If you’re like the thousands of other people who suffer from anxiety, you’re probably looking for a way to manage panic-induced thoughts. When you live with anxiety, the most challenging part is finding out what works – and what doesn’t.

Thankfully, there are numerous therapeutic techniques you can use to help eliminate anxiety and stress from your life.

Let’s see if we can find the right technique for you:

1. Boxed Breathing
2. The 333 Rule
3. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
4. Binaural Beats
5. Mindfulness and Meditation
6. Journaling

Boxed Breathing

Deep breathing exercises have been shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system—the body’s natural relaxation response—which can slow down heart rate, lower blood pressure, improve digestion, and relieve tension.

The boxed breathing method is, essentially, when you breathe in a box pattern. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, release for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and repeat. This technique is perfect for those struggling with sleep due to their anxiety, and to calm their heart rate during stressful situations.

The 333 Rule

Anxiety itself can be crippling when you have too much of it. When people struggle with anxiety and fear, they often overthink situations and build them up so much in their mind that their fear becomes reality. With the 333 rule, you can attempt to bring yourself back into control of actual  reality.

Otherwise known as “The Rule of Three,” the 333 rule directs individuals to identify three objects they can see, hear, and touch. This technique is used to reconnect with your body during a panic episode or the beginning of negative anxiety symptoms.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Muscle tension is caused by your body’s response to stress, which in turn causes pain or discomfort for the individual. Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that teaches individuals how to tighten and relax muscle groups in a sequential manner. This technique helps manage stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation if done correctly.

Binaural Beats

Another muscle relaxation technique used to calm anxiety is binaural beats. Binaural beats are auditory illusions that improve anxiety conditions and sleep by presenting slightly different frequencies to both ears. As you listen, your brain gradually falls into synchrony with the different tones, eventually recognizing them as one. Binaural beat tapes are easily accessible through YouTube and are most explored in music and tune instruments, like pianos.

Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation helps you respond to anxiety vs being controlled by it, teaching you to be aware of your emotional and physical states. It’s worth the effort, because it helps you inhabit a mindset that takes away some of the need to be in-control at all times or to always be your best self.

Simply put, mindfulness is being aware of your own thoughts and feelings, along with the way that you are interacting with people and the environment around you. Therefore, you don’t need to be in a state of panic to benefit from practicing mindfulness and meditation techniques. Practicing deep breathing and the auditory illusions mentioned above are a good place to start your meditation journey.

Journaling

Journaling is a powerful coping technique for individuals with anxiety disorders to keep track of their anxiety triggers. It can also be used as a means of identifying negative thought patterns. If you’re unsure of what to write in your journal, start with writing about your feelings and how these feelings are impacting your life in a negative way.

When experiencing a stressful situation, adverse event, or any other time that stress levels go up, you can take out a journal and get it out of your head. In doing so, you can think more rationally about what happened and deal with it effectively.

See a Psychologist for Anxiety in Nashville, TN

Dealing with anxiety every day is an exhausting task, one that takes a serious toll on our mental and physical health. Ultimately, the best way to deal with anxiety is to take it one step at a time. Dr. Phil Chanin is a licensed psychologist for anxiety in Nashville, TN providing both individual treatment and techniques for coping with anxiety and reducing panic.

Many different types of therapy exist for anxiety, so it’s worth exploring the options that are available to you.