How to Reduce Anxiety Immediately in 7 Ways

Did you know that in the U.S., anxiety disorders are among the most common illnesses affecting 40 million adults each year? However, feeling anxious is never a good thing and hence, it’s important to know how to reduce anxiety immediately.

There are countless factors that can trigger anxiety, but if it becomes long-lasting, you may have an anxiety disorder. Therefore, you must learn how to manage anxiety symptoms.

In this article, we’re going to discuss seven simple yet very effective methods that’ll make dealing with anxiety easy for you.

How to Reduce Anxiety Immediately 

Breathe Slowly and Deeply

It may sound basic, but breathing slowly and deeply is considered one of the best natural remedies for anxiety. You should also try to focus your thoughts only on breathing.

When you actually focus on your breathing and draw your attention to it, the thoughts, which trigger your anxiety, begin to become more distant. This helps to slow your heart rate down, and you start to calm down.

For some people, 4-7-8 proves to be particularly effective. First, breathe in for four seconds and hold your breath for about seven seconds. Then, exhale slowly for about eight seconds. Simply repeat the steps until you feel calmer.

Take a Mental Break

A brief mental vacation may help break the cycle of your anxious thoughts. You can daydream on your own or use a guided imagery app for this.

Set a timer for a couple of minutes when trying this on your own. Then picture yourself in a place where you feel happy or peaceful while keeping your eyes closed.

Just allowing your mind to wander can help reduce your anxiety instantly. You may also try a relaxation app of your choice.

Stand Up Straight

For instant relief from anxiety, simply stand up and pull your shoulders back. Then, plant your feet widely and evenly apart, while keeping your chest open. Then breathe deeply.

Combined with deep breathing, this posture helps remind your body of the fact that it’s in control and isn’t in danger right now. If you cannot stand up (say, you’re in your car), just open up your chest and pull your shoulders back.

Here, the most vital thing is to stay away from hunching and breathe deeply.

Do Some Aerobic Activity

Your body gets filled with adrenaline during periods of anxiety. Channeling that adrenaline toward aerobic activities can be highly effective in reducing your anxiety quickly.

In fact, exercising can greatly help you manage both depression and anxiety. It burns away stress hormones that trigger anxiety symptoms. Exercising also releases endorphins that help you come out of depression by improving your overall mood.

Aerobic activities, such as fast walking or light jogging, can greatly help you lower the severity of your anxiety symptoms and the anxiety itself.

Learn Managing Your Anxious Thoughts

When you feel anxious, it’s often because your mind starts to think negatively. And this is often beyond your control. Sometimes, it’s possible to reduce anxiety by managing these thoughts and learning to eliminate triggers that make you anxious.

Having a question checklist on hand is an effective strategy to manage anxious thoughts. You may include questions like:

• Is there any evidence that something isn’t right?
• What is the reason to believe something isn’t right?

You can also use affirmations to help yourself feel better. For instance, you can say “my anxiety will not control me” to yourself.

Remember Something Funny

When you start experiencing anxiety, try to visualize your most favorite humorous moments. These can be real moments, or they can be moments you watched in movies or sitcoms.

Similar to most mindfulness training, humor visualization helps you come out of worrying about incidents or things that may happen in the future. It also helps you focus on your present circumstances.

Additionally, humor visualization allows you to feel emotions like delight, pleasure, or joy. All these are powerful emotions that can greatly help you minimize anxiety quickly.

Talk To Someone You Trust

Another highly effective method to reduce anxiety quickly is to talk to somebody you trust and like, especially on the phone. Don’t be afraid of telling them you feel anxious and explaining your feelings to them.

Talking to some nice people will keep your mind off of the anxiety symptoms. Moreover, the supportive nature of family and friends will help you steer clear of social anxiety.

This also helps you feel confident that in case something went wrong, you’d have somebody who can watch over you.

Some of the methods we discussed above may feel hard the first couple of times you try them. However, with some practice, they can become your best ways to get rid of your feelings of anxiety quickly.

Disclaimer: Please acknowledge that all the pieces of information in this article are for general information and educational purposes only. These are not intended as pieces of health or medical advice. The article should not be viewed as a substitute for consultation with a professionally qualified medical practitioner or physician.