Simple Ways to Calm Anxiety When It Feels Overwhelming

If you already know what your anxiety is about, here’s some practical tips on how to help you deal with its cognitive, emotional and physical manifestations.

• Splash some cold water on your face

The cold water on your face and your hands/wrists will drive your nervous system to slow down for a moment in order to focus on this one stimulus of the present. It will drag your mind’s attention to it, since it creates a subtle physical ‘shock’ sensation.

• ‘Park your thoughts’

A client of mine recently used this expression in a session and I have been using it since then.

In case it’s difficult to shut down your mind even at a moment when you can’t do anything about the things you’re spiraling around, write down that thought spiral in your phone’s notes. Then designate a time in which you will attend to those worries/chores.

Example: ‘can’t stop thinking about the email I sent where I forgot to attach the document and I didn’t mention the date of our next meeting, I should have done it already, as well as replying to X and Y on Slack about the report for next week…’ - these are tasks that I can do tomorrow, first thing in the morning when I start working.

Sometimes our mind keeps on repeating the same things over and over again in hopes we will give them an ending (meaning, a solution). Also if we fear we might forget them. Let’s park those worries in a specific corner of our mind and define a time to focus on it - thus providing an ending to the loop.

• Slow down, look around, take it in

Anxiety is the alarm of our perceived threat system. But it might be running on overdrive. Slowing down your pace will help your nervous system to recognize there’s no threat to watch out for. You can slow down the way you drive on your way back home, slow down the walk you’re taking with your dog, and the way you begin preparing dinner. This will allow you to absorb the information your senses are capturing of your environment in the present.