De-Stressing Exercise for Anxiety

Photo by Farid Askerov on Unsplash

On this blog, I talk a lot about how yoga can relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety, and it’s true. Regular yoga practice can be incredibly powerful in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and stress, even depression (1). When you combine the physical asanas with meditation and mental exercises like this one, it’s even more effective.

I learned this exercise when I listened to this great podcast this week from one of my favorite bloggers, Crystal Paine author and founder of www.moneysavingmom.com. In this episode, she interviews Aundi Kolber, therapist, and writer of the upcoming book, Try Softer. During the podcast, Aundi describes a mental technique for grounding your mind and getting out of “fight or flight” mode.

When your experiencing anxiety, you aren’t thinking clearly and you will easily catastrophize things, blow challenges way out of proportion and cause you to think irrationally, which even prevents you from savoring all the beautiful things your life has to offer. This exercise is great for when you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed, it brings you back to earth and helps to center yourself so you can respond with clarity, presence, and compassion.

Aundi recommends getting outside, which is a great tactic, but I’ve had success doing this exercise indoors, too. You want to try as much as you can to tune into your senses. You want to first look around, and identify 5 things you can see. I like to pause and think about each of the 5 things and how they are bringing joy into my life at that very moment. It could be a family member, a view outside your window, a beloved pet, or even just a rug you like in your home. Meditate on each object for a moment or two.

Next, try to identify 3 - 4 things you can actually feel at the moment. I like to think of things I can physically feel and think about how they are comforting me at that moment. It can be the softness of a sweater, warm running water (while doing the dishes!), the ground beneath your feet, a cool breeze, a hug, etc.

After sight and touch are covered, move on to identifying 2 - 3 things you can hear and smell. Finally, move on to something you can possibly taste. Maybe just remembering something you just ate or drank (for me - hot chocolate!).

I’ve been really stressed out for the last week, so I’ve been running through this exercise in my head several times a day and it really does help to calm you down. I’m feeling much better! I’ve also been doing a lot of downward facing dog and other inversions.

I distinctly remember going to a stress seminar within the last few years that was offered for free at a local library, where a specialist walked our group through a very similar anti-stress activity which focused on the physical senses. She passed out a hand out that had us imagine and write down several things to focus on that made us feel calm and happy. This was completely imaginative and could be anything we wanted.

She then had us meditate and imagine seeing, feeling, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting some of the most calming things in the world to us. It really worked!

So, if you’re feeling a little stressed, take some time to go through some of these exercises. You will be amazed at how much calmer you feel afterward.

And if you have time, check out Crystal and Aundi’s helpful podcast via the link below.

Best wishes, and namaste.

Resources:

1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17544857

Crystal Paine’s blog: www.moneysavingmom.com

Podcast: How to Finally Break Free from Anxiety and Stress

Aundi Kolber: http://www.bravelyimperfect.com/

Try Softer, by Aundi Kolber