10 Anti-Anxiety Practices to Implement in Your Day
Stress and anxiety causes illness, and illness causes stress and anxiety, and it’s an evil catch-22 that plagues all of us. So, what are you to do about this cyclical dilemma? I put together 10 anti-anxiety practices to start implementing in your life, stat, without medication.
IN THE BEGINNING
My first panic attack was during my freshman year of college at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Since then, I’ve taken anti-depressants (even though I’ve never been depressed), sleeping pills, anti-anxiety meds, and your garden variety of recreational drugs. I’ve seen some great therapists and some bad ones. I’ve juiced, cleansed, fasted, taken herbs, done reiki, tried EFT, CBT, and CBD. And alcohol, the most socially acceptable and celebrated of all the self-medicating anti-anxiety practices.
I TRIED ALL THE THINGS
I have been seeing different kinds of therapists for a long, long, long time, always for anxiety. Before cancer, after cancer—not during cancer (because too many dr. appointments).
Of all the things, these are my top 10 anti-anxiety practices that have helped me heal, none of which any therapist ever told me. How rude!
Although these are fairly basic, most are super sensory. Tuning out of your brain and into your body and then back into your brain is the cycle that you want. If you’re just working on your body, you miss the brain piece, and if you’re just working on your brain, you miss the body piece. And the trick is to get them into peaceful alignment.
HERE ARE YOUR ANTI-ANXIETY HACKS
01. Dress comfortably.
This sounds so obvious, right? It isn’t. If you really pay attention to what’s in your closet, what you choose to wear, and how it actually makes you feel both physically and mentally throughout the day, I guarantee you’ll be surprised. Do this, and then get rid of anything in your closet that doesn’t feel good on your body or that makes you feel bad about your body. Start noticing how your clothing is affecting you throughout the course of the day.
Does it make you get hot easily? Does it make you feel self-conscious when you’re going from sitting to standing? Wearing clothes that feel constrictive or uncomfortable can cause your body to actually behave in ways that it would when it is anxious. Like make your heart race for no good reason. Kinda like claustrophobia, or an itch that you can’t scratch, or not being able to breathe fully and freely.
I’m not saying to toss out your favorite jeans that make your butt look UHMazing, but if the waist is too tight, or if you have to suck anything in, or you have a pink mark on your skin when you take them off, buh-bye.
What about that bra? (Or your panties!)
02. Wear natural fibers only and forevermore.
This helps your body temperature regulate naturally. If you would like to invoke panic in an instant, wear a polyester blend, or anything from LOFT. You might as well cover yourself in a plastic bag and tape it shut on all sides.
Cotton, silk, linen, hemp, wool. All good. Now just don’t go and wash them in some horrible detergent with a bunch of synthetic fragrance and God knows what else. If you’re buying clothing that’s not organic, like regular cotton versus organic cotton, I recommend washing in a simple fragrance-free laundry detergent to remove all of the weird chemicals that they get loaded with during growing, manufacturing, and finishing, before you wear it for the first time. I know, kind of annoying, but important nonetheless!
03. Light a candle and spray on all the organic mists you can muster.
Surrounding yourself with yummy smells can change the entire vibe and your mood in a hot second, and other smells can trigger anxiety. For me, natural gas reminds me of the taste of chemotherapy in my mouth. Isn’t that horrible? Oftentimes I light a candle if I have to light a burner on my stove, and then I’ll put it out once I start cooking.
We have strong sense memories, and so notice if you have triggers around smells that can bring about feelings of anxiety. Be sure your incense or candles are made of good stuff, too. Here is an entire article just on non-toxic, clean burning candles from Mind, Body, Green.
I also love Rosewater & Glycerine water from Heritage Store. You can find it just about anywhere. So good. It has only three ingredients, and you can pronounce them all!
04. Embrace self-care rituals like your life depends on it.
The ritual part is key, since creating a healthy habit will actually signal to your body and your brain, when you do it every day, that it’s time to relax and focus on yourself, like bathing or washing your face. I take baths everyday (don’t judge) with Epsom salts. It helps with chronic pain and my brain, too.
