How to Reduce Anxiety and Stress: 3 Simple Steps
Anxiety. Everyone has anxiety at some point, and in this fast-paced society where everyone is always ‘go, go, go’ it’s easy to find yourself with some type of anxiety. As a Mom or any type of caretaker/caregiver, we tend to have more anxiety and stress than we know what to do with some days. No matter where we get our anxiety from we all know that it can impact us in some way or another.
Don’t worry, I’m not some superhuman who never gets stressed or has anxiety. I have to work consistently (which means every day) to keep my own stress and anxiety levels down. But, I will say that since I’ve become more mindful of my anxiety I have noticed I have a better handle on it than I used to.
Reduce your anxiety and stress by incorporating 3 easy steps into your daily life: Put down your phone, breathe, and reframe your mindset. These simple steps can help you reduce stress and anxiety in your life, and you don’t have to take hours by yourself to feel better.
If you’re looking for a more in-depth approach to positivity and helping reduce your anxiety I love the 3-minute Positivity Workbook by Susan Reynolds. It explores our emotions both negative and positive (and those that cause us anxiety) and helps us to reframe our emotions and bring them into a more positive light.
And if you think maybe talking to someone about your anxiety could help, Online-Therapy.com has been voted ‘Best Online Therapy for Anxiety in 2024.’ It may seem cliche to ‘go to therapy’ or maybe you’re worried others might try to make fun of you for it. But hey, why make fun of someone who is trying to take care of themselves? Don’t let the opinions of others keep you from being happy. (I had to learn this the hard way, mainly because I’m stubborn) YOU DESERVE TO BE HAPPY!
Step 1: Put Down your Cell Phone, Turn off Notifications
Yeah, I said it, put that thing down! This may also be contradictory because you might be reading this article on a mobile device. So I give you permission to put it down after you’re done reading. But this is a very important step. I know a lot of people who are addicted to their phones. They can’t be without it, and freak out if they haven’t checked Instagram in the last 2 minutes, or if they miss an email or text from someone.
We are too available to people these days and forget about being in the moment. We live in a fast-paced world of constantly being on call. People get mad when someone hasn’t texted them back in less than 5 minutes. Texting in itself can cause extra stress and anxiety in your life.
Have you ever gotten yourself stressed out because you were waiting for a reply from someone you texted? Good or bad, I think most of us have been there, getting all nervous or feeling anxious because someone didn’t respond to your text right away, and your mind automatically goes to the bad. Are they mad at me? Did I say something wrong? Why didn’t they write back?
Simply put it down. I silence all of my notifications, and most days just put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ mode. When I focus more on myself, my family, and living my own life it brings my attention back to the here and now. Helping to reduce some of the stress and anxiety I accumulate in a day.
Step 2: Take Some Deep Breaths
We can mentally get caught up in little things that shouldn’t bother us, but for some reason we find ourselves focusing solely on that tiny moment that made us agitated for some reason. Let that moment go, and take a deep breath.
Most of the time we forget we are even breathing. The moment when there is no more oxygen or our emotions make us flustered is when we start to notice our breath. To help reduce some of our anxiety and stress in our daily lives we need to remember to BREATHE.
Take a very deep breath through your nose. I mean a big one, as much air as you can take in, then hold it at the top (so don’t let it go yet) hold it for 3 seconds. Then do a dramatic exhale through your mouth.
While you exhale, relax your shoulders and all your other body parts.
Now, take another deep breath through your nose, expand your belly (not just your chest), and once you get to the top of that breath (meaning you can’t take in any more air) take one last gulp of air in (through your nose or mouth)
Hold for 3 seconds, and do another dramatic exhale through your mouth. Again, release your shoulders and other parts of your body as you exhale.
Take one more breath in, expanding into your belly, and when you get to the top take one to two more gulps of air in. Hold for 3 seconds, and then let it out.
Feel free to do this more times. This type of breathing is also part of being more mindful.
Step 3: Reframe Your Mindset
This step will continue to take practice but is extremely important. Our mindset is everything! I know in high-stress and high-anxiety situations our brain can sometimes have a type of malfunction. (Been there!) but once we take a few deep calming and cleansing breaths, and give ourselves a moment, we have then cleared some of that negativity and haze from our minds. We can think a little clearer and then start shifting our mindset.
You ask, how do I reframe my mindset? There are a couple of different ways that I reframe my mindset.
- Have a phrase you write down that you repeat and remind yourself of when the going is getting tough. Mine happens to be tattooed on my arm now: Don’t let the hard days win. Not every day of our lives will be peaches and cream. In those moments when it’s just not my day, I touch the part of my arm my tattoo is on, and take deep breaths repeating my affirmation, and knowing that I can, and will get through whatever I’m going through.
- I look for the positive/silver lining in whatever situation I’m in. Not going to lie, this one is hard because sometimes I would rather just stay mad and wallow in my self-pity. But, I know that I don’t like feeling stressed or anxiety-ridden so I make sure to take my breaths and think of the good that’s in front of me.
And if you need more ideas/phrases to help reframe your mindset check out these 7 Positive Affirmations.
To recap:
We are ever-evolving creatures. If we don’t continue to learn, train our minds, and heal our wounds, we risk repeating the same mistakes over and over again. To help us take the first steps in reducing our anxiety and stress remember just 3 simple things:
- Put your phone down! Stop comparing yourself to others. Give yourself some time to be in the moment.
- Take your deep breaths! Minimum of three, but more if you feel like you need them.
- Reframe that mindset!
Remember: Don’t let the hard days win.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha
