1. SELF COMPASSION: Use calming words and phrases with yourself, it is so easy to let the negative inner dialogue make you feel worse, by but reminding yourself that ‘this is just a feeling, it can’t hurt me,’ and ‘I will feel differently soon,’ can really help.
2. GROUNDING: Use techniques to bring you into the here and now. Normally when we feel anxious we are ruminating on something from the past or thinking about ‘What ifs’ in the future. Instead focus your attention on 4 things you can see, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste etc. This is a grounding technique to bring your attention to the present tense.
3. BREATHING: Try some breathing strategies to regulate your breath, such as square breathing.
4. ACCEPTANCE: Anxiety has a clever way of making you think that something awful is happening to your body, and actually sweaty hands and a racing heart are not particularly comfortable things, but discomfort is doable. Accept the feeling and make friends with it, enabling it to move on out!
5. SELF AWARENESS: Recognising the triggers can enable you to take control. Its much easier to change a thought than a feeling, so changing thought patterns or diverting your thoughts to something else can sometimes be a powerful self intervention