What to do when you’re hit with overwhelming anxiety (and you’re at home)
Too many of us can relate to feelings of crippling anxiety- a racing heart, fast breathing, feeling lightheaded or nauseous or overheated, maybe even a sense of time warping (slowing down or speeding up) or feeling like you’re “out of it”.
Unfortunately, for many of us these symptoms are too familiar, but we don’t have to accept them as a part of our daily lives. There are several proven strategies to relieve these symptoms when we feel them bubbling up (and other strategies to prevent overwhelming levels of anxiety in the first place, but that’s for another post).
These few tips can be used together or separately to help relieve intense anxiety.
A weighted blanket
I swear by weighted blankets. Ranging in size and from 15-30 or so pounds each, weighted blankets can help bring stillness to an agitated body at night, provide extra warmth, and can feel like a big hug when you’re feeling sad or lonely. My favorite benefit of a weighted blanket though is that it is an immediate aid in dealing with anxiety, especially if that anxiety presents as a tightness in the chest or a racing heart.
When you’re overwhelmed by feelings of anxiety, grab your weighted blanket and lay on the floor (a yoga mat is a great option if you have one, otherwise carpet if possible). You can use a pillow under your head or beneath your knees. A secret hack I like to use is to fold my weighted blanket in half long ways, doubling the weight concentrated along my entire body. Avoid having the blanket on your neck, but try to get most of our neck and your shoulders covered.
Don’t have a weighted blanket? make a pile of as many blankets as you can, maybe folding them over to concentrate their weight on your body. Another option would be to take an unopened bag of rice and rest in on your chest, using the soothing weight there to lessen your anxiety.
Keep in mind as you prepare to get under your weighted blanket that you will warm up fast underneath it (especially if your anxiety presents itself as feeling very warm already). Keeping this in mind, maybe crack a window or turn on a fan before you get yourself situated.
Once under the blanket, take deep breaths and concentrate on the weight resting on the part of your body where you experience the most anxiety, feeling the weight gently melting that anxiety away.
Cold water submersion
Taking an ice bath or going into a cold lake or body of water has a whole host of health benefits. It decreases feelings of distress and nervousness, and increases focus, energy and your mood. The cold water literally changes your brain chemistry, increasing production of norepinephrine and dopamine, as well as changing brain activity, increasing function in places of the brain to support focus, improved mood, and less worry.
No, it’s not fun to go up to your neck in freezing cold water. But what is fun is how you feel after- reduced tension in your chest and shoulders, relaxed muscles, improved mood, and a sense of having accomplished something really hard. Over time, that sense of being able to do hard things generalizes to other aspects of life and helps build a steady confidence towards things that used to seem scary or too difficult. Another bonus is that over time, you will start to crave the cold plunges for all their benefits, and it actually becomes less difficult because your body and mind know what to expect- a couple of minutes of difficulty followed by feeling relaxed and empowered!
Don’t have access to an ice bath or cold lake? Take a cold shower! After you finish your usual shower, turn the water to cold for two minutes. Very similarly to if you had submerged in the cold, it will be difficult and not fun, but you will experience the benefits!
As you begin entering the cold, whether immersing yourself or standing in a cold shower spray, focus on your breathing. Keep your breaths long and slow, and focus on the sensation of air entering and exiting through your nostrils (or if you’re in the shower and there is water on your face, maybe breathing through your mouth instead). Remind yourself that you can do hard things and that this is only a couple minutes of discomfort to be followed by really good-for-you benefits. You might even notice that after 45 seconds or so, this breathing and focus on the breath comes more easily and with less discomfort from the cold.
Check out this research study to learn more about the benefits and details of cold water exposure.
Move your body
Movement is an excellent form of healing for both body and mind. Go out for a walk or to the gym, a bike ride or even walking up and down a couple flights of stairs; whatever movement is available to you and seems the most manageable to do with the anxiety that you are feeling in the moment. The goal is to get your heart pumping from physical movement, rather than from the anxiety.
Exercise releases endorphins, the body’s natural pain killer and stress reliever, changing the chemistry in the brain and helping us deal with stress and anxiety better. It’s an added bonus if your chosen movement contains an aspect of mindfulness or connecting to the breath, like yoga. Yoga takes you into your body and out of any racing thoughts in your mind, helping to find mental stillness and calm. Practicing yoga regularly over time even has a building up effect, reducing anxiety overall.
Check out this article from Harvard Med School to learn more about the effect of yoga on anxiety and depression.
Other ways to calm overwhelming anxiety at home
Check out our upcoming article on how to calm overwhelming anxiety in public or at work- these techniques can also be used at home! Also check out our article on EFT Tapping here.
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