3 Ways to Cope with Anxiety on the Spot
Anxiety is a struggle. These days it can be very difficult to settle down. You feel pressured to continue with the hustle of our every day lives with work, kids and relationships. In order to enjoy your life, find peace and well-being, it’s necessary to calm your nervous system. Most people want to attack their anxiety and therefore end up with a constant loop of self-attack about how there is something wrong with them, they’re failing or they can’t seem to ever get comfortable. Here’s the problem: if you keep pushing the anxiety or panic away or attack yourself for it, it gets bigger! It’s like telling yourself to stop thinking of a purple jellyfish—now you can’t stop thinking about it, right?
So here are 3 easy ways you can work with your anxiety on the spot to find relief in the moment:
Awakening your senses using a simple mindfulness technique
Stop what you’re doing and find a comfortable seat in your office or home (also perfectly fine for anywhere outside or even while you’re walking.) Find comfortable objects like pillows and blankets you love to offer yourself soft support. Start with your eyes and sense of vision to orient to 5 objects in the room that are pleasant or neutral — that pretty bookcase in the corner, your blue vase, the hardwood floors, etc. Move to hearing — listen for 5 pleasant or neutral sounds in your environment. Then touch— touch and feel 5 pleasant or neutral objects. You can try with smell or taste though much harder! If you have pleasant smells in your home or office, feel free to use them — such as flowers or essential oils. If this feels difficult at any point, take slow, deep breaths that exaggerate the exhale—count out for 5 blowing the exhale out gently.
Envision yourself in a safe, comfortable space
Take a moment to settle down, settle your body and surround yourself with comforting objects (again, pillows, blankets, soft things.) You can lay down or sit up. Imagine that you are in the safest and most comforting place possible—this can be real or imagined. Surround yourself with everything you need and all the people that offer you love and support. It’s OK if this is hard or difficult; if that’s the case, surround yourself with one person, object, animal, that makes you feel comforted, safe and supported! Stay there for at least 5 minutes and let the visuals develop naturally in your mind’s eye— it’s ok if it doesn’t come easily or if you’re blank— just return to the practice. When you feel like you’ve stayed there long enough, move to how this feels in your body. Where do you feel most safe and comfortable? Your eyebrows? Your ears? The bottom of your feet? Your body doesn’t know any differently than what the mind tells it to feel — if you were to think of disaster after disaster, fear after fear, your body will of course follow by moving into an activated state. If you are practicing safety and comfort in your mind, this can reorient your body to present moment safety and comfort.
Do some light meditation
This doesn’t have to be a formal practice. This can be on the spot. Whenever you’re having an anxious thought, label this as “thinking” and return to a deeper breath. If your breath is bothering you, then just leave your breath be as it is. If it’s really bothering you and you’re finding very little relief, place your attention on the bottom of your feet—this can even be while you’re walking, just attending to the sensation of feeling your feet touch the floor as you move. If you are having heavy body sensations throughout any of this, whether you’re sitting or walking, then offer these sensations care, lightness, kindness, a “warm blanket.” This may be in the form of kind words like “I’m here with you”, “It’s OK to feel this way” or it can be in offering and sending “visuals” to the sensations—such as light or a blanket or a hug.
The state of anxiety is fully workable. It’s understandable why so many people, on a global level, are more anxious than ever. However, the way to begin is with a caring attitude of support and understanding. With a lens of compassion, the whole feat is much more manageable.
