Coping With Anxiety: Three simple strategies to soothe the body and mind
- Jodi Proctor
- Mar 14, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 18, 2020
In times of crisis and increased isolation, it is only natural to experience heightened anxiety. Here you'll find a short description of three useful coping strategies for self-soothing when you're feeling anxious.
Please note that all of these strategies are most effective if one takes the time to learn them while calm, and practices them consistently before attempting them during periods of acute anxiety or distress. When anxiety levels are high, it is more difficult to learn or engage new skills.
It is also important to note that different strategies work best for different people – take what is helpful and leave the rest. These sample exercises are only a few of my favourites; there is so much more out there. I recommend taking a look at the resource list at the end of this post for further reading and exploration.
If you're willing to post your own favourite strategies and/or resources in the comment section below, that would be lovely.
1. Practice Breath Awareness:
Mindful Breathing with Extended Exhale
· Steady your breathing to a rhythm that works for you. Notice the length of the inhale, and the length of your exhale. Slowly begin to extend your exhalation by 1-3 seconds. Try this for a short duration of time (a few minutes for example), working your way towards longer periods of practice.
* This exercise calms your central nervous system by catalyzing engagement of the parasympathetic nervous system (commonly described as the rest and digest system), and is recommended for anxiety reduction and emotion regulation.
2. Practice Body-Based Grounding:
Grounding Through Touch:
· Notice the points of contact between your body and the environment; if standing, draw your attention to the support of the ground beneath your feet; if sitting notice the support of the seat beneath you. Settle your attention on the physical sensations in the present moment.
· Soothing touch: Lay one or both hands firmly on your body in a way that feels comfortable to you. Examples of soothing touch gestures: one hand on the forehead gently pressing down on the skin of your forehead; both hands over your heart; both hands over your belly; one hand over the heart and one hand over the belly; both hands pressing into your thighs/knees; and both arms wrapped around yourself in a hug. Soothing touch is recommended in moments of anxiety and stress to soothe and ground your senses.
Grounding Through Sight:
· Find an object within your range of sight that feels pleasant to observe and list five things you notice about that object to yourself; try to notice something you haven't paid attention to before in the space you are in; try to find objects in the space that are your favourite colour; or make up your own visual prompts. Adaptations of this exercise are excellent tools to ground in the present moment while out walking. Drawing our awareness to the sense of sight helps reorient us to the present moment, and can be a helpful refocusing of our attention away from unhelpful patterns of thought.
3. Practice Self-Compassion:
* The following exercise is directly from Self-Compassion.org, a website featuring guided meditations and exercises by Kristen Neff.
Practicing self-compassion, according to Neff, occurs when we bring our awareness to the present moment, recognize our shared humanity (that we are not alone in what we're feeling, no matter how much it may feel we are), and meet our experience with kindness and curiosity rather than judgement. If you've ever felt frustrated with your reactions during difficult moments, or anxious about being anxious, this approach could provide a welcome change.
The Self-compassionate Break:
a. Think of a situation in your life that is difficult and is causing you stress.
b. Call the situation to mind and see if you can actually feel the stress and emotional discomfort in your body.
c. Now say to yourself, “This is a moment of suffering.” This acknowledgment is a form of mindfulness—of simply noticing what is going on for you emotionally in the present moment, without judging that experience as good or bad. You can also say to yourself, “This hurts” or “This is stress.” Use whatever statement feels most natural to you.
d. Next, say to yourself, “Suffering is a part of life.” This is a recognition of your common humanity with others—that all people have trying experiences, and these experiences give you something in common with the rest of humanity rather than mark you as abnormal or deficient. Other options for this statement include “Other people feel this way,” “I’m not alone,” or “We all struggle in our lives.”
e. Now, put your hands over your heart, feel the warmth of your hands and the gentle touch on your chest, and say, “May I be kind to myself.” This is a way to express self-kindness. You can also consider whether there is another specific phrase that would speak to you in that particular situation. Some examples: “May I give myself the compassion that I need,” “May I accept myself as I am,” “May I learn to accept myself as I am,” “May I forgive myself,” “May I be strong,” and “May I be patient” (Neff, 2019).
* I suggest that if it's difficult to find the words, imagine what you might say to a dear friend in similar circumstances, and direct those words toward yourself.
Bringing it all together
It's helpful to bring intentional awareness to the concerns of our lives, yet it's also essential to allow ourselves moments of freedom from worry, and soothing for the emotion underlying our future-oriented concerns. At some point, when you decide you've addressed your concerns as best you can, perhaps take a break and offer yourself a moment of breath awareness (extend that exhale!), soothing touch, and self-compassion. The more consistently you practice these simple skills, the faster they will become habitual coping strategies when you need them most.
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About the author:
Jodi Proctor is a Clinical Social Worker (MSW), Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor (RYT), and Mental Health Educator with a private therapy practice based out of Montréal, QC. She offers online therapy sessions, and is currently accepting new clients.
Additional Resources:
Check out these links for further reading on helpful strategies:
· Cleaning
· Yoga
Anxiety Canada is a great resource, through which you can map out a personalized anxiety plan: https://www.anxietycanada.com
* The site also has many coping exercises in PDF form:
Kristen Neff's website mentioned above, a treasure trove of guided meditations, exercises, and resources on self-compassion practices: selfcompassion.org
The Mindful Way through Anxiety: Break Through Worry and Reclaim Your Life by Susan Orsillo, Lizabeth Roemer, and Zindel Segal
* There is a paired website with exercises from the book: https://mindfulwaythroughanxiety.com
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