5 Simple Ways To Ease Anxiety

Anxiety – you can’t live with it, you can’t live without it (lol but….really). Anxiety is our body’s alarm system. It warns us when danger is present, and prepares us to take action to keep ourselves safe. It has been around for so long that it is often an automatic response. This works well if you’re being chased by a tiger, but not so well when our brain predicts threats that cause psychological distress.

I know what it’s like to be so on edge that you feel stuck and trapped in a “what if” spiral in your head. Your heart starts racing, it becomes harder to breathe, and you just can’t seem to focus on anything but the anxiety itself. It can often feel like a rollercoaster that you can’t get off of no matter how hard you try. While therapy can help you get to the root of your anxiety, identify triggers, and learn how to relate to anxiety in a more effective way, there many simple grounding techniques that can help us to feel more centered during anxious moments.

The trick is to reconnect with our senses. By focusing on our senses we can get out of our heads and back into the present moment.

 Here are a few of my favorites:

 1.     Passing an ice cube back and forth until it melts (I find this to be the most helpful for me)

2.     Splashing your face with cold water

3.     Eating something sour

4.     Doing jumping jacks or running in place

5.     Taking a bath or shower

All 5 of these simple activities can help us to quickly get out of our heads and back into our bodies. The next time you find yourself feeling really anxious, try to connect with your senses and see if you notice it becoming easier to regulate and return to the present.

Be well,

Emily