Water is so incredibly healing for me, probably more than anything. It’s another way to trick myself into feeling like I’m in nature, even though I’m just taking a bath in the burbs. Please don’t be friends with anyone who tries to tell you that self-care is selfish. Lies.
05. Listen to music.
It’s crazy to me that not everyone loves music. My mom and dad both drive in silence! What in the actual hail. You can’t be with your thoughts all the time. Music is the absolute best way to stop monkey mind in its tracks and get out of your head. Feel the music, y’all. And dance it out.
06. Just say “no” to news (and other media)
I used to be all about Dateline murder mysteries, until I realized how those crazy stories and imagery were getting trapped in my brain. I want to be thinking about rainbows and unicorns and crap, not murder!
I log onto three different news sources every few days to see what the headlines are, and that’s about it. I’m not recommending wandering around clueless, but you can be “in the know” and still keep your news, and other media consumption, short and sweet. You’ve got better things to do (unless the Bachelor is on. I’m no saint.)
07. Pray, meditate, tell the truth daily.
This could look like prayer or meditation for you, but it’s mostly about truth-telling, or in a nutshell, confession. It is not necessarily a religious practice but rather a spiritual practice. It’s one of the most grace-filled, loving, healing rituals that I’ve done for myself, and that you can do, too.
It has nothing to do with asking for forgiveness (in religion, yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about here). It’s about being honest and moving stuck energy and negative thoughts out of your mind and body, and humbly asking for and calling in help or rescue from God or the Universe (and hence creating new, fresh, healing space in your body and mind).
For me, it goes something like this: “God, I am struggling today. Please show me how to release what I’m holding onto that is unhealthy.” Or “I’m feeling impatient. God, please enable me to see where I’m rushing and not surrendering.”
Or, “Universe, please embrace me in light today, and let me be a light to others. Help me shine even though I don’t feel very shiny.”
08. Set boundaries around rest.
Be alone. Lock that door, girl. It took me a while to be okay with this, and my daughters are a bit older now. They’re 7 and 11. But I just close the door and lock it, and I’m like, mama time for 30 minutes. And they’re just on their own for a bit while I regroup or wash my face, or put on some makeup, read a magazine, write in my journal. They will not die, and they can’t come in, because DOOR LOCKED. Bingo. You’ll be a better mom, wife, girlfriend, whatevs.
Remember, if the plane is going down, put the oxygen mask on your face first. Otherwise, no one gets out alive.
09. Oh as much as it pains to write this: Exercise.
I hate exercise, full disclosure, and “breath work” often causes anxiety for me rather than eliminate it. I have tried all the things around breath work, and to no avail. Exercise though is natural breath work. So is singing. And dancing. And stretching. I recommend all four.
Here is the easiest, fastest, best exercise “plan” I’ve ever done in my life. It’s a 4-minute workout from Zach Bush, MD. This is totally my style. I was sore for a week the first time I did this (I know, don’t laugh). Move that body, girl.
10. Get touchy with yourself.
Not in like a sexy kind of way (or if that’s how you roll, by all means, go for it). I’m talking about like, in a more run of the mill kinda way. Like put your hand on your leg, and notice what your leg feels like. Strange, eh? This is something that Eckhart Tolle in the Power of Now talks about, which I read years ago, but I never forgot that practice. It’s a really effective anxiety reducer because touch can bring you out of a weird head moment. And touching yourself is super safe. Try accupressure. I have used it often for headaches and other physical ailments. Here is an awesome pressure point chart on Healthline.
And touch other people, if their cool with it. I have a hard time being touchy, but when I make an effort to be more touchy, with myself and others, it’s an instant anxiety reducer. Even massaging your neck. Giving yourself a hug. Love that body!
And a BONUS! 11. Garden like a mo-fo.
Okay, so normally I would include gardening on this list. But it’s the dead of winter! Ugh. The thing about winter though is dreaming of spring. If you want some flower inspo, check out the archives of sold-out scarves. It’s fun and relaxing just looking at and dreaming of all of the possibilities. I love nature.