Anxiety · 2 min
When anxiety tightens its grip
Your body is on alert. It can be calmed through breathing and the senses.
Anxiety is not a sign that you are broken. It is your body's alarm system that has stayed switched on. The alarm can settle even while your thoughts keep running for a while.
The fastest way to calm down does not go through thinking, but through the body. When you make your out-breath longer, your body gets the message that the danger is not acute.
Anxiety comes in waves. A wave rises, peaks and falls. You don't have to do anything with it other than wait it out in a safe place.
If possible, reduce the sounds, lights and demands around you for a moment. A calmer space does not solve everything, but it gives your nervous system a chance to recover one step at a time.
Three small steps
- Breathe in for four seconds, out for six. Repeat five times.
- Name out loud three things you can see right now.
- Put both feet flat on the floor and feel the ground under them.
Hetki does not replace a professional and does not give diagnoses or medication advice.