Anxiety Management Techniques For The Now

Relaxation is the antidote to anxiety.  Deep relaxation.  Often. We exist in feedback loops.  What we do affects what we feel and think …and affects what we do.

Practical Techniques

1. Name the Anxiety – put feelings into words either out loud, in your mind, or in a journal. This lowers the anxiety. The more words used the more the symptoms reduce. Participants in a study didn’t expect this to reduce anxiety so the idea of suggestibility is not a cause.  Even extreme words lowered anxiety rather increased it.
2. Face the Anxiety – in nature we avoid what will endanger us. In a situation where our lives are not at risk there is power in staying rather than fleeing. For example, if you experience a panic attack in a supermarket stay until it subsides so that the brain tags that the supermarket is not dangerous. If we flee, the brain the tags that it is dangerous to go back there.  You can tame the anxiety response.
3. Breathe out the Anxiety – no one is attacked by panic. You can tame it.  When we breathe in, we turn on the sympathetic nervous system and when we breathe out we turn on the parasympathetic nervous system.  Breathe in for a count of 7, briefly pause and breathe out for a count of 11 with a sigh, briefly pause and repeat a few times.  Especially powerful if self-haven at the same time. This has the ripple of distraction, havening calms us quickly, and trains the mind that ‘it’ isn’t a threat.
4. Grade the Anxiety – dilutes fear when we give it a number. We become the observer.  For example, about to go on stage or speak to the Board or go to a social event and anxiety is high.  Give it a score out of ten.  Then give another score of what would be acceptable.  Breathe as above a few times until reach the acceptable score.  Only takes a few seconds.  Go forth and conquer.
5. Discharge the Anxiety – powerful antidepressant too. Powerful exercise more often decreases anxiety.  It works with our sympathetic need to flee but in a way that is aligned with the goal.  Erickson famously prescribed a TV presenter do do 50 star jumps before going on live TV. When we have a burst of energy it lowers anxiety.
6. Be AWARE

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