Introduction
Anxiety is a common emotion that we all experience occasionally during stressful scenarios. But if you start feeling anxious every single day, the perpetual worry and panic are termed anxiety disorder.
Severe cases of anxiety require appropriate medical attention and home remedies to calm the mind. Without proper intervention, anxiety can affect your physical and mental health and hamper your day-to-day activities.
What Are the Common Symptoms of Anxiety?
The first step towards treating anxiety is to identify the symptoms of anxiety. By observing the occurrence of these symptoms, you will be able to determine whether you are suffering from them frequently. Here are some of the common symptoms to look out for
- Perpetual or frequent nervousness, panic, or worry
- Heavy breathing
- High pulse rate
- Fatigue or weakness
- Sweats and tremors
- Sleeplessness
- Gastrointestinal issues
- A constant fear of future scenarios
- Desire to escape events or situations that trigger anxiety
If you experience any or all of these symptoms often, you may be suffering from anxiety. Try to keep a note of what triggers these symptoms, when these usually occur, and how often they creep up. This will allow you to identify anxiety triggers and beat them. You can seek advice on how to calm anxiety at night or during the day.
Anxiety disorders can be of different types. Generalized anxiety disorder refers to persistent worry or panic about routine or everyday activities and scenarios. Other forms of anxiety disorders include separation anxiety, specific phobias, social anxiety, and panic disorder. Most tips on how to calm anxiety can help you with all these disorders because they calm the mind and eliminate the root cause of anxiety.
How To Calm Anxiety Quickly?
Learning how to calm anxiety is important as anxiety can lead to chronic health issues otherwise, including depression, chronic pain, gastrointestinal issues, poor quality of life, and even suicidal thoughts. Treatment for the disorder is crucial and imperative.
While extreme anxiety may require psychotherapy and medication, home remedies work for mild cases. There are also herbal remedies for anxiety that can calm your mind quickly. For example, aromatherapy and herbal supplements are some recommendations for how to calm anxiety at night.
Stress management techniques like maintaining a gratitude journal and practicing breathing exercises can reduce the severity of anxiety. Similarly, eliminating stress-inducing substances like alcohol and smoking can minimize your anxiety attacks. When you are experiencing an anxiety attack, you will need some instant remedies to manage it.
The following tips on how to calm anxiety attacks will help. Firstly, move to a quiet and open space if possible. Then, try to breathe deeply, counting to ten with each breath. Tell yourself that everything is going to be ok. Once you regain control of your thoughts and breathing, your anxiety will dissipate quickly. This technique is very useful when you are suddenly hit by anxiety in a public place.
15 Tips on How to Calm Anxiety Naturally
Whether you are looking for remedies on how to calm anxiety at night or tricks to reduce anxiety quickly, these tips will help.
1. Give Up Caffeine
Caffeine can induce and aggravate all forms of anxiety. It can cause jitteriness and can even lead to a panic attack. Therefore, avoid drinking coffee right before a stressful scenario. One of the best tips on how to calm anxiety is to replace coffee with calming chamomile tea or a healthy green juice.
2. Practice Mindfulness
If you are wondering how to calm anxiety naturally without any food or medicine, mindfulness is the trick. Instead of worrying about future scenarios, soak in the present. Think of the things that you are grateful for at the moment. This will calm you down as you realize that things are not as bad as your brain is tricking you into believing.
3. Write Down Your Feelings
Repressed emotions and worries can often pile up over time, leading to an anxiety attack. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing your feelings with your friends or family, write them down in a journal. Also, if you want to know how to calm anxiety at night, this is a great solution. Just jot down all your fears and worries on paper. This will unburden your brain and you will be able to sleep better.
4. Exercise Daily
According to studies[1], regular exercise can curb anxiety through various mechanisms. Mental Health Using Exercise helps to generate positive neural responses to anxiety, encourages brain growth, and also serves as a distraction from your worries. Moreover, it releases endorphins in your system that alleviate stress. Try to include some form of exercise in your daily routine to keep anxiety at bay.
5. Listen To Music
Music truly heals the mind with its therapeutic benefits. Listening to soothing music is one of the most effective tips on how to calm anxiety. Instrumental music or calming nature sounds work well too. Not only can these soothing sounds crush anxiety within minutes, but they can also help you fall asleep at night.
6. Stay Away From Sugar
If you are wondering how to calm anxiety attacks, drop that chocolate bar right now. Yes, contrary to what you might think, sugary foods and drinks will not help your anxiety. They may provide a temporary burst of energy due to a spike in your blood sugar levels. But as soon as the blood sugar levels fall, your mood will become foul again.
7. Avoid Alcohol
As per studies[2], excessive consumption of alcohol can increase stress and hamper the treatment of mental illnesses. Alcohol triggers stress in the body, which can lead to a full-blown anxiety attack. Also, those who start drinking from an early age are more prone to developing anxiety disorders over the years. So, avoid alcohol as much as possible.
8. Drink Water
Water is a humble yet effective solution to a myriad of health issues. Even when discussing how to calm anxiety naturally, water deserves a mention. When your body is dehydrated, it generates palpitations, which can cause an anxiety attack. So, make sure to carry a water bottle with you wherever you go!
