How to Cope with Anxiety If You Can’t Attend Therapy
Anxiety strikes at the most inconvenient of times. It can hit you at any point of the day or week. When you are coping with any number of anxiety symptoms, it can be challenging to know how to effectively treat them.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just time our anxiety attacks in correlation with our next therapy session? I guess if we had that kind of control, we could just tell anxiety to stay away all together. However, what happens when you haven’t started attending therapy sessions?
Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do on your own to help you find some relief from anxiety when it strikes. Practice makes perfect, so try to practice these ahead of time. That way, you aren’t panicking trying to remember how to do it or if it works for you.
Breathing Techniques
If you know what it feels like to be anxious, then you more than likely understand how it affects your breathing. Your breath can become shallow and rapid.
One of the best ways to calm your mind and body down is to practice different breathing techniques. The key to this is finding what works best for you.
The most common breathing technique is through rhythmic breathing. To begin:
Exhale for a count of four.
Hold the air for a count of four.
Inhale for a count of four.
Hold the air again for another count of four.
Rhythmic breathing can help you counteract the negative effects of anxiety directly through your breathing. Overall, your breathing always affects the rest of your nervous system so this is a great way to begin!
Grounding Techniques
If you are noticing that your thoughts are beginning to race and spiral out of control, you may want to try grounding techniques.
The most popular grounding technique is to use your five senses to distract your thoughts. You can do this by:
Identify one thing you can smell
One thing you can see
Something you can touch
One thing you can feel
Something you can taste
By using each one of your five senses, you are distracting your mind away from the negative thoughts going through your mind. You can view it almost as a reset button!
Journal In Between Sessions
You don’t need to be a professional writer to receive the benefits of journaling. It is something that is for your eyes only, unless you choose to share it with your therapist.
If you find that you are having a particularly bad anxiety day, try journaling. Write about what you are feeling, the thoughts going through your mind, or what is making you feel anxious. Don’t worry about perfect grammar or spelling everything exactly right. That’s not important here. What is important is that you are getting out of your own head and releasing the emotions and thoughts that are affecting you.
Spend Some Time In Nature
Nature is highly regarded as a great way to combat feelings of anxiety.
You can use nature as a free resource to help ease anxiety. Breathing the fresh air is not only therapeutic but is scientifically proven to help with anxiety. When you are feeling anxious, try to get outside and go for a brief walk if you can. You’ll get some physical activity in; plus, nature always has a way of distracting your mind. Instead of only focusing on your anxious thoughts or feelings, it gives you a distraction of listening to sounds, seeing sights, and smelling the crisp air!
Anxiety can feel overwhelming, but there are definitely ways you can help yourself! Know that you aren’t alone with your struggle, there is always a way!
