How to reduce anxiety immediately

Are you struggling with anxiety and want to learn how to reduce it immediately?  This blog will teach you simple ways to help reduce your anxiety and start feeling better and more in control of your life. 

Symptoms of Anxiety

While anxiety can be helpful in small doses, it protects us from danger and focuses our attention on problems so that we don't overlook them; when anxiety is too severe, it can become debilitating.  Some common symptoms of anxiety include:

-Uncontrollable worry

-Excessive nervousness

-Sleep problems

-Poor concentration

-Increased heart rate

-Avoidance of fear 

To learn more about symptoms of anxiety, click here

2 ways to help reduce Anxiety immediately

Symptoms of anxiety can be debilitating, making it hard to function at school, at work, or in social settings.  While sometimes there may be underlying causes to anxiety that may need to processed in therapy or counseling, oftentimes the body simply needs to return to a state of relaxation to overcome the debilitating symptoms of anxiety. 

Skill #1:  Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is a very common, yet extremely effective skill for managing symptoms of anxiety.  The reason it works so well is that it gets our bodies into an immediate physical state of relaxation that therefore causes the physical symptoms of anxiety to dissipate.  

How it works

I want to keep in mind ‘cadence 4-4-6,’ this means that you inhale slowly through your nose for 4 seconds, pause and hold that breath in your lungs/belly for another 4 seconds, and then slowly exhale through your mouth for 6 seconds.  Repeat this at least 3 times.  If cadence 4-4-6 is not effective, try cadence 7-7-8; it's more challenging but that’s why it's often more effective.  Click here to learn more about deep breathing.

Skill #2: “5 Senses Grounding Technique”

When you find yourself caught up in worries about the past or anxieties over the future, it's easy to get overwhelmed. The 5 Senses Grounding Technique can help pull you back into the present moment and decrease your anxiety.  With this skill, your use your 5 senses (sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste) to ground yourself in what's happening right now around you. This prevents you from getting stuck in the past or dwelling about the future. 

How It Works

Look around and identify:

5 Things You Can See - Observe them in vivid detail

4 Things You Can Feel/Touch - Take notice of the textures

3 Things You Can Hear - Tune into the sounds around you

2 Things You Can Smell - Use scented lotion or essential oils (peppermint or lavender preferably)

1 Thing You Can Taste - Piece of gum or candy and observe the taste

Go through the list slowly and purposefully. For each sense, provide a descriptive sentence or two about the specific things you perceive.

For example:

5 Things I See - A red rubber ball, a framed photo of my kids, a houseplant with green leaves, etc.

4 Things I Feel - The softness of the couch cushion, the coolness of my glass of water, etc.

Conclusion

When your mind is racing with thoughts and fears or you are feeling anxious/overwhelmed, these skills force you to redirect your attention to the present moment. It's hard to continue obsessing over the past or future when you're concentrating on what is actually happening around you, right here and now.  Give these skills a try and notice immediate relief from anxiety.  Oftentimes, anxiety is more deeply rooted and counseling/therapy can be beneficial.  If this sounds like you, you may benefit from a free 15-min consultation with me.