Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts
What is your safe or calm state?
We use this in EMDR, but it can be utilized at any time in your life when you are feeling anxious. A safe or calm state is a time, feeling, or snapshot that you can remember feeling extremely safe and calm.
For example, maybe it is when you were a child at your grandparents home on their front porch playing ball while they were inside preparing supper. You may label that “Front Porch”. At any point when you are feeling anxious or stressed you can bring up the memory, time, feeling or snapshot of the “Front Porch” to your mind and it will assist you in calming you down and making you feel safe.
Practice this example but be prepared with one of your own- “Front Porch” The sight of the country landscape in front of you, the sounds of the crickets and kids playing, the rhythmic feeling of bouncing the ball in your hands, the smell of summer and your grandmother’s cooking, and the taste of sweet tea. This type of “Front Porch” safe or calm state can be a useful tool at any time and not just with EMDR. We can discuss and pinpoint one that is unique to you and your life.
Another way to calm anxious thoughts is through progressive muscle relaxation. It is based on the theory that physical relaxation can promote mental relaxation. It requires you to tense each muscle group before relaxing which emphasizes the sense of relaxation in the area. What are the benefits? It reduces anxiety and tension, improves sleep, eases neck pain, reduces low back pain, improves systolic blood pressure, decreases the frequency of migraine attacks, and reduces TMJ symptoms,
Start by lying or sitting down. Take five deep slow breaths. Start with your feet by lifting your toes upward. Hold, and then let go. Pull your toes downward. Hold, and then let go. Next tense your calf muscles, then let go. Then onward up your body knees, thighs, hands, arms, buttocks, abdominal muscles, chest, shoulders, lips, mouth, eyes, eyebrows.
Tips for beginners: do it in a quiet, comfortable area, turn off the phone to avoid distractions, inhale deeply when you tense your muscles and exhale fully when you relax, you can start from the head down if you want to, practice when you are first feeling calm so you have it as a tool when you need it.
