How To Calm Down From Anxiety In Stressful Situations And Finally Feel Good Again!

Life can get tough sometimes, my friend, I know. It’s not always so easy to calm down from anxiety and panic attacks. Being able to experience both good and negative things in life is completely normal and necessary.

Some unexpected situations may shake you to your core, irritate you and trigger intense rage and hatred, while others may leave you feeling helpless and lacking hope. However, there are also a ton of captivating and breathtaking moments! The ones that make you cry with joy, the ones that are so good and real you can’t believe your eyes. The ones you’d keep in mind as a gentle reminder that life is actually pretty damn good! We determine it by selecting our responses to various situations.

All throughout my childhood and early adolescence, I suffered severe anxiety, panic attacks, and unceasing intrusive thoughts. They would frequently invade my mind and wouldn’t seem to go away. Plus, I’ve always believed that I must handle them on my own because others don’t seem to have them, so I’ve always kept it to myself in order to avoid upsetting others. Never seeking support. Guess if I won the game, 😅. They were laughing in my face, telling me „We’re coming back, loser “.🤣

It’s easier said than done to desperately try to remain calm under so much tension and pressure, but heyy it’s not impossible!

Whenever some kind of stressful situation happened to me, I’d always get invaded by negative intrusive thoughts, due to my struggle with OCD. I’d get lost in the thoughts and that would really scare the shit out of me.

So, I needed to make some urgent changes quickly! I needed to find the solution!

So, today, I’m sharing with you only 7 easy tips that tremendously helped me and literally saved me from being invaded by negative, intrusive thoughts and being taken over by fear and helped me calm down from the anxiety of stressful moments! It took me a while to convince myself of what I already knew deep down, but persistence won, like always!

1. breathe deeply! – trust me on this one, even if it sounds cliché!

When a triggering scenario occurs unexpectedly, and you begin panicking and shaking uncontrollably, it is critical to be aware of it first. Try not to avoid acknowledging things; doing so will only make things worse.

Just be aware that it is nothing new or inexperienced before. It’s natural. Your anxieties will overwhelm you if you don’t confront them. You would become completely lost in them and unable to escape the challenging situations!

When you breathe deeply, slowly, with your diaphragm, you’re sending the signals to your brain that it’s safe and there’s no danger out there. It lowers blood pressure, regulates the heartbeat, relaxes muscles, and activates the parasympathetic nervous system – responsible for “rest and digest” activities.

You can feel your belly filling up with air and expanding by placing your hand on it. Don’t force anything and let things happen naturally. Be aware of your body. Inhale for 4 seconds, then let your breath out gently for 4 seconds. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll probably see the difference.

So… be intentional and don’t think that’s something cliché just because it is that simple. I think that the simplest things are the best and most natural. Everything is actually so simple, but people make it complicated.

2. talk to yourself like you would with your loved one – convince yourself you’re safe

Talking with myself like with someone I truly love, helped me many many times! Think about it.

When an extremely stressful situation happens out of the blue, what would you say to your loved one? Would you tell them „run awayyyy, don’t feel it, ignore it, it’ll pass, don’t worry! Yeah, it’s easier said than done, and it doesn’t work! You probably won’t say that, 🤣.

You want to make that person feel safe, protected, and simply calm. Why wouldn’t you do that to yourself?

You need to start comforting yourself with those positive affirmations and keep telling yourself that you can handle whatever comes your way in life.

Remember how many times you’ve been in the same situation, consumed by the same emotions you’re experiencing now, and how you managed to get out. It’s probably not always simple because it requires effort and a tremendous amount of self-love, but you always manage to work something out. You always do, and this time is no exception.

Tell yourself something like this „Heyy, calm down, it’s okay, you’ve been here before, it’ll all pass! Don’t worry. This will only make you stronger. You already have so much strength within because you decided to face it and not run away! Be proud of yourself! This is just another step in your journey of becoming the person you’ve always wanted to be!“

It all depends on the particular situation and how serious it is. You can also say something like:

„There so need for fear anymore. This situation is already over. It’s behind you, and let your fear be behind you too, away from you. Life goes on.“

3. It’s already in the past, but process the emotions!

The fear and anxiety you’re feeling now when the peak of the situation has already passed is just the triggering effect and consequence of that situation. It’s connected with past feelings, familiarity, and past situations where you found yourself struggling as you do now. Really think about it.

It already happened. It’s done. It’s in the past, but you’re still dealing with the consequences. It’s normal to feel its effects for a while. Accept it and move forward. You’re still in disbelief right now and deny that such a thing could happen. It’s normal. You probably didn’t expect it. Even if this kind of event is probably happening for the first time, similar feelings are being felt.

