Here are some things that help calm my nerves when I’m feeling anxious or tense:
Become a fortune teller
This is a strange one, but I think to myself “What’s the probability that this thing I’m anxious about is going to happen?”
And, often, the mere fact that it’s often* not 100% is enough to calm me down.
*Actually, it’s never 100%!
I also set a date to review the prediction and I often get perspective at how much I was catastrophising.
This perspective often helps me when a similar class of anxiety comes to visit me later.
Become a life-long learner
If an anxiety or a stressor is on the horizon, I try to fall back on the following perspective:
If I stay curious and flexible, this will be a great opportunity to learn about myself and the world.
Get Out
Sometimes, nothing beats fresh air.
You may remember from the previous newsletter, the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. However, I feel like it bears repeating here.
Start walking, and use the following exercise to drop into the present moment:
Notice the following:
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can touch
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
Repeat until you feel the richness of the present moment.
(I got this from The Science of Stuck, written by Britt Frank.)
A few more details on this here
Bonus: Another Walking Unwinder
As you walk, pay attention to the corners of your vision.
As you move through the world, notice as things disappear.
For example, you may notice the letter box disappear from your field of view as you pass your neighbour’s house.
Also, try to notice as things appear
You may be walking over the crest of a hill or turn a corner and see a whole new world of scenery open up in front of you.
This one might be a bit difficult to understand textually so I was thinking about making it into an audiotrack.
If that’s something that interests you, please hit REPLY so I can gauge interest.
To keep this nice and short, I tried to keep this to only the tools that I use regularly to unwind my tension. But I also have a reserve bench of tools that I can pull out if the old faithfuls above don’t get the job done.
If you like this, you might also like:
how I unfunk my life
unwinding anxiety like 5-4-3-2-1