9. Choose Positivity
How to calm anxiety at night? The first step is to stop imagining the fake scenarios in your head that are keeping you up. Instead of focusing on what has and can go wrong, focus on the good that has happened. Envision great things happening to you in the future. It will help you get the best sleep.
10. Take a Relaxing Bath
The best advice on how to calm anxiety at night is to take a soothing bath. Turn bath time into a relaxing experience with calming salts, aromatic candles, and bubbles. This will not just uplift your mood but also relax your muscles. It will help you immensely to achieve quality sleep.
11. Avoid Procrastination
Procrastination is often the mother of anxiety. When you have a stressful task to deal with, you will keep postponing it out of fear. However, in your head, you will keep playing that scenario over and over again. So, finish that stressful activity today instead of worrying about it every day. This is one of the tried and tested tips on how to calm anxiety.
12. Use a Fragrance
Wondering how to calm anxiety attacks at home with aromatherapy? Add some calming lavender oil to your bathwater, diffuser, and pillow cover. The scent will calm your senses and prevent panic attacks. It will also help you fall asleep easily at night. You can also choose other essential oils that you find soothing.
13. Find a Mantra
The list of tips on how to calm anxiety will be incomplete without positive affirmations or mantras. List down phrases that instantly uplift your mood and crush anxiety. Some examples are “I am in complete control of my life” and “Everything will be alright”. Repeat these mantras whenever you feel anxious to instill calmness in your brain.
14. Practice Yoga
Yoga improves your physical strength, promotes mindful breathing, and calms your mind. It is not just an exercise for your body but also a therapy for your brain. Yoga is recommended to everyone struggling with poor mental health. This is one practice that can help anyone looking for ways on how to calm anxiety naturally.
15. Take Deep Breaths
The greatest advice on how to calm anxiety attacks is to take deep breaths. This may sound too simplistic, but it works like a charm. When you feel anxious, you start taking shallow breaths. This causes breathlessness and further aggravates anxiety. To break this vicious cycle, sit down and take deep breaths for ten minutes. You will feel better instantly.
Seek Treatment for Anxiety
If you feel that these tips on how to calm anxiety are not offering you enough relief, it may be time to seek professional help. If your anxiety attacks are frequent, or you are constantly worrying about everyday scenarios, professional treatment can help. Similarly, if your anxiety impacts your everyday life and your performance at work, you should consult a professional immediately.
The treatment for anxiety may include psychotherapy, medications, or both. Based on your symptoms, your doctor may prescribe antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications. They may also recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which will help you track, manage, and prevent your anxiety symptoms better. This will help you understand how to calm anxiety at night and during the day.
Apart from the above, your doctor may also advise you to make certain lifestyle changes. These could include exercising more often, avoiding certain foods, and sleeping on time. Some of these solutions for how to calm anxiety naturally can improve the efficacy of therapy and medicines.
Apart from seeking treatment for anxiety, you should not hesitate to seek support from your loved ones. Sharing your emotions and struggles with your friends and family will help to unburden your brain. Your well-wishers will also understand your situation better and help you out when your mental health is at its lowest.
Frequently Asked Questions on Anxiety Treatments
The best techniques on how to calm anxiety attacks quickly include deep breathing, sitting in a calm and quiet place, drinking water, and listening to soothing music. Reciting positive affirmations is also helpful. Once you feel better, avoid thinking about the scenarios that triggered the anxiety in the first place. Just pay attention to your breathing and block out everything else.
Caffeine, alcohol, and sugary foods can all trigger anxiety in different ways. Avoid these foods and choose serotonin-boosting foods instead. Foods that can boost your mood and crush anxiety are green vegetables, fatty fish, berries, and turkey meat. Incorporate these in your daily meals for the best results. Once you figure out how to calm anxiety naturally with healthy meals, the frequency of anxiety attacks will go down too.
A certified professional can give you the best answers regarding how to calm anxiety attacks. The medical treatment for anxiety includes psychotherapy and medications. You may be prescribed antidepressants or anti-anxiety medicine based on your symptoms. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an effective treatment too. These treatments work effectively in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle and herbal supplements that reduce anxiety.
Anti-anxiety supplements contain natural ingredients that boost serotonin and induce calmness. Relaxia is one such anti-anxiety supplement with natural herbs. It claims to combat stress, anxiety, and tension. This supplement contains the herb Ashwagandha that is known to be a stress buster. It also contains lemon balm to soothe the senses, 5-HTP to boost serotonin, and L-Theanine to relax the mind.
This supplement manufactured by Natrol claims to be completely safe and non-habit-forming. Reviews by customers mention that they noticed less anxiety and lower blood pressure after using Relaxia. However, a few customers didn’t notice the benefits of using this supplement. So, this product might be beneficial for some and may feature in your list of how to calm anxiety naturally.
Conclusion
In these stressful times, how to calm anxiety naturally is a question on everybody’s mind. Fortunately, there are several natural ways to reduce the episodes that can help you in your day-to-day life. Indulging in relaxing activities, exercising daily, and avoiding stress-inducing foods can effectively curb mild anxiety. Moreover, breathing exercises and positive affirmations can help you overcome anxiety attacks.
