Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts
Anxiety can be overwhelming and let's face it, many times debilitating, affecting both your mental and physical well-being. Luckily there are skills that can be learned to assist in calming those anxious thoughts.
Mindfulness practice has long been used as a skill to help with keeping a person grounded in the present moment and calming anxious thoughts. Mindfulness is great at helping to shift perspectives, increase emotional resilience and reduce patterns of thinking that bring on anxiety and stress. See blog post ‘Beginner’s guide to Mediation’.
There are many distress tolerance skills that can be learned to work with coping through intense emotions. These are very useful when in a crisis situation or facing overwhelming anxiety. The first skill we will learn is called a TIP skill. TIP and following skills come from the therapy modality Dialectical Behavior Therapy or DBT. TIP stands for Temperature, Intense Exercise, and Paced Breathing.
Temperature: Splashing cold water on your face or holding an ice pack can quickly reduce emotional intensity. The sudden change in temperature can help your body shift out of an anxious state.
Intense Exercise: Engaging in physical activity, even for a short burst, can help reduce anxiety by releasing endorphins and improving mood.
Paced Breathing: Slow, deep breathing can calm your nervous system. Inhale through your nose for four counts, hold for four counts, and exhale through your mouth for six counts.
The second DBT skill we will learn is a self soothing technique using the five senses. This skill is useful in moments when you have overwhelming feelings of anxiety or stress. Here is how we use the self soothing skill.
Sight: Look at something calming, like a beautiful picture or nature scene.
Sound: Listen to soothing music or nature sounds.
Touch: Hold a comforting object such as a soft blanket or take a warm bath.
Taste: Savor a favorite treat, such as a piece of chocolate or savory item.
Smell: Use a pleasant scent, like lavender or vanilla, to help calm your mind.
Any one of these skills can offer a quick way to reduce the intensity of the anxiety you are feeling, they can prevent the escalation of your anxiety turning into a potential harmful behavior, as well create emotional resilience. The longer these skills are practiced the more efficient you will become in managing intense emotions and preventing escalation of anxious feelings.
Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts behind the use of these skills, or benefits you may have noticed for yourself.