not sure what anxiety looks like for you specifically so your mileage may vary…
mental approaches:
- ask a friend or professional peer to give you a pep talk (verbalizing feelings helps make them smaller!)
- make a list of past projects you are proud of (or past challenges you’ve overcome)
- remind yourself 1) you’re allowed to not know everything & even to make mistakes 2) whatever you don’t know you can probably figure out
- journal to brain dump the anxious thoughts & move forward (you’ll get tired of yourself)
- choose a mantra for your project that centers you & counteracts the negative voices
somatic approaches:
- practice noticing when your body feels anxious & where it is in your body
- do a body scan to further help you notice tension & to ground i.e. get out of your head & back into your body
- go outside (touch grass)
- take breaks to do something unrelated (give your brain a break)
- rest & food: human necessities that will help you regulate your emotions
- stretch/exercise
- laugh and/or cry
- cold shower or ice pack to reset your nervous system
i’m so shit at putting these into practice but when i do, it really helps
Jul 31, 2024
Related Recs
😎
Obviously we’re all so different, but that also means it’s hard to give advice because how we process stress / how it manifests physically / how we soothe it can vary so much from person to person, and even season to season. I’ve learned to take advice and TRY EVERYTHING until I find what works for me. In my experience it’s better to try 10 different things to weed out what works for you than to pick & choose what you think will work. Just try whatever is feasible from what we recommend!
Okay, rec time:
Microdose gummies were a huge help for me in certain seasons. I am not a person that wants to get high; I don’t have anything against it, just don’t do it myself. The microdose is so so so low that you don’t feel it. If anything, the ones I took felt like a light melatonin feeling. Helped me calm down a lot and often helped me sleep.
Baths were huge in certain seasons. Add some salt, dim the lights, play some ambient sounds or your fav calm album, and fully submerge into the void.
Long drives are how I make sense of life‘s puzzles. I often take the long way home if I think the extra time will help me arrive at a calmer state. I always find myself enjoying the local traffic, getting to really look at my surroundings, using red lights to breathe and refocus my thoughts.
3 practical things that are relatively easy to do. I think anxiety / stress rob you of your time and energy. I’ve spent so much of my life under stress only to get through the very thing that stressed me and realize that I had nothing to worry about. I lost days, weeks, maybe months to stress and anxiousness. At this point in my life I’m very aggressive about not living life with stress or anxiety in the drivers seat. It’s my life to enjoy and I only get one and I want as much of it as possible to be filled with joy / happiness / peace. Hope that helps! Sending you good thoughts + prayers + vibes.
Apr 10, 2024
❤️
i like to ask myself “have i eaten within the last 4 hrs? have i drank enough water? am i overwhelmed by my environment?” and making sure those things are taken care of helps a lot with my own irritability that i didn’t realize was there.
taking a short 5 min. walk does a lot for ur mood, especially in the sunlight (as cliche and overused that advice is). and if i have no more energy and all else fails, i force myself to take a nap. when i can’t sleep, i do breathing exercises, and that helps me feel more calm too.
i hope that helps a little bit!! i feel ur struggle and i believe in u 🫶🐛 good luck
Mar 6, 2025
🌳
depending on what your anxiety is focused on, choose a time of day that feels the safest for you-- for early early morning runs not many people will be out and about, which is something to consider. maybe find a cafe or something that opens early and try and become a regular there? when i had to work super early in a city i found a coffee shop that opened absurdly early and became a regular (quietly, with not too much human interaction) by ordering the same thing every time. i found that having a goal safe spot to keep moving toward kept my anxiety at bay, even when i was scared of something on the way-- just kept moving toward it. researching my route/place ahead of time on google maps or equivalent helps too. also consider- would music help or not help?
May 12, 2025
Top Recs from @capyboppy
Apr 8, 2025
i made strawberry shortcakes and three kinds of iced teas (ginger peach green tea, lemon black tea, and ginger hibiscus rooibos), and my roommate made bruschetta! then we played Rummy and 9-card Golf for like four hours. i’m so sleepy and content :)
5d ago
🐝
remember to thank your local bees, they are working so hard this season. nature’s essential workers
Apr 19, 2024