Help with strategies to calm down

[Juliecloud]

I am so anxious just now. I feel constantly on edge, I’m shaking and I feel sick. I need to calm down and I’m trying to think of techniques I learnt in CBT to stop this but I’m struggling.
What do people do to help themselves when they are like this?

Headspace app. It's guided meditation, there is a paid version but the first bit is free. Getting out for a walk helps too.

Oh and |I totally hear you about anxiety at the moment. It's the uncertainty. Just focus on what you can control and live in the moment. I know it's easy to say, but try not to focus on the future.

Is it being triggered by anything you're reading or looking at or thinking about? Because if so, step one is to stop looking at whatever it is and distract yourself. Give yourself a moment to gather yourself after closing down the page.

Step two, pick some other helpful things:

• Just watch your anxiety and see how it changes and responds to your distraction or walking away from the news
• Jump up and down or wave your arms aboeg or just get moving in some way
• Find a safe place in your home that feels protected and sit there for a while with a distraction or just focusing on your breathing
• Breathe, focusing on your abdomen expanding (the Breathe app may help)
• Gather up comforting and distracting items to use, e.g. Soft blanket, photos, scented candle, encouraging letter to yourself, music, puzzles, gadgets to occupy your hands (e.g. mini transformers toy) - having things for different senses can be good
• Write down how you're feeling or doodle or scribble
• Scrunch or tear up paper
• Avoid caffeine but a warm drink can help even if it's just sitting and holding a mug rather than drinking it
• Exercise or a walk or standing on your doorstep or by an open window
• Listening to birdsong (you could start learning to identify the birds by their song, so when the birds aren't singing you could listen to birdsong online and listen for the differences between species)
• Be kind and gentle to yourself rather than berating yourself for struggling
• Keep gently bringing your focus back to the present moment where you are rather than the future or the news (or whatever is worrying or bothering you), pay attention to how your feet feel on the floor or the sensation of your chair supporting your body
• Write down the good things you've managed to do today and that you can be proud of achieving, however small
• Hug a hot water bottle or one of those microwaveable things or hug a pillow or soft toy

Distractions...

Music, tv, puzzles, exercise, colouring, puzzle apps or colouring apps, five minute crafts, YouTube videos on calming things (e.g. Whales!), reading or an audiobook, researching a random topic (like the history of sandwiches), cleaning, drawing (there are online tutorials on how to learn to draw various specific things you could try), jigsaws...

Reassure yourself, tell yourself it's understandable you are anxious but you're ok and you're caring for yourself.

Audible- Ekhart Tolle's 'the power of now', amazing

That went a bit longer than I intended but you might find compiling a list of strategies to choose from actually helps too - you might feel more in control and therefore less anxious if you have a long list and can actively choose which strategy feels most helpful at any given time rather than feeling restricted to always using the same one or two.

Gives you a bit of power that way.

I have OneNote set up with a reminder list of all the strategies I find helpful and then different pages with different useful things, links, images, letters to myself, etc etc. That way it's basically always with me.

Whether you write a list on paper or create something electronically the process of taking control to create it might be soothing.

Thank you. I have downloaded headspace. I will look into the other suggestions. I like the idea of being able to identify birdsong.

I am scared that I will catch corona. That is what has kicked this off.

Hello, I got really worried and quite agitated a couple of nights back after spending time on the news and on here and reading the fears of other people. It really helped me to just totally avoid anything CV-related. Puppy videos on facebook were a good distraction to just think about lovely things. Headspace has worked well in the past for me.

I also recommend the thread with pictures of spanish soldiers in very tight shirts

Lots of us are struggling with that fear, if it makes you feel any less alone.

Good luck with the birdsong one if you give that a try... I don't know many yet but I had a nice moment this morning when I heard one, recognised it and then went to look out the window and was able to congratulate myself for getting it right. All achievements count!

Breathing in for 4 counts and breathing out for 4 counts, should help whenever you feel anxious or panicky.
Placing your right hand over your heart and left on your stomach will help you to self regulate.

Any worries you have you should write them down so they are out of your head.

If you suffer with insomnia/ anxiety at night , when you are lying down scrunch up your muscles in your feet for 3 seconds and then release, then your calves for 3 seconds and then your thighs.
Scrunch hold and then relax all your muscles of your body working your way upto your head, then you should start to feel relaxed.

Stay safe and well.💐

I've started to do a qi gong video on YouTube every day, standing tai chi if you can manage it is great but the seated version I do also has the benefits of gentle exercise, increased blood flow and relaxation.

I spent a hour today taking photos in the garden in the sunshine - closeups of the first primroses and blossom.
It was an hour off worrying, worked really well.

I can't help you in the moment as I am awake at 4am crying with anxiety BUT I do know it's ok to feel this way and that lots of people are feeling this way x

Virtual hug x