3 Mental Exercises for Anxiety to Try Right Now

By Ashley Fernandes, a Life’s Rails Blog Contributor

An anxious mind is an overthinking, cluttered and overall unproductive mind. While it isn’t always easy to ease anxiety right away. there are ways to soothe some of those worries to help you become more focused and calm within just a few minutes. The next time you find yourself in distress, practicing simple mental techniques can bring down your stress levels dramatically so that you can go back to being your usual, rational self.

Anxiety happens to the best of us — even those that paint pictures of endless confidence and bravery. At the end of the day, it is natural to feel anxious from time to time, and there is no shame in feeling overwhelmed or asking for help. So, for the better people who experience bouts of anxiety ranging from mild to severe, here are three mental exercises that can be tried right from where you are sitting.

Deep Breathing

We all know that taking deep breaths while stressed helps to ease feelings of fear and anxiety. However, deep breathing can be much more than that. Breathwork is practiced by people all over the world in the belief that the breath holds life force energy able to manipulate our state of being. For instance, Buddhist monks practice a form of meditation with the breath called Anapanasati, meaning, “mindfulness of breathing.”

The Buddhists breathe slowly and deeply, focusing heavily on the inner body. Doing this, you might concentrate on the feeling of air entering your lungs, passing through your nostrils and into your chest and abdomen. Notice the temperature of the air or any lingering scents. Anapanasati does not require you to visualize anything at all. It simply asks you to be present with the breath and aware of the sensations it arises in your body to develop Vipassana, or, “insight,” and “clear-seeing.”

Conscious breathing allows us to let go of the physical world and the anxiety of the day thus far, connecting us to the inner realm of our being. When anxious thoughts arise, practice Anapanasati to watch your worries melt away and strengthen your connection to your inner self.

Meditation

Perhaps you have tried meditation in the past and concluded that since you could not shut your mind off, meditating was simply not cut out for you. Many people first starting out their meditation journey repeat these same words, unaware that not being able to “stop thinking” during meditation is a completely normal practice for beginners. With time, you will be able to sit within the silence of your mind and access the daily peace that it offers.

Meditation doesn’t have to be long or take up a whole morning or afternoon. Consider trying out a five-minute guided meditation on YouTube or simply taking a few minutes during your lunch break at work to pause and reflect on the day thus far. Meditation is a gentle practice that asks you to observe, connect and explore your mind and body, accepting what has passed, all that is and what is to come. 

One of the most powerful ways to ease anxiety is to find the root of what makes you anxious and meditate on this idea, letting it come and go without any resistance. Feel the shakiness of your limbs and the tightness of your chest. When you recognize the feeling of anxiety within and allow it to stay, it becomes much easier to release it and allow yourself to feel calm in the midst of chaos.

Grounding

Any time you feel anxious, grounding, otherwise known as “earthing,” is a way to bring yourself back into the present moment and bring attention to your core centre by connecting with the exterior. It is a technique that uses all five senses and/or tangible objects to help bring your body to a state of calm. Especially if you are a nature lover and find it easy to connect on a deeper level with the elements of nature, consider grounding to help you move through times of distress.

The outdoors offers us endless ways to reduce stress or anxiety. To practice grounding outside, stand or walk barefoot on the earth to transfer the Earth’s electrons from the ground and into your body. This is a scientific method proven to have several positive effects on your body, from better sleep to reduced pain or stress. Going for a short walk through a natural setting is also a grounding technique, exercising your sense of smell, sight, hearing, and touch as you find comfort in the trees, plants and animals passing by.

This exercise also works in indoor settings, both familiar and unfamiliar. The comfort that comes from observing a room you know well and recognizing the objects you associate with positive emotions can help to calm your anxiety. Another method is naming five items or colours you see, easing some of the stress your brain may associate with an unfamiliar environment. You may also savor the scent or flavor of a meal, or notice the temperature of a piece of ice melting in your hand. The best thing about grounding is that it can be done at any time, anywhere.

Conclusion

These mental exercises are designed for bringing you into a calm and clear state of mind amidst troubling situations that cause fear, stress and anxiety. Use deep breathing, meditation and grounding whenever you find yourself in one of these situations to allow you to complete whatever tasks that need to get done.