful Guide to Dealing with Your Anxiety

By Daniel MiPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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You're trying to go about your day but anxiety keeps attacking you and pinning you down. You try to push it away but it only attaches itself on to you and comes on even stronger.

In those moments where you don't know what to do, here are some really useful tips on how to calm down your anxiety.

Taking Slow, Deep Breaths

While deep breathing during moments of anxiety is overstated, not many know how to do it properly. Breathing the wrong way will reduce the effectiveness of this tip. Here's how to deepen your breathing:

  1. Sit or lie down straight.
  2. At a slow pace, breathe in through your nose and slowly expand your abdomen (stomach) with your breath.
  3. Gently breathe out through your mouth.
  4. Wait 1-2 seconds for rest then repeat.

To know if you are breathing deeply, place your hands over your stomach. If your hands are not really rising when you breathe in, then you are not breathing deeply. Make sure that the rising/falling of your hands is noticeable as you breathe in and out.

Practice this as much as you can, even if you aren't anxious. You'll realize how satisfying and calming deep breathing is. If you have trouble pacing your breaths, follow along with the video down below.

Feel like this is too fast? Set the video speed to 0.75x by clicking the gear for a more relaxed experience.

Meditation

Once you've mastered deep breathing, you are ready to move on to meditation. This is also something that takes practice.

Meditation is really useful as it helps with developing your ability to regulate emotions. When your mind is going a thousand miles an hour, meditation is your natural Xanax.

You'll need to set time aside daily for meditation, however it's nothing more than 5-30 minutes a day. Here's the simple way to meditate if you're just beginning:

  1. Put on some meditative music (optional).
  2. Find a place with no distractions.
  3. Get into a comfortable position.
  4. Start by closing your eyes and taking slow deep breaths.
  5. Focus on nothing else but the air flowing and exiting through your lungs (how does it feel?).
  6. If thoughts start flowing in, shift your focus back to your breathing.
  7. Do this for however long you think is necessary.

If you are planning to test out meditation, try doing 5 minute sessions. If you start to get the hang of it, try increasing the length to 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, and so on. I wouldn't make it any longer than 30 minutes, as we don't always have that much time.

Positive Affirmations

One might notice that when they are anxious, negativity will consume them. Constant negative thinking attracts even more negative thinking. This is the law of attraction at work. Whatever we focus on in our lives will be attracted to us. Therefore, if you focus on things that are positive, good things will come your way.

We can achieve this state of positivity through positive affirmations. These are essentially phrases you repeat to yourself that describe how you would like to be. This is something that needs to done daily. Watch this really helpful and soothing video by Jason Stephenson for a great guided example of positive affirmations.

End Thoughts

As an individual who struggles with chronic anxiety, simple tips like this can be invaluable. It is hoped that anyone who reads this can get something from it. If this does well enough, a second volume of this guide will be written. Hold it together everyone, you can surely do it! Don't give up!

anxiety
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About the Creator

Daniel Mi

A boy who is good at writing about things that interest him. =D

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