Every single one of us experiences feelings of anxiety and frustration on sometimes. You do realize that it’s only one of the many unavoidable aspects of life, right? But what happens when those negative emotions—worry or anger—take control, and you are unable to calm down?
It is sometimes easier to say than to accomplish when it comes to being able to remain cool in a stressful situation.
Because of this, having a few different tactics under your belt that you are acquainted with might be of assistance to you when you are feeling nervous or furious. If you find yourself needing to calm down in the near future, the following are some useful and effective techniques that you may attempt.
Breathe
According to Scott Dehorty, LCSW-C of Delphi Behavioral Health, “Breathing is the number one and most effective strategy for lowering anger and anxiety rapidly.” [Scott] “Breathing is the number one and most effective technique for reducing anger and anxiety quickly.”
When you are feeling nervous or furious, you have a tendency to breathe more quickly and shallowly than normal. According to Dehorty, this triggers a message to be sent to your brain, which then causes a positive feedback loop, which in turn reinforces your fight-or-flight reaction. Because of this, taking some slow, deep breaths might help you break the cycle of stress and anxiety and bring you back to a more relaxed state.
There are a variety of different breathing practices that might assist you in being more relaxed. One example of this is breathing in three separate parts. In order to properly do three-part breathing, you must first take a single, lengthy breath in, and then exhale completely while focusing your attention on your body.
Once you have achieved a level of comfort with deep breathing, you may adjust the ratio of your inhalation to your expiration so that it is 1:2. This means that you will need to slow down your exhale so that it is twice as long as your inhalation.
You will need to get familiar with how to use these strategies when you are at ease in order to be able to do so while you are experiencing anxiety.
Recognize that you are experiencing anxiousness or anger and admit it.
Give yourself permission to acknowledge that you are feeling nervous or furious and say so. If you can put a name to how you’re feeling and give yourself permission to express it, you may find that the feelings of worry and rage that you’re going through lessen.
Relax your body.
It’s not uncommon to feel as if every muscle in your body is tensed up when you’re nervous or furious, especially in your face (and they probably are). Learning to relax your muscles in stages, also known as progressive muscle relaxation, may help you feel more at ease and in control of your emotions.
To complete this task, you will need to lay down on the floor with your arms extended out to the sides of your body. Check that your hands are not clenched into a fist and that your feet are not crossed over each other. Begin with your toes, and tell yourself to let go of each one individually. As you make your way slowly up your body, remind yourself to let go of each individual portion until you reach your head.
Create a mental image of oneself being at ease.
In order to fully benefit from this piece of advice, you are going to need to put your newly acquired breathing skills into practice. After taking a few long, slow breaths, you should try closing your eyes and visualizing yourself as being at ease. Imagine that your body is at ease and that you are working through a difficult or anxious-inducing circumstance while maintaining your composure and remaining focused.
When you are feeling worried, it might be helpful to bring to mind a vision of what it is like to maintain your composure so that you can think about it and draw on it when you need to.
Put your current train of thinking to the test.
Having illogical ideas that don’t necessarily make sense is a symptom of emotional states like anxiety and anger. These are the kinds of ideas that often represent the “worst-case scenario.” It’s possible that you’ll find yourself stuck in an endless loop of “what if” thinking, which may lead to you sabotaging a number of different aspects of your life.
If you find that you are having one of these ideas, pause for a moment and ask yourself the following questions:
Is there a good chance that this will take place.
Is this a reasonable way of thinking about the situation?
Have I ever been confronted with such circumstances before?
To put it another way, what’s the worst that could possibly happen? Have I have what it takes to deal with that?
The moment has come for you to reframe your thinking once you have gone through all of the questions. rather of saying “I’m unable to walk over that bridge.” The question was, “What if there’s an earthquake, and it collapses into the water?” Remind yourself that there are individuals who go over that bridge on a daily basis, yet the bridge has never collapsed into the river.
Locate the pressure spots in your body to alleviate feelings of wrath and anxiety.
Receiving acupuncture or receiving a massage is a great approach to reduce negative emotions like anger and anxiety. However, it is not always simple to find time in your day to make it happen. Finding the time to do it might be challenging. A nice piece of news is that you may provide rapid relief from your worry by doing acupressure on yourself.
This technique entails applying pressure, either with your fingers or your hand, to certain places on the body. Your body will feel much more relaxed when the tension is released as a result of the pressure.
A good place to begin is the spot on the inside of your wrist where it creases with the palm of your hand. This is one region to focus on. Maintain constant pressure with your thumb on this region for the next two minutes. This may be beneficial in reducing feelings of stress.
Get some exercise and breathe some clean air.
The level of heat and the speed at which air circulates in a space are two factors that might make you feel more anxious or angry. It’s possible that the combination of feeling stressed and being in a room that’s stuffy and hot can cause you to have a panic attack.
Get away from that setting as soon as you can and get outdoors, even if it’s only for a few minutes at a time.
A change of location may sometimes halt the nervous or angry thinking process, which, in addition to helping you feel more at ease, can help you relax as the fresh air does.
Shift your attention elsewhere.
Get away from the scenario, try looking in a different direction, leave the room, or go outdoors.
This is an activity that Dehorty suggests doing so that you may improve your ability to make decisions. When we are concerned or furious, we do not participate in the highest quality thinking; rather, we engage in thinking that is necessary for survival. “This is good if our life is actually in danger, but if it isn’t life threatening, we want our best thinking, not survival instincts,” he says. “If it isn’t life threatening, we want our best thinking, not survival instincts.”
Relax your shoulders and drop your head down.
If your whole body is stiff, your posture will probably deteriorate as a direct result of that tension. Take a few slow, deep breaths, then lower your shoulders as you straighten your back and sit up tall. To do this, you should concentrate on pulling the blades of your shoulder together and then bringing them down. This brings your shoulders down to a lower position. Take a few long, slow breaths to calm yourself down. This is something that you may perform on several occasions during the day.
Put an end to the stress or the rage.
Exercise is something that Dehorty advocates doing in order to release pent-up mental and emotional energies. “Get some exercise by going for a stroll or a jog. Serotonin is released when you [participate in] some kind of physical exercise, and this might make you feel better and more relaxed.”
But you should avoid engaging in any physical activities that demonstrate your anger, such as pounding walls or yelling too loudly.
“This has been proven to increase feelings of anger, as it reinforces the emotions because you end up feeling good as a consequence of being furious,” adds Dehorty. “This has been shown to enhance feelings of anger, as it reinforces the emotions since it ends up making you feel better.”
Think about it carefully.
Create a personal mantra that you may repeat to yourself when things seem bleak. Make sure that it is an approach that is beneficial to you. According to Dehorty, the question may be, “Will this matter to me in one week’s time?” or “How significant is this?” or “Am I going to let this person or scenario take my serenity away?”
This enables a change in the emphasis of the thought, and you are better able to “reality test” the issue.
When we are worried or furious, our thoughts become hyper-focused on the source of those emotions, and we are unable to think rationally. According to Dehorty’s explanation, “These mantras provide us with the chance to enable logical thinking to return, which ultimately leads to a better end.”
Fuel your body.
There is a good chance that many of these strategies won’t work for you if you aren’t well hydrated or if you are starving. Because of this, it is really vital to take some time to relax and consume some food, even if it is just a little snack.
