4 Calming Exercises for Anxiety That You Can Do Anywhere

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations and can happen to anyone, anywhere. Some people manage to relax in a matter of seconds, but for others, preventing an anxiety attack can be quite difficult, especially if it happens in a place where you don’t exactly feel comfortable. Luckily, there are a few exercises, or techniques, that will help you relax and regain control over your body and mind. All you need to do, as soon as you identify the triggers, is to try out one of the following exercises.

Try the breathing technique

The most basic exercise that you can try is to focus on your breathing. Simply sit in a comfortable place and put one hand on your chest an the other on your stomach. When you take deep breaths, your stomach should be moving more than your chest. Start inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Observe the way your hands move. You should notice that the hand on your stomach moves, whole the hand on your chest remains still. Repeat this at least 10 times, or until you begin to feel at ease.

Find your happy place

You must have heard a lot of people saying they need to go to their happy place. This is a visualization technique that will help you keep calm when you are feeling anxious. Sit down, close your eyes and start picturing a place that brings you comfort and makes you feel secure. Whether it’s your childhood home or a place that you visited once and made you feel happy, the only thing you need to make sure of is that you will remember that place fast, so that you can go back to it whenever you need it. Think about the smells, the sounds and the way that place makes you feel. Breathe regularly and focus on the place until you start to calm down.

Relax your muscles

When you start feeling anxious, you may notice that your muscles start to get tense. For some people, this is how they realize they are starting to have an anxiety attack. The key is to relieve the tension in your muscles, and your anxiety levels will go down as well. Again, sit down and start breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Squeeze your hand in a tight fist and hold it for a few seconds, while noticing the tension that builds up in your hand. Start opening your fingers and concentrate on the feeling. You will start to feel that tension starts leaving your hand and makes it feel more relaxed. Continue doing this with various muscle groups in your body, until you start to feel relaxed.

Count to 10

Counting is another way to brush out anxious feelings. Close your eyes and start to slowly count to 10. Concentrate on the numbers and nothing else. Usually, until you get to 10, you should start feeling more relaxed, but feel free to continue counting to 20, 30, or even 40, until you start feeling the anxiety leaving your body.