Share your methods of relieving anxiety

I know there is meditation, which is pretty useful, but I am also trying to find additional methods to relieve anxiety in the moment. What works for some of us, might not work for others

I will share a method that seems to work for me

-When lying down or sitting, cross legs slightly below the knees, and with socks on, take one foot and position it so the top of one foot makes contact with the top of the other foot. Then rub one foot with the other foot in a circular motion

I was having an anxiety attack about twenty minutes ago, and I did this just randomly, and it started to relieve my anxiety by stimulating the nerves of my feet. I don’t know why it works, but it does work for me.

Feel free to share your stress/anxiety reducing methods!

I hope my suggestion helps at least one other person here :slight_smile:

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I’m very responsive to smells. I diffuse some essential oils and then do some slow guided breathing. My go to oils are cinnamon or thieves, ylang ylang or lavender for anxiety. It also helps if I play calming music while doing this.

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I know it sounds cliche, but I breathe.

I close my eyes and take deep breaths until I can feel the air lighten around me.

But then again, I’m weird. I literally forget to breathe sometimes from being stuck in my head

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I love lavender essential oil. I use an aroma diffuser as well. :slight_smile:

There’s a special blend I buy for essential oil where it also has orange oil, tangerine, chamomile, ylang ylang, and sandalwood.

I also get hung up on breathing when meditating sometimes as well! Usually I overfocus when this happens

I would love to learn a special breathing technique that helps with anxiety. I have checked out the Wim Hoff method, but I think that breathing technique is mainly used to tolerate very cold water.

Usually when meditating I feel like I am not doing an optimal breathing technique.

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Since I have been sober I have a new addiction which isn’t healthy but it’s better than what I was doing. I can’t tell you how many containers of ice cream I have gone through since July of 2020. But my new addiction is Eddy’s Cookies and Cream ice cream. That and my fur babies is what gets me through my rough times. In October i was put on admin leave during an investigation at work. And when I was home I painted my apartment, colored my hair and spent lots of time with my fur babies. There weee so many times I wanted to throw the towel in and get some dope. But I didn’t want to risk losing all that time and possibly overdose. So I just stayed in the house and got through it. Now I’m back at work and didn’t relapse. I wasn’t going to let 1 persons lies take my sobriety from me so I am starting a new job next Monday.

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There is definitely power in ice cream! :grin:

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I use citrus oils to pick me up when I’m down. That blend sounds amazing!

I talk out loud to myself and answer myself … might sound crazy but it’s better to get that stuff out rather than going round and round with anxious thoughts that are stuck on repeat. I’ll tell myself I am safe, my home is safe, my room is safe, my God is safe like that’s a mantra or something and it makes me feel protected from the things I fear that cause me anxiety. I also pray a lot for peace or for God or the Holy Spirit to take over and it works! Sometimes I need to crawl in my bed and get under the covers and get warm. My bed is my safe place. Or when my cat lays on top of me the pressure relaxes me.

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