It’s only normal to experience anxiety or nerves every now and then. Your mind can be hazy, a confetti of debris. However, whether it’s due to an upcoming exam, a lengthy lockdown, or your natural disposition, there are steps you can take to enter a more peaceful state of mind.
1. Journalling
Journalling is one of the most rewarding and most effective tools to help battle anxieties and retake control of your life. Like how explaining a maths problem to a friend also improves your understanding, writing out your personal problems on paper can help you process your thoughts, leading to introspection and heightened clarity. It may help you come up with a plan to deal with your worries. For example, you could write a letter to someone you don’t intend to send, brain dump all your thoughts, write positive affirmations to yourself, or to draw a mind map detailing your anxieties. All of these can help you to externalise, understand and subdue your inner fog. The journal, like a safe, stores your worries, thoughts, and memories. You can always unlock and revisit it later.
While not my proudest piece of writing (ha, I never would have thought this would be published) it’s an example of how I once externalised one of my many worries. Writing out your thought process can help you to label your anxieties; thereby, discarding them. In this example I wrote about feeling ashamed of my fears. (Caitlin)
2. Going back to basics: looking after physical health
Physical health and mental health are so innately intertwined; our minds and bodies work together as one. Looking after your physical health is part of looking after your mental health. This looks like getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, exercising, and eating well, which all sound simple enough, but how many of us consistently do it? Perhaps that throbbing feeling in your head is due to a dangerous cocktail of dehydration, stress and exhaustion. Sometimes when we start feeling anxious, irritable, or generally more emotional than normal, it’s simply because we’re stressed and tired. Getting a good night’s sleep can work magic for our mental health.
Exercise is shown to improve our mood, help fight depression and anxiety, reduce mental fatigue (which largely comes from spending so much time on technology) and reduce stress. I always notice a distinct difference between how I feel when I’m working out lots compared to not: my mood is elevated, I feel more motivated, and my mind becomes clear. Even just going out for a five-minute walk, soaking up some sunshine and breathing in fresh air can create a massive difference in the day.
3. Spirituality
Not only does physical health contribute to overall mental well-being, but so too does spiritual health. For those who practice a religion, connecting with a higher power through activities like prayer can act as a guiding beacon in our lives. If you're not religious, yet crave that taste of spirituality, you can attempt to reconnect to something bigger by surrounding yourself with the beauty of creation. Realising the sheer magnitude of Earth can be enough to ground you, humble you and give perspective to that math assignment you’ve been stressing over. It can inspire a sense of gratitude - your own all-natural healing power. I’ve come to understand that a single life is only a single page in the expansive novel that is existence. For me this is a great comfort; knowing that when I’m gone, I was part of something greater.
4. Mindfulness
Pausing to tune into our senses and become aware of the here and now can be incredibly powerful for creating a sense of peace and mental clarity. There are several techniques you can use to increase mindfulness on a daily basis. Here are a few of my favourites.
Breathing techniques, such as...
Filling breath: Deeply inhale until your lungs are completely filled, take one my tiny sip of air, then let it all out with a big sigh
Box breath: Inhale for 4 counts, hold your breath for 4 counts, then exhale for four counts
Releasing breath: Inhale for 3 counts and exhale slowly for 6 counts, focusing on releasing as much air as your lungs will allow/as you can
The way you breathe affects your whole body, and taking just one minute to employ a few breathing techniques can make a great difference; it anchors yourself in the present, pulling you away from worries about the past or future. It’s like time slows down and all that exists in the moment is you.
The 54321 method
Identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. When identifying things around you, really delve in deeply with your senses - zoom in on it and notice each little detail, such as the way glass shimmers in the sunlight, or how a green leaf has 3 specks of brown on it.
Energising Air technique
Imagine the air around you is positive energy. Slowly breathe in that air, letting it fill you up completely. Slowly breathe out and as you do, imagine you’re letting out all the negative energy, feelings and thoughts from your body. It’s releasing through your nostrils and evaporating in the air around you. You can also imagine the air is anything - whatever you want more of at that moment. For example, it could be ‘confidence’, ‘charisma’ or ‘creativity’ you’re breathing in.
One night I’d been crying a lot and feeling stressed, so my mind was all cluttered while walking to school the following morning. I randomly did the above and found it works really well as a technique! I’ve used it ever since.
Bookshelf technique
If you have a recurring thought, worry or memory you’re compulsively replaying and want to get rid of, use the bookshelf technique: imagine it becoming a book, then give that book a suitable title and store it away on an imaginary shelf. This thought or image is now stored on that bookshelf, and if you need to access it, you still can, but it’s there for now. Would you reread a book a million times? Probably not. But if you want, you can always decide to reread it once or twice - just go back to your bookshelf.
5. Do something uncomfortable or challenging
Sometimes it feels like nothing is working. In this case, the best option can be to click the ‘reset’ button on your brain. You can achieve this through taking your body and brain to the discomfort zone and forcing yourself to be rid of your anxieties for a brief moment. In a sense, you’ll be creating a very real danger for just a few seconds. Some methods for this are:
Eating a very spicy food
Sprinting around the block
Taking cold showers: by slowly decreasing the temperature in your showers, you can attempt to reconnect with your more prehistoric human instinct. The recreation of instinctive danger can lead to mental clarity in dealing with more 21st century dangers. I’ve found that cold showers are a positive reset before the day even begins, leading me to a feeling of accomplishment. Plus, success breeds success! It’s the perfect kick start to your day (more so even, than that double shot caffeine hit I tend to crave).
Collaborative piece by Caitlin Mansfield and Stella Beckmann
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