Daily rituals for anxiety

Our anxiety is a really handy thing nature’s come up with. It works as a smoke detector that will always signal when there’s a smoke, that there’s a possibility of a fire. In other words, to avoid possible dangers in certain situations it’ll start encouraging you to be cautious and disciplined.

If someone’s convincing you to spend the evening in a weird crew or offering to sign a strange document, anxiety will tell you that “something smells fishy” and won’t let you commit a reckless act.

It’s quite another thing when this feeling follows you around, and you find a reason to be anxious at any time of day: you’re thinking about an iron you left on on the way to work, about your boss’ every comment on the way home, and about suspicious pins and needles in your left foot before you go to sleep.

Unfortunately, this type of anxiety is not your friend, but your enemy.

When you’re tense all the time, you’re causing harm to:

• your health (constant release of stress hormones, hypochondria, psychosomatic diseases, insomnia).
• work (poor concentration, excessive perfectionism, a drop in creativity, fatigue).
• relationships (always nagging and “jerking” your loved ones: “call me every half an hour”, “text me when you get back”, “check that everything is switched off”).

There’s no universal medicine against anxiety. Of course, we can suggest to “take a breath and go for a walk in the park” after every anxiety attack, but this will not solve the problem. The fact is that in this case, as is the case with any work with emotional discomfort, consistency is what is needed. That is, you need to deal with anxiety every day, and not from time to time, when you’re two seconds away from a panic attack.

We suggest you try to change your day a little, filling it with rituals that will help reduce general alarmed state and prevent the occurrence of anxiety attacks. Rituals of an anti-anxiety morning

Stretches and yawns

A gentle stretch in bed would gradually awaken your body and a deep yawn would enrich the blood with oxygen and chase anxious thoughts away.

Breathing practices

They’ll relieve anxiety and prepare your body for active wakefulness.

Also in bed:

• Inhale on the count of 4, hold on 2, exhale on 4 and hold on 2 again. 
• Run through several cycles.
• Making the bed

You’d be surprised, but the ritual of making the bed in the morning has a peaceful effect: the morning’s barely started and you’ve already done something useful.

Water

Lack of water is stressful for the body, except many of us don’t really feel thirsty and the body sends us signals in the form of inexplicable anxiety and fear. So, a glass of water after waking up isn’t about following a trend, but it is a necessary daily ritual.

Important: for people with anxiety, mornings should be long, should not be rushed, so it’s best to wake up a little earlier to calmly go through all the morning moments. Anti-anxiety rituals during the day

Giving up caffeine

… which isn’t found only in coffee, but also in tea, chocolate, fizzy drinks and energy drinks, and is a leader for production of anxious feelings. So, watch the intake during the day and control your sensations after every portion of the stimulant. If your anxiety increases, decrease the dosage (ideally try to give up caffeinated products completely).

Breathing practices

One more exercise for alleviating anxiety and clarifying your thoughts is alternating your breathing through the nostrils: hold the right nostril with the thumb of your right hand and take a deep breath through the left. At the peak of inhale, close the left nostril with the ring finger and exhale through the right. Perform five such cycles, then switch the nostril. After that, take five breaths through both nostrils.

Self-massage

Anxiety means constant muscle clenches, spasms, weird pains… if you ignore these symptoms completely. The less you know and listen to your body, the higher your level of involuntary anxiety. That’s why you need 5-10 minutes a day for a self-massage just as much as you need to brush your teeth daily.

Neck: bend your head slightly, lock fingers together, grab the back of the neck and sort of tug and pull it up with the base of your palms for a minute.

Feet: roll a massage or a tennis ball first with one foot, stopping at the spots where you feel pain, then with the other. Roll slowly, with slight effort.

Sport

A must, in whatever form! Swimming, dancing, yoga, Pilates, horseback riding are good for alleviating anxiety. For the completely lazy: set an alarm for every hour for a five-minute break: hula-hoop, bends/squats, stretches, weights, step platform.

Aromatherapy

Try using essential oils with an anti-anxiety effect in different ways: candles, aromatic lamps, lotions, sprays, sachets, teas. Your favorites are: lavender, bergamot, sandalwood, chamomile, mint, frankincense. Components of an anti-anxiety evening

Giving up alcohol

It’s not a calming potion, but a stimulator! Same story as with caffeine – it only makes your anxiety worse. A portion of ethanol equals a release of endorphins, which means all’s fine. Then, the effect evaporates quickly, and anxiety comes back even harder. In addition, you’ve got dehydration which as you remember is also cause of anxiety and irritation.

Journal

• A lot has already been said about the benefits of keeping a journal. In your case, it’s a good way to monitor your anxiety attacks, the reasons for them and the consequences.
• Start monitoring yourself in the “Journal” section of our app. And two weeks later, you’ll see significant changes in your state.

Plan

Making a to-do list for tomorrow in the evening would help you settle your thoughts, calm down and also alleviate the anxieties about plans for the next day.

Telephone

The “Do Not Disturb” mode is a must during nocturnal sleep! If you’re still anxious about someone (an elderly relative, for instance), just include their number in the list of people who can call you at night.

Duvet

Scientists have made a startling discovery: the heavier the duvet, the better a person’s sleep under it. A calming effect from such weight is the same as from a deep massage or a tight cuddle. So, a weighted blanket is for you. And finally, once more…

Breathing practices

To relax deeply, alleviate anxiety and quickly fall asleep, use the asymmetrical breathing technique: short inhale and elongated (four-fold) exhale – for instance, inhale on 2 and exhale on 8. Run through the cycle a few times. And… sweet dreams!