5 Techniques to Manage Anxiety
We all cope with stressors in our lives in different ways. Some people habitually watch the news or scroll social media and are constantly on edge, while others ignore the news and avoid challenging issues altogether. How do we find that middle ground where we can stay informed and take appropriate action while maintaining our center?
“It’s important not to check out in challenging times, but we also need to protect our mental health,” says Sarah Meyer Tapia, PhD, mindfulness teacher and Director of Stanford Living Education (SLED). “If we learn techniques to manage our nervous systems, we can cultivate the capacity to handle taking in news without getting overwhelmed.”
In her stress management classes, Dr. Tapia often shares Dr. Sharon Salzberg’s analogy of salt in water. The salt represents stressors in our lives, and the water is our capacity for resilience. If a tablespoon of salt is added to a small container of water, the salty taste will dominate, just like stressors dominate our life experience when our personal containers are too small. Learning to expand our container allows us to hold all of life: stress, beauty, and even neutrality.
So how do we expand our container of resilience? Dr. Tapia suggests the following techniques. “These practices help us meet anxiety more skillfully, supporting our ability to keep showing up to life,” she says.
5 Techniques to Manage Anxiety
1) Identify what you do and don’t have control over
We all want control over things that happen to us, and we struggle with the impossibility of this notion. Whether it’s letting go of control of your children’s choices, the potential for extreme weather conditions, or fluctuations in the stock market, we are constantly faced with the reality that we don’t have control over things that can negatively affect our lives.
And this heightened uncertainty can cause general anxiety levels to rise among the masses, causing everyone to be a little more on edge.
“Well-being starts with the acknowledgment of what is and what is not in our control,” says Dr. Tapia.
“Where attention goes, energy follows. It’s so natural to obsess over challenging situations, and we do that because we care! Stress is a giant arrow pointing toward what matters to us. Rather than feeding the stressor, which we likely can’t control, we can pour our energy into whatever it is that matters so much to us. We can access our agency to engage the practices and people that support our well-being,” says Dr. Tapia.
2) Recognize that emotions are temporary
Stressors don’t always come from outside of ourselves. Whether it’s an unpredictable migraine, a hormonal hot flash, or a wave of anger or anxiety, stressors can also come from within the body. Although we don’t have control over these internal stressors, we do have control over how we respond to them, and acknowledging their temporary nature can reduce our anxiety.
“Continually remembering that feelings and sensations are temporary helps us to meet these difficult moments with less resistance and greater freedom,” says Dr. Tapia.
Research says that a typical emotion rises and falls in the body within a mere 90 seconds. Resting in this, rather than immediately reacting, we can take a pause and let the emotion run its course.
For example, if you’re triggered with anger, do you go for a walk, yell at a loved one, or punch a wall? Remembering that the lifespan of the emotion is only 90 seconds, you can take a breath and make the conscious choice of going for a walk to allow the energy to pass through you. By letting the anger pass, you can still take action, but instead, you take wise action—you’re better able to respond rather than react.
“How we meet challenging moments can be determined by having the awareness that no feeling is final,” says Dr. Tapia. “Difficult moments are going to pass whether we fight them all the way through or not. The beautiful moments are also going to pass, and probably quicker if we grasp them. By releasing the grip and allowing these experiences to move through, we can save some energy.”
3) Acknowledge worst-case scenario thinking
While in situations that have uncertain outcomes, many of us go straight to visualizing the worst-case scenario. Even though several outcomes are possible, anticipatory anxiety keeps the mind in a continual state of worry about the future.
“From an evolutionary standpoint, we are wired to constantly be scanning for threats and what is potentially dangerous. Anxiety is not necessarily bad because it helps us survive. But we can say to ourselves, ‘Thank you, brain, for being on the lookout to keep me safe,’ and ‘In this moment, I’m okay’,” says Dr. Tapia.
“I’m not asking people to stop worrying about how things could go wrong but rather expanding the lens to consider all the potential outcomes and how we will respond to each of them. This is a more balanced and accurate perspective,” says Dr. Tapia.
Dr. Tapia encourages her students to shift their minds from the future (where their anxiety plays out the worst-case scenario) to the ease of the present moment through mindfulness practices.
“Many of us are living in the future as if our biggest fears have already happened. But in this moment, almost always, we are okay. And we need to live more of our lives in the present moment so we can receive this sense of ‘okayness’, which calms the nervous system,” says Dr. Tapia. “Instead of living in constant fear of the future, we can meet each moment as it arises, staying grounded in where we actually are, pausing the mental commentary, analysis, and worry about the future that is so habitual.”
Dr. Tapia explains that taking a conscious breath is the simplest way to shift our minds from the future into the present moment because our breath can’t be anywhere but right here and right now.
4) Take deep breaths
Many of us are annoyed or even angered by the advice to “take a deep breath” when we’re stressed, because a deep breath does nothing about the situation we’re facing. However, at the neurological level, taking a deep breath can shift us from operating from our amygdala (the “fight-or-flight” part of the brain) to our pre-frontal cortex, which is the site of reasoning and wise judgement.
“Even though taking deep breaths doesn’t change the circumstance, it can change how you show up to what’s happening in that it brings your awareness to what is real and true in the present moment rather than reacting from the past or the future,” says Dr. Tapia. “When we take a deep breath, our consciousness moves from a place of urgent reactivity to a mental state of perspective and intentional choice. We suddenly have access to our reasoning, perspective, and empathy–all things we need in stressful situations.”
Taking deep breaths also affects the vagus nerve, which is the longest cranial nerve in the body, spanning from the brainstem down to the pelvic region. If muscles in the lower abdomen are tense, the vagus nerve contributes to sending a message to the brain that there is a threat. Conversely, if these muscles are relaxed, the vagus nerve plays a role in sending the message that we are safe. Therefore, Dr. Tapia recommends taking deep breaths to relax the lower abdominal muscles.
5) Check your posture
Not only do our muscles become tense when we are triggered, our body posture contracts into a “C” curve due to the survival instinct to guard the vital organs of our lower abdomen. Again, the vagus nerve registers this postural contraction as an indication of a threat to our survival.
When we feel contracted, Dr. Tapia recommends softening the belly, relaxing the shoulders and the jaw, and lifting the heart to adopt an open posture so that the brain receives the message there is no immediate threat.
“When we take this open posture, the brain acknowledges that this must be a safe moment, so we have time to zoom out, get perspective, and ask ourselves, ‘Is this problem an immediate thing or can it wait? Is this threat real? What are some different ways I can address this?’ There’s also space for compassion for others, ‘Why is this person acting this way?’ And compassion for ourselves, ‘How can I support myself right now?'” says Dr. Tapia.
“Nothing’s going to take away the stressors we’re facing, but with these techniques we can start navigating these challenges with a higher level of thinking that is needed to face today’s uncertainties with strength and wisdom rather than reactivity,” says Dr. Tapia.
