Having anxiety can be an overwhelming experience that people struggle to cope through. Fortunately, there are specific exercises developed to calm symptoms of anxiety when they arise. The 10 exercises shared below will walk you through how to regulate your breathing, implement mindfulness techniques, relax various muscle groups, and more – to help you relax when you’re anxious.
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Exercises for Anxiety
Although anxiety can be a normal stress response, it may lead to impairment in concentration, muscle tension, irritability, and more. These symptoms can begin to interfere with your functioning at work, home, or school. Therefore, it’s important to have tools to implement when anxiety pops up. Using exercises for anxiety can help people relax and cope through their symptoms, rather than having to just tough it out when anxiety comes up.
Anxiety is a common stress response that many people experience. You may experience anxiety in specific situations or maybe you have a general underlying feeling of being anxious. Some people experience panic attacks, which are a sudden and intense rush of fear, accompanied by physical symptoms such as difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, or dizziness.
10 Anxiety Exercises
Learning exercises to decrease symptoms of anxiety can be helpful information to have next time you’re experiencing these symptoms. Some of these tools include: regulating the breath through specific breathing exercises, using mindfulness skills to focus on the present moment, and practicing progressive muscle relaxation to deliberately tense and relax muscle groups in the body, and more.
Here are ten exercises for anxiety:
1. Visualization
Our thoughts have a powerful impact on our emotional state. When you’re feeling anxious, often the worried thoughts that come up end up making anxiety even worse. The opposite is true as well – thinking of something positive or calming can have a calming impact on how you feel. Using visualization techniques is one way to do this, by refocusing your mind on something you find relaxing or peaceful.
Can you bring up an image of a calming nature scene, such as a beach or the mountains? Focus on this place and envision it with all of your senses. Bring the picture up in your mind and notice what sounds you would hear, what smells you would notice, or what sensations you would feel. Practicing this is known as visualization and it has been shown to be an effective exercise for decreasing anxiety.1
2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
People often experience muscle tension as part of anxiety. Focusing on releasing this tension through progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) can be beneficial to alleviate not only the muscle tension that comes with anxiety, but also engage your body’s relaxation response which can alleviate stress. Using PMR involves deliberately tensing and relaxing various muscle groups throughout the body.
To practice PMR, start by tensing your feet by curling your toes. Hold this tension for about 5 seconds, then release. Continue tensing muscle groups in the body, moving up the body from your feet. Tense your muscles, without going to the point of straining. Focus on tensing and releasing your calves, upper legs, stomach, arms and hands, shoulders, and face. End this exercise by tensing your entire body for about 5 seconds, then release.
3. 54321 Method
Using a grounding skill, such as the 54321 method can be helpful to redirect your attention when you’re feeling anxious. This exercise involves using all your senses to ground yourself in the present moment and calm your anxiety. To use this skill, follow these steps:
- Look for 5 things you can see
- Focus on 4 things you can touch
- Listen for 3 things you can hear
- Find 2 things you can smell
- Name 1 thing you can taste
4. Square Breathing
During times of anxiety, your body is sent into the stress response. This is typically felt in physical symptoms such as increased heart rate or rapid breathing.2 Because breathing is a key change when your body is experiencing stress, breathing exercises for anxiety can also help regulate it. By using specific breathing techniques, you can help your body switch from the stress response to the relaxation response.
Square breathing, also known as box breathing, can be an effective and easy to remember tool to help your body trigger the relaxation response. The steps to square breathing are:
- Inhale your breath for a count of 4
- Hold your breath for a count of 4
- Exhale your breath for a count of 4
- Hold your breath for a count of 4
Repeat this process 4-5 times, or as many as you would like until you feel calm again. It can help to remember this skill by picturing each step as the 4 sides of a square – hence the name square breathing.
5. Five-Count Breath
Another breathing exercise to regulate your anxiety is known as the five-count breath. To start, inhale your breath for a count of 5. Next, hold your breath for a count of 5. Then, exhale for a count of 5. Repeat this process for 4-5 breaths or until you feel calm. It can be helpful to imagine each step as 3 sides that make up a triangle.
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6. Alternate Nostril Breathing
A third option for focusing on your breath to calm your anxiety is called alternate nostril breathing. Start by inhaling and bringing your right hand up to your face. Use your right thumb to gently press on your right nostril and then exhale out your left nostril. After you fully exhale, let go of your right nostril and use your ring finger to close your left nostril. Breathe in fully through your right nostril. Repeat this process, continuing to switch nostrils.
7. Mindfulness Meditation
Research has found that incorporating mindfulness exercises regularly can be a great way to reduce stress and anxiety.3 Mindfulness has two main components: turning your attention to what you’re experiencing in the present moment and acceptance of different emotions and sensations you observe, without judgment. To start mindfulness meditation for anxiety, find a comfortable place where you can sit quietly for about 5-10 minutes.
Start by turning your attention to your breath, focusing on your inhale and exhale and how this feels in your body. If your thoughts begin to pull you away from focusing on your breath, gently guide your mind back to your breath. Allow these thoughts to pass without judgment or getting swept away by them. Each time you notice your attention wandering, bring your focus back to your breath.
8. Mindful Walk
Another way to incorporate mindfulness regularly is by combining it with another activity, for example, walking. Take a mindful or meditation walk by turning your attention to what you can take in through your senses. What can you see on your walk? Do any colors stand out to you? Can you notice how your body feels at this moment, as you are walking? Pay attention to these details and more, such as what you can hear, smell, or touch.