Give yourself time to process those emotions. Don’t suppress them. Whatever is suppressed, will later on probably give you depression.

Feel it. Allow yourself to acknowledge the underlying fear, anxiety, negative intrusive thoughts… whatever you’re feeling at the moment. If you want to get over it, you won’t if you ignore it. It’ll just be the short-term success, but they’ll come back later, haunting you. If you keep running away, they will keep running in your direction, right? It’s better to take care of it now.

4. Get out in nature – don’t always stay indoors!

In our busy lives, we don’t often take the time to appreciate the beauty and feel the heartbeat of nature around us. We underestimate it often, I think. We even forget how nature can be so healing to our emotional well-being. And it’s right in front of us!

Staying at home often can even make you more depressed and cause frequent mood swings!

So, girl… get out in nature, spend time listening to this mesmerizing nature, and look at the sky, and birds flying. Take your time and be present. Life is happening at this moment, not in the past or future.

When you spend time in nature daily, you’ll feel so much happier, and energized, it’ll help you relieve stress, and uneasiness, calm down from anxiety, and boost your mood!

Whenever some stressful situations happen, I always get out in nature, take a walk, or just sit somewhere comfortable and breathe (of course, if the weather it’s not too cold, and if you feel good!). Don’t go outside in the cold and freeze! Make sure the weather is suitable before going outside.

„Spending at least 20 to 30 minutes immersed in a nature setting was associated with the biggest drop in cortisol levels.“ Looking at green surroundings will give you a sense of safety, comfort, and peace. Immerse in those feelings. Try not to think about anything, just be present.

5. spend time with your family and friends as much as you can!

As much as you can, spend quality time with the ones you love. It’ll indeed make you forget even for a short time about the traumatic situation and disruptive emotions it caused. It may give you needed emotional support, give you more hope and help you calm down from anxiety.

I know it’s not easy to develop and maintain friendships but don’t isolate yourself. I think we should always be open to new friendships and relationships, who knows who can come into our life and change it in the most beautiful way?

As much as it’s important to spend some time alone to better understand your feelings, it’s also so important to talk with people and be surrounded by the ones you love.

Talk with your friends, express yourself, don’t suppress it. Like I said before… anything you suppress can make you depressed. It’ll come out once, it must come out once. So, better deal with it now than later.

6. journal – write down how you feel

Journaling, as a stress-management and self-exploration tool, can be a tremendously beneficial way to cope with highly intense and stressful situations in life, allowing you to truly express how you feel.

It includes writing down all kinds of experienced emotions, and feelings, as well as reflecting on gratitude and positive things that come out of negative events. Every bad thing has at least one good result. At least, you need to believe in that!

Journaling may help you gain deeper self-awareness, clarify your emotions and help you acknowledge them. Sometimes, I don’t even realize I feel some of the emotions unless I start writing down everything that comes out naturally.

Surprisingly, when I write down all that I feel, letting it all out, I truly feel that a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel much less intense, less stressed, and actually better understand what and why I feel what I feel.

When you write down your fears, triggers, and all the emotions particular traumatic situations caused, process them and let yourself put the guard down and feel them – magic happens. Write down everything you feel, and get it out of you. You don’t want to bury it deep, you want that overabundance of the stress out of you, right?

Journaling also has many other benefits:

– improves cognitive functioning

– helps you acknowledge and process emotions better

– can strengthen the immune system response

– alleviates stress and anxiety

– help you gain a better understanding

– help you panic less

7. use daily reminders and practice positive self talk

It’s very important to remind yourself every day of beautiful experiences you once experienced and that life is not supposed to be so gloomy. It’s not always as dark as it seems.

Some storms come to clear our path, even though they seem challenging. It’s up to us how close we take it to heart and how well we understand the hidden meaning and reasons behind them. If we look at it from a victim’s perspective and mentality, we’d always go through life dissatisfied.

So, it’s very important to use daily reminders and learn from others.

Sometimes we just need a few words of encouragement to keep us going through tough times. Even though they’re just simple, meaningless words at first glance, they carry a deep, significant meaning. Use them. Use everything you think will somehow help you calm down from anxiety, and alleviate stress and frustration. You never know what could suddenly start working and helping you!

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So, my friends, those are my 7 easy ways to calm down from anxiety and fear in stressful situations and feel good again!😄

Remember, it’s all normal and common, we all experience it sometimes. It’s an unavoidable part of life. Acknowledge those emotions, and don’t think you get more affected by them by doing so. You’ll get more control of your emotions if you understand them!

Special thanks to https://kaboompics.com/ for the beautiful photo!