11 Methods For Calming Your Anxious Mind

If you’re suffering from anxiety, you are not alone. Luckily, there are ways you can calm your anxious mind. Here are a few methods that you might find helpful:

“If you feel an anxiety attack coming on, play catch. You can throw absolutely anything, to a friend, up in the air, bounce a ball, just keep doing it. After a few minutes of this, you will be completely calm. It works every single time without fail. My therapist taught me this trick, and I really hope it can help someone else.” — jade_dragonfly13

“Cut out caffeine if you haven’t already. Many people aren’t aware that it can cause or worsen anxiety.” — FreshStart2018

“I sometimes use a grounding stone. I carry a stone (or rather a piece of crystal, just because it’s pretty) which when I feel anxious I run over in my hand, and focus on all the feelings of the stone in my hand.” — [deleted]

“Sometimes, I find myself in thought spirals about things that are worth worrying about—just not right now. In order to avoid suppressing the thoughts completely, I imagine myself putting them in a box and placing the box high up on a shelf. Then, I set a specific time that I will come back. Every time my mind wanders, I picture the box on the shelf and remind myself it’s not time yet. Later, on my agreed upon time, I come back and deal with my bad thoughts.” — teenytinybaklava

“Deleting social media. It made everything in life more exasperating. It’s amazing just how much of my life it was affecting, going out because I’d bump into certain persons and what if those posts or tags they posted where about me? What if everyone in the world had searched my fb and were laughing at me? I’ve honestly never felt so good since I got rid of it.” — [deleted]

“Breaking down where the anxiety is coming from really works for me. Am I hungry? Am I tired? Overstimulated? Was I drinking last night? Am I feeling defensiveness disguised as resentment? Or am I creating expectations based on fear (and therefore not really relevant to reality)? Once I can name what I am feeling, at least in part, I find anxiety really loses its power and I feel much better.” — horsemanhip

“Staying physically active makes a world of difference. I started running after my depression started evolving into anxiety and panic attacks. You might not notice the first couple times, but once it becomes a part of your routine you’ll find you’re loads happier. I hope that helps!” — cellular-space-cadet

“The best method I learned was to treat anxious thoughts like buses going past a bus stop. Don’t stand in their way and try to stop them or you’ll only get run over. Stand at the stop, acknowledge them, and then just don’t get on. Don’t try and replace the bus with something better or it’ll only cause a crash. Just let the bus come, and let it go. Eventually a bus you’ll like (a good thought) will come along and you can get on that and focus on that. Just let the buses come and go.” — anto475

“Mindfulness meditation. Im working on this right now. Taking 10 minutes a day to meditate teaches you how to clear you mind and focus thoughts. Huge help for depression and anxiety” — Zaalen

“I write it down. What is making me anxious? What needs to happen to get rid of it? I am a pretty avid bullet journal convert. It helps to keep things in place and calms me to know I have space to think it through and I am not going to forget what I had already thought through” — aliciapple

“Honestly, meds. (If you have actual diagnosed anxiety, rather than just the feeling of anxiety) After a few years of counseling, my psychiatrist, psychologist, and I decided I should try non-habit forming anxiety meds. I did, and over a year later, they’ve really helped me to maintain baseline functioning. I don’t think meds should be a go-to, but when all else falls short to help with generalized anxiety disorder, it’s a good option.” — olivedeman