9. Body Scan
Mindfulness can be used to focus on not just what you observe externally, but also to observe internal sensations in your body. One way to do this is through an exercise known as a body scan. Recent research has shown that practicing a body scan regularly can help reduce stress.4 To practice this, start by noticing sensations in your feet. Just notice what you are feeling, without trying to change it. Continue to observe sensations in each part of your body, moving up to one part at a time.
10. Leaves on a Stream
Leaves on a stream is an exercise often taught in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It is a powerful tool in helping to detach from anxious thoughts and therefore help reduce anxiety. To complete this exercise, begin by picturing yourself by the side of a stream, using all of your senses to picture this.
As you watch the stream, imagine leaves floating in this stream. Each time a thought comes up as you complete this exercise, imagine putting each thought on each leaf. Watch each thought float away on these leaves. Continue this exercise until you are feeling calm again. By practicing this, you can create some distance between yourself and the anxious thoughts that you’re experiencing.
How Is Anxiety Treated?
Anxiety exercises can be highly beneficial. However, for some people these exercises alone may not be enough. If it seems like you need additional help, there are several anxiety treatment methods available. Many people seek out therapy for anxiety to help them manage their symptoms, learn new ways to cope, or discover what the root cause of their anxiety is.
There are a variety of approaches that therapists use, described in more detail below. Another common treatment for anxiety is psychiatric medication. Commonly prescribed by a psychiatrist, medications can help to treat anxiety symptoms and make them less intense or severe.
Therapy for Anxiety
Seeking therapy for anxiety can help you reduce your symptoms and feel calmer. When you start working with a therapist, they will ask you about your current symptoms, goals for treatment, details about your history, and more. Most therapists recommend having weekly or bi-weekly sessions, especially in the initial stages of working towards your therapeutic goals. Each therapist has their own approach to treating anxiety, depending on their training and education.
Common types of therapy used for anxiety include:
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT for anxiety utilizes mindfulness techniques to help people gain psychological flexibility and accept thoughts and emotions as they are. This approach also emphasizes an examination of your values and working towards goals that are in line with personal values.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: CBT for anxiety examines how thoughts, feelings and behaviors interact when you’re feeling anxious. By being able to change your thought or behavior patterns, the goal is to change the emotions you’re feeling as well and decrease anxiety.
- Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): DBT focuses on building skills in 4 main areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Learning and regularly practicing these skills can help reduce anxiety symptoms.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR for anxiety helps get to the root of where anxiety is stemming from. This approach begins with tools to cope through your anxiety, then identifying and reprocessing past events that contribute to present-day anxiety symptoms.
- Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy is a form of CBT, where the emphasis is on approaching feared situations that are anxiety-inducing, rather than avoiding them. By repeatedly completing exposures, the goal is for anxiety symptoms to reduce over time.
- Interpersonal therapy (IPT): IPT focuses on improving relationships, communication, and resolving interpersonal conflict to alleviate overall distress.
- Music therapy: Music therapy uses music as a means to reduce anxiety and improve overall mental health. Common activities in music therapy include listening to music or creating it through writing, singing, or using instruments.
- Psychodynamic therapy: In psychodynamic therapy, a therapist will help you focus on how unconscious emotions and thoughts or past events have an influence on your present-day behavior and symptoms.
- Art therapy: In art therapy for anxiety, a wide range of techniques including free painting or drawing, pottery, photography, or using coloring pages for anxiety can help relieve anxiety symptoms. Art therapy is useful even if someone doesn’t feel artistically inclined.
Medication for Anxiety
At times, medication may be recommended for anxiety because of how intense or severe symptoms may be. If you are working with a therapist, they may refer you to a psychiatrist if it seems that anxiety is impacting your ability to function in important areas of your life. A psychiatrist can recommend medication for anxiety that can help decrease the intensity of what you’re experiencing. There are potential side effects with each medication and it is therefore important to receive ongoing care from a medical professional when taking psychiatric medications.
There are several common medications that are prescribed for anxiety. SSRIs and SNRIs are both commonly prescribed to treat anxiety symptoms and considered first-line medications to treat anxiety.5 Examples of these medications include Zoloft, Celexa, Cymbalta. Additionally, benzodiazepines, such as Xanax or Klonopin may be prescribed for anxiety symptoms. This class of medications is typically used in the short-term as there are risks of dependence and addiction with benzodiazepines.
When to Seek Therapy for Anxiety
It’s never too early to start seeking therapy for your anxiety, however, you may be on the fence about deciding to start. When considering starting therapy for anxiety, two areas are important to exam: distress level and ability to function.6 Essentially, how upsetting are your symptoms when they occur and how much do they impact your ability to do activities you want to do or need to do.
If distress level or inability to function is high, consider seeking therapy. Individual therapy sessions are typically done one-on-one with a therapist to address your current symptoms and goals for therapy. Sessions can be done in person or online, depending on personal preference. Some people may prefer to start therapy online, for example if anxiety interferes with your ability to leave your home. Starting with an online therapist directory can be a great way to start your search to find the right therapist that you feel is a great fit for you.
In My Experience
In my experience, I have found the above exercises to be helpful in managing anxiety symptoms. I regularly teach these skills to my clients and receive positive feedback on their effectiveness in reducing anxiety. If you’ve tried out some of these exercises listed above and are continuing to experience persistent anxiety, I strongly encourage you to seek out the help of a licensed counselor. Anxiety can be daunting and overwhelming, but with the help of therapy, you can overcome it and live a full and calmer life.
Additional Resources
To help our readers take the next step in their mental health journey, Choosing Therapy has partnered with leaders in mental health and wellness. Choosing Therapy is compensated for marketing by the companies included below